1An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
God’s Wrath Against Nineveh
2The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
3The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither;
the bloom of Lebanon withers.
5The mountains quake before him;
the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who dwell in it.
6Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
7The Lord is good,
a stronghold in the day of trouble;
he knows those who take refuge in him.
8But with an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries,
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
9What do you plot against the Lord?
He will make a complete end;
trouble will not rise up a second time.
10For they are like entangled thorns,
like drunkards as they drink;
they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
11From you came one
who plotted evil against the Lord,
a worthless counselor.
12Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
they will be cut down and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13And now I will break his yoke from off you
and will burst your bonds apart.”
14The Lord has given commandment about you:
“No more shall your name be perpetuated;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the metal image.
I will make your grave, for you are vile.”
15 Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him
who brings good news,
who publishes peace!
Keep your feasts, O Judah;
fulfill your vows,
for never again shall the worthless pass through you;
he is utterly cut off.