1The pronouncementa concerning Nineveh.b The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

God’s Vengeance

2The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;

the Lord takes vengeance

and is fierce inA wrath.

The Lord takes vengeance against his foes;a

he is furious with his enemies.b

3The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;

the Lord will never leave the guilty unpunished.a

His path is in the whirlwind and storm,b

and clouds are the dust beneath his feet.c

4He rebukes the sea and dries it up,

and he makes all the rivers run dry.a

Bashan and Carmel wither;b

even the flower of Lebanon withers.

5The mountains quake before him,

and the hills melt;

the earth tremblesa B at his presence —

the world and all who live in it.a

6Who can withstand his indignation?

Who can endure his burning anger?a

His wrath is poured out like fire;b

even rocks are shattered before him.

Destruction of Nineveh

7The Lord is good,

a stronghold in a day of distress;

he cares for those who take refugea in him.

8But he will completely destroy NinevehA

with an overwhelming flood,a

and he will chase his enemies into darkness.

9Whatever youA plot against the Lord,

he will bring it to complete destruction;a

oppression will not rise up a second time.

10For they will be consumed

like entangled thorns,a

like the drink of a drunkard

and like straw that is fully dry.A

11One has gone out from you,A

who plots evil against the Lord,

and is a wicked counselor.

Promise of Judah’s Deliverance

12This is what the Lord says:

Though they are strongA and numerous,

they will still be mowed down,

and heB will pass away.

Though I have punished you,C a

I will punish you no longer.b

13For I will now break off his yoke from you

and tear off your shackles.

The Assyrian King’s Demise

14The Lord has issued an order concerning you:

There will be no offspring

to carry on your name.a a

I will eliminate the carved idol and cast image

from the house of your gods;b

I will prepare your grave,

for you are contemptible.

15Look to the mountains —

the feet of the herald,a

who proclaims peace.

Celebrate your festivals, Judah;

fulfill your vows.

For the wicked one will never again

march through you;

he will be entirely wiped out.