
WHAT DO YOU PLOT AGAINST 
YAHWEH? {/}

{1}1{/}

{I}1_{/}Oracle against 
Nineveh. This is the book 
of the vision which Nahum 
of Elkosh has seen.
{I}2_{/}Yahweh is a 
jealous and avenging God,
Yahweh takes vengeance in 
his wrath;
{I}3_{/}Yahweh is slow to 
anger
though immense in power.
He does not overlook the 
evil.
In storm and whirlwind is 
his path;
clouds are the dust of 
his feet.
{I}4_{/}He rebukes the 
sea and dries it;
he drains rivers of their 
water.
Bashan and Carmel wither;
the blossoms of Lebanon 
fade.
{I}5_{/}Before him the 
mountains quake
and the hills melt;
the earth trembles
and all the peoples.
{I}6_{/}Who can stand 
before his fury?
Who can face his blazing 
anger?
His wrath is poured out 
like fire,
and the rocks are rent 
asunder.
{I}7_{/}Yahweh is good 
for those who hope;
in the day of trouble he 
shelters them.
He remembers those who 
trust in him
{I}8_{/}when the flood 
engulfs them.
He utterly destroys his 
adversaries
and pursues his foes into 
darkness.
What are you plotting 
against him?
Yahweh will bring it to 
an end,
{I}9_{/}oppression will 
not rise a second time.
Yahweh gives his foe no 
quarter,
he stores up fury for his 
enemy.
{I}10_{/}They will be 
entangled
devoured like thorns,
and be consumed like dry 
stubble.
{I}11_{/}Yahweh will take 
off Juda his enemy
the one who plots evil.
{I}12_{/}Thus Yahweh says 
to Judah:
"Though they be strong 
and many
they will be annihilated.
Though I had afflicted 
you,
no more shall I afflict 
you.
{I}13_{/}I will break 
their yoke from your neck
and tear away your 
shackles."
{I}14_{/}To the people of 
Nineveh,
here is Yahweh's decree.
"No descendants shall 
bear your name.
I will abolish from your 
temple
the carved image and the 
molten idol.

I will make your tomb an 
object of shame."
{1}2{/}

{I}1_{/}See, there on the 
mountains, the feet of 
one who brings good news, 
one who proclaims peace.
Judah, celebrate your 
feasts
and carry out your vows.
For the wicked have been 
destroyed,
they will not attack you 
any more.
{I}3_{/}Yahweh will now 
restore
Jacob's magnificence, 
like Israel's splendor.
For they had been 
plundered,
laid waste as a ravaged 
vineyard.
Nineveh shall fall
{I}2_{/}Against Nineveh a 
destroyer advances.
Watch the road, man the 
fortress;
brace yourselves, muster 
your forces.
{I}4_{/}The shields of 
his soldiers are red;
his warriors are crimson-
clad.
His chariots gleam as if 
on fire
when mustered in battle 
array,
while prancing horses and 
frenzied horsemen
wait impatiently for 
bloody action.
{I}5_{/}As chariots storm 
through the streets
and dash madly through 
the squares,
they look like flashing 
torches
or darting lightning 
bolts.
{I}6_{/}The picked troops 
are called out;
ranks break at their 
charge.
Having set up the 
mantelet
they rushed toward the 
rampart.
{I}7_{/}The river gates 
are thrown open,
and the palace defense 
collapses.
{I}8_{/}The goddess is 
taken captive
together with all her 
handmaids,
moaning like doves and 
beating their breasts.
{I}9_{/}Nineveh looks 
like a pool
with its waters running 
away:
All flee: "Stop, stop!"
but no one comes back.
{I}10_{/}All kinds of 
wealth, gold and silver -
it is an endless 
treasure, a heap of the 
most precious things.
{I}11_{/}Waste and ruin, 
desolation and emptiness, 
failing hearts and 
trembling knees,
terror and agony on all 
blanched faces!
{I}12_{/}Where now is the 
lion's cave,
the den of the cubs
where the lion would 
bring his prey,
and the cubs lie down 
undisturbed?
{I}13_{/}The lion tore to 
pieces for his whelps,
and strangled for his 
mates;
he filled his caves with 
prey
and his dens with mangled 
flesh.
{I}14_{/}Yahweh Sabaoth 
speaks:
I have come against you.
I will send up your 
chariots in smoke,
give your cubs to the 
sword;
wipe the earth clear of 
your plunder,
and your envoys' voices 
will be heard no more.
THE CITY OF BLOOD{/}

{1}3{/}

{I}1_{/}Woe to the bloody 
city, city of lies and 
booty,
O city of unending 
plunder!
{I}2_{/}But what! Crack 
of whips,
rumble of wheels and 
clatter of hoofs!
{I}3_{/}See the frenzied 
chargers,
the flashing swords and 
glittering spears,
the heaps of the wounded,
the dead and dying
- we trip over corpses!
{I}4_{/}The harlot is 
paying for her 
harlotries,
her deadly charms, her 
sorceries.
She traded nations with 
her prostitutions
and caught peoples by her 
spells.
{I}5_{/}"I am against 
you," Yahweh Sabaoth 
says.
"I will lift your skirts 
over your face.
I will show the nations 
your nakedness
and the kingdoms your 
disgrace.
{I}6_{/}I will pelt you 
with filth,
I will treat you with 
contempt
and make of you a 
shameful show,
{I}7_{/}so that all who 
look on you
will turn their backs in 
disgust
and say: Nineveh - a city 
of lust - is in ruins.
Who will mourn for her?
Where can we find one to 
comfort her?
{I}8_{/}Are you any 
better
than Thebes by the Nile,
surrounded by water,
her rampart the river,
and the water her wall?
{I}9_{/}Ethiopia and 
Egypt were her stay,
Put and Libya were her 
allies,
{I}10_{/}yet she was 
carried away
and held captive among 
the exiles.
Her infants were dashed 
to pieces
at the head of every 
road;
lots were cast for her 
nobles,
her great men bound in 
chains.
{I}11_{/}You, too, shall 
drink of this:
you will also hide from 
your enemies.
{I}12_{/}Your fortresses 
are like fig trees
laden with early-ripening 
fruits
which fall, when shaken,
into the waiting mouths.
{I}13_{/}Look at your 
braves - they are like 
women!
Your gates are wide open,
the bars consumed by 
fire,
and the enemies freely 
enter.
{I}14_{/}Brace yourselves 
for the siege: draw 
water,
strengthen the bulwark,
tread the clay and the 
mortar
and repair the brickwork.
{I}15_{/}There the fire 
will devour you
and the sword will cut 
you down
though you were numerous 
as locusts,
beyond count like 
grasshoppers.
{I}16_{/}You had 
multiplied your merchants
more than the stars of 
the sky;
{I}17_{/}like 
grasshoppers were your 
officials
and your soldiers like 
swarms of locusts
which settle on the walls 
on a cold day.
But the sun appears, they 
fly away and they are 
gone, no one knows where.
{I}18_{/}O king of 
Assyria, your shepherds 
slumber,
your nobles lie down fast 
asleep,
while over the mountains 
your people scatter,
and there is no one to 
gather them up.
{I}19_{/}Nothing can heal 
your wounds; your injury 
is fatal.
All clap their hands
when they hear about your 
fall.
for who has not suffered 
constantly
the plague of your 
cruelty?

