1An adversary advances against you, Nineveh – one that dashes in pieces has come up before your face; man your fortresses, watch the road, dress for battle, harden your defenses.
2For the LORD has restored the splendor of Jacob, like the splendor of Israel; for though the marauders have laid them waste, and have ruined their vine branches.
3The shields of his soldiers are red, the warriors are clad in scarlet; the metal on the chariots flash on the day of their preparation, and the spears made of fir are brandished.
4The chariots storm through the streets, they shall jostle one against another in the squares; they shall seem like flaming torches as they dart like the lightnings.
5 Nineveh shall summon her elite troops; they shall stumble as they hasten to the wall, and the defensive towers are set up.
6The river gates are thrown open, and the palace collapses.
7And it is decreed that Nineveh shall be led away captive; and her servant girls shall lament with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.
8But Nineveh is like a pool of water that is draining away. They shout, “Stand, stand!”, but no one even looks back as they flee.
9Loot the silver, grab the gold; for there is no end of the supply – the wealth from all her treasures.
10She is pillaged until she is empty, stripped, and void. Hearts melt, and the knees give way, and much distress is felt, and their faces grow pale.
11Where now is that great Nineveh, that was like a den of lions for strength, where the young lions fed, where even the old lions prowled, and the lion's cubs, and no one made them afraid?
12The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with torn flesh.
13Behold, I am against you, says the LORD Almighty, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; and I will leave you no prey on the earth, and the voices of your proud messengers shall no longer be heard. The “lion” (vv.11-12) is Nahum’s metaphor for the kings of Assyria; lionesses were queens, concubines, or ladies of the court; whelps were the young blood of the royal family. Verse 12 refers to how they treated their neighboring nations, as they violently took for themselves whatever they wanted. Jonah was sent to preach to the people of Nineveh, and warn them of their impending doom as God’s punishment for their gross cruelty and depravity in 769 BC. Instead of rejecting the LORD’s warning, as you might expect, the Ninevites humbled themselves and repented of their sin, from the king on his throne down to the least of them. The whole city fasted, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes—(they even dressed their animals in sackcloth), as recorded in Jonah 3:5–9. It is not known how long this remarkable repentance and evidence of contrition lasted, but we do know that Nineveh’s destruction was postponed for about 160 years from the time when God first sent Jonah to warn them of its impending doom due to the infamous depravity and widespread cruelty they were known for. Nineveh’s ultimate destruction, as predicted in the books of Nahum and Zephaniah, came to pass in 612 BC, when the Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians sacked the city. Easy Reader Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2023 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |
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