1- 1 Oracle on Nineveh. Book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh

Psalm. The wrath of Yahweh

2 Yahweh is a jealous and vengeful God,

Yahweh avenges, he is full of wrath;

Yahweh takes vengeance on his foes,

he stores up fury for his enemies.

3 Yahweh is slow to anger but immense in power.

Most surely Yahweh will not leave the guilty unpunished.

In storm and whirlwind he takes his way,

the clouds are the dust stirred up by his feet.

4 He rebukes the sea and drains it,

he dries up all the rivers.

. . . Bashan and Carmel wither,

the green Lebanon fades.

5 he mountains tremble before him,

the hills reel;

the earth collapses before him,

the world and all who live in it.

6 His fury - who can withstand it?

Who can endure his burning wrath?

His anger pours out like fire

and the rocks break to pieces before him.

7 Yahweh is good; he is a stronghold

in the day of distress;

he calls to mind those who trust in him

8 when the flood overtakes them.

Those who defy him he will destroy utterly,

he will pursue his foes into the darkness.

Prophecies addressed alternately to Judah and Nineveh

9 How do you imagine Yahweh?

He it is who utterly destroys:

oppression will not lift his head a second time.

10 They will be consumed like a thicket of thorns,

like dry straw, utterly.

11 From you have sprung

one who plots evil against Yahweh,

a man with the mind of Belial.

12 Yahweh says this:

Equipped and many though they be,

they are going to be cut down, annihilated.

Though I have disciplined you,

I will discipline you no more.

13 And now I am going to break that yoke of his that weighs

you down,

and I will burst your chains.

14 For you, here is Yahweh's decree:

There will be no more offsprings to bear your name;

from the temple of your gods I mean to take away

the carved and the cast image,

and I intend to make your tomb an object of shame.

2- 1 See, over the mountains the messenger hurries!

"Peace!" he proclaims.

Judah, celebrate your feasts,

carry out your vows,

for Belial will never pass through you again;

he is utterly annihilated.

2 Yes, Yahweh is restoring the vineyard of Jacob

and the vineyard of Israel.

For the plunderers had plundered them,

they had broken off their branches.

The assault

3 A destroyer advances against you.

Mount guard of the rampart,

watch the road, tuck up your cloaks;

muster all your forces.

4 The shields of his fighting men show red,

his warriors are dressed in scarlet;

all the steel of the chariots flashes

as they are thrown in battle;

the horsemen are impatient for action;

5 the chariots storm through the streets,

they hurtle across the squares;

they look like blazing flames,

like lightning they dash to and fro.

6 The picked troops are called out;

the columns clash,

they hurl themselves against the rampart,

the mantelet is already in place.

7 The gates that gives on the river are opened,

in he palace all is panic.

8 The Lady is carried off, taken into exile,

her handmaids raise a dirge, with sighs

like the moaning of doves,

and beat their breasts.

9 Nineveh is like a pool

whose water are draining away.

"Stop! Top!"

But no one turns back.

10 "Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!"

There are endless treasures,

tons of valuables.

11 Raid ravage and ruin!

Heart fails and knees give way,

fear in the loins of all

and every face grows pale.

The Lion of Assyria threatened

12 Where is the lions' den,

the cave of the lion's whelps?

When the lion made his foray the lioness stayed behind,

the lion's cubs too; and no one molested them.

13 The lion clawed enough for his whelps,

and tore up prey for his lionesses;

he filled his caves with is spoil,

and his dens with the prey.

14 I am here! Look to yourself! - It is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks.

I mean to send your chariots up in smoke;

the sword shall devour your lion's whelps.

I will wipe the earth clean of your plunder.

The voice of your envoys shall be heard no more.

Nineveh threatened for its crimes

3- 1 Woe to the city soaked in blood,

full of lies,

stuffed wit booty,

whose plunderings know no end!

2 The crack of the whip!

The rumble of wheels!

Galloping horses,

jolting chariot,

3 charging cavalry,

flash of swords,

gleam of spears . . .

A mass of wounded,

host of dead,

countless corpses;

they stumble over the dead.

4 So much for all the whore's debauchery,

for that wonderful beauty, for that cunning witch

who enslaved nations by her debauchery

and tribes by her spells.

5 I am here! Look to yourself! It is Yahweh Sabaoth who speaks.

I mean to lift your skirts as high as your face

and show your nakedness to nations,

your shame to kingdoms.

6 I am going to pelt you with filth,

shame you, make you a public show.

7 And all who look on you

will turn their backs on you and say,

"Nineveh is a ruin."

Could anyone pity her?

Whee can I find anyone to comfort her?

The lesson of Thebes

8 Are you mightier than No-amon

who had her throne beside the river,

who had the sea for outer wall,

the waters for rampart?

9 Her strength was Ethiopia,

Egypt too; she had no boundaries.

Men of Put and the Libyans were her auxiliaries.

10 And yet she was forced into exile,

she went into captivity;

her little ones, too, were dashed to pieces

at every crossroad;

lots were drawn for er nobles,

all her great men were loaded with chains.

11 You too will be encircled,

you will be overwhelmed;

you too will have to search

for a refuge from the enemy.

Nineveh's preparations useless

12 Your fortresses are all fig trees

laden with early-ripening figs:

shake, and they fall

into any mouth that wants to eat them.

13 Look at your people:

your inhabitants are women.

The gates of your country

stand wide open to the foe;

fire has burned up your locking beams.

14 Draw water for the siege,

strengthen your bulwarks,

tread the mud, tread down the clay,

set your hand to the brick mould.

15 There the fire will burn you up,

the sword will cut you down.

The locusts fly away

Increase like the locust,

increase like the grasshopper;

16 multiply your traders

to exceed the stars of heaven;

17 your guards are like grasshoppers,

your scribes like a cloud of insects.

They settle on the walls

when the day is cold.

The sun appears,

16 and the locusts spread their wings, they fly away,

17 they are gone, no one knows where.

A funeral lament

18 Alas! Are you shepherds asleep, then,

king of Assyria?

Your picked troops slumber,

your people are scattered on the mountains

with no one to rally them.

19 here is no remedy for your wound,

your injury is past healing.

All who hear the news of you

clap their hands at your downfall.

For who has not felt

your unrelenting cruelty?