Nah 3 | EE | STEP | You will have many troubles Nineveh, city of blood, full of lies and stolen valuable things.

‏ Nahum 3

Nineveh has done many bad things

1 You will have many troubles Nineveh, city of blood, full of lies and stolen valuable things. 2 Listen to the loud noises of the whips, the chariots, the wheels and the feet of the horses. The chariots are moving fast towards Nineveh. 3 See the bright swords and spears in the hands of the horses’ riders. There are dead bodies that are lying in the streets. It is like mountains of dead bodies everywhere. There are so many dead bodies that men fall over the bodies. 4 This is because Nineveh has sold herself to the enemies of God. She is like a beautiful prostitute. She uses her body and her bad magic to make all the people in other countries her slaves. ^{▼▼3:4 Verse 1 ‘city of blood’ means that soldiers from that city have killed many people.}

5 This is why I am against you, says the LORD Almighty. I will make you like a woman whose skirt is up over her face. I will show the countries that you are like that woman. You will be like a woman who is not wearing any clothes. 6 I will throw garbage at you. I will do with you like you were nothing. And I will make everyone ashamed of you. 7 When people see you, they will run away. And they will say, ‘They have destroyed Nineveh. Nobody will be sad.’ There will be nobody to help you.

8 Remember the city called Thebes that was near the River Nile. It had water on all sides and it had the river like a wall. Nineveh is not better than Thebes was. 9 The countries called Cush and Egypt were strong friends. And Put and Libya were strong friends too.

10 But the enemies of Thebes took its people away and they made them slaves. They cut their babies to pieces in every street. They played games with the great men from Thebes and they put them in iron chains. 11 You will be like a man who has drunk too much alcohol. And you will try to hide. You will try to get help from your enemy. 12 All your fortresses are like fig trees. They will fall very easily when the enemies shake them. And your valuable things will be like figs that fall into people’s mouths. 13 Look at your soldiers, they are all like women! Your enemies have burned your gates and they have pushed them wide open.

14 Take as much water as you can for the attack. Make your defences strong. Do repairs to your buildings. 15 The fire will burn you. The sword will cut you and it will kill you like grasshoppers. Grow in number like the grasshoppers and locusts.

16 You welcomed sellers into your city until there were more than all the stars in the sky. But they are like locusts. They take everything from the land and then they fly away. 17 Your army and officials are so many that they are like locusts. Locusts stay on the walls on a cold day. But when the sun comes out, they fly away. And then nobody knows where they go.

18 King of Assyria, the people who keep your people safe are asleep. Also, your powerful men are lying down to rest. Your people have run away to the mountains with nobody to get them together.

19 Your wounds will kill you. They are too bad to make better. People have heard about what happened to you. Everyone who has heard about it is very happy. They are so happy that they clap their hands. This is because you have done bad things to all of them. ^{▼▼3:19 The people in Assyria are very rich and powerful. They are also very cruel. Nineveh is their capital. They have attacked many countries including Israel and Judah. Nineveh has become rich and powerful because they killed people.} ^{▼▼3:19 Nahum tells Nineveh and God’s people that this will stop. God will save his people and he will destroy Nineveh.} ^{▼▼3:19 Today, we know that soldiers from Babylon did destroy Nineveh. This happened 612 years before Jesus came.}