The Living Bible (289 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
This is the vision God gave to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh, concerning the impending doom of Nineveh:
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God is jealous over those he loves; that is why he takes vengeance on those who hurt them. He furiously destroys their enemies.
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He is slow in getting angry, but when aroused, his power is incredible, and he does not easily forgive. He shows his power in the terrors of the cyclone and the raging storms; clouds are billowing dust beneath his feet!
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At his command the oceans and rivers become dry sand; the lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade away; the green forests of Lebanon wilt.
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In his presence mountains quake and hills melt; the earth crumbles, and its people are destroyed.
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Who can stand before an angry God? His fury is like fire; the mountains tumble down before his anger.
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The Lord is good. When trouble comes, he is the place to go! And he knows everyone who trusts in him!
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But he sweeps away his enemies with an overwhelming flood; he pursues them all night long.
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What are you thinking of, Nineveh, to defy the Lord? He will stop you with one blow; he won’t need to strike again.
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He tosses his enemies into the fire like a tangled mass of thorns. They burst into flames like straw.
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Who is this king
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of yours who dares to plot against the Lord?
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But the Lord is not afraid of him! “Though he build his army millions strong,” the Lord declares, “it will vanish.
“O my people, I have punished you enough!
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Now I will break your chains and release you from the yoke of slavery to this Assyrian king.”
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And to the king he says, “I have ordered an end to your dynasty; your sons will never sit upon your throne. And I will destroy your gods and temples, and I will bury you! For how you stink with sin!”
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See, the messengers come running down the mountains with glad news: “The invaders have been wiped out and we are safe!” O Judah, proclaim a day of thanksgiving and worship only the Lord, as you have vowed. For this enemy from Nineveh will never come again. He is cut off forever; he will never be seen again.
Nineveh, you are finished!
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You are already surrounded by enemy armies! Sound the alarm! Man the ramparts! Muster your defenses, full force, and keep a sharp watch for the enemy attack to begin!
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For the land of the people of God lies empty and broken after your attacks, but the Lord will restore their honor and power again!
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Shields flash red in the sunlight! The attack begins! See their scarlet uniforms! See their glittering chariots moving forward side by side, pulled by prancing steeds!
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Your own chariots race recklessly along the streets and through the squares, darting like lightning, gleaming like torches.
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The king shouts for his officers; they stumble in their haste, rushing to the walls to set up their defenses.
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But too late! The river gates are open! The enemy has entered! The palace is in panic!
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The queen of Nineveh is brought out naked to the streets and led away, a slave, with all her maidens weeping after her; listen to them mourn like doves and beat their breasts!
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Nineveh is like a leaking water tank! Her soldiers slip away, deserting her; she cannot hold them back. “Stop, stop,” she shouts, but they keep on running.
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Loot the silver! Loot the gold! There seems to be no end of treasures. Her vast, uncounted wealth is stripped away.
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Soon the city is an empty shambles; hearts melt in horror; knees quake; her people stand aghast, pale-faced and trembling.
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Where now is that great Nineveh, lion of the nations, full of fight and boldness, where even the old and feeble, as well as the young and tender, lived unafraid?
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O Nineveh, once mighty lion! You crushed your enemies to feed your children and your wives, and filled your city and your homes with captured goods and slaves.
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But now the Lord Almighty has turned against you. He destroys your weapons. Your chariots stand there, silent and unused. Your finest youths lie dead. Never again will you bring back slaves from conquered nations; never again will you rule the earth.
Woe to Nineveh, City of Blood, full of lies, crammed with plunder.
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Listen! Hear the crack of the whips as the chariots rush forward against her, wheels rumbling, horses’ hoofs pounding, and chariots clattering as they bump wildly through the streets!
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See the flashing swords and glittering spears in the upraised arms of the cavalry! The dead are lying in the streets—bodies, heaps of bodies, everywhere. Men stumble over them, scramble to their feet, and fall again.
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All this because Nineveh sold herself to the enemies of God. The beautiful and faithless city, mistress of deadly charms, enticed the nations with her beauty, then taught them all to worship her false gods,
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bewitching people everywhere.
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“No wonder I stand against you,” says the Lord Almighty; “and now all the earth will see your nakedness and shame.
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I will cover you with filth and show the world how really vile you are.”
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All who see you will shrink back in horror: “Nineveh lies in utter ruin.” Yet no one anywhere regrets your fate!
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Are you any better than Thebes,
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straddling the Nile, protected on all sides by the river?
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Ethiopia and the whole land of Egypt were her mighty allies, and she could call on them for infinite assistance, as well as Put and Libya.
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Yet Thebes fell and her people were led off as slaves; her babies were dashed to death against the stones of the streets. Soldiers drew straws to see who would get her officers as servants. All her leaders were bound in chains.
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Nineveh, too, will stagger like a drunkard and hide herself in fear.
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All your forts will fall. They will be devoured like first-ripe figs that fall into the mouths of those who shake the trees.
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Your troops will be weak and helpless as women. The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemy and set on fire and burned.
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Get ready for the siege! Store up water! Strengthen the forts! Prepare many bricks for repairing your walls! Go into the pits to trample the clay, and pack it in the molds!
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But in the middle of your preparations, the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down; the enemy will consume you like young locusts that eat up everything before them. There is no escape, though you multiply like grasshoppers.
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Merchants, numerous as stars, filled your city with vast wealth, but your enemies swarm like locusts and carry it away.
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Your princes and officials crowd together like grasshoppers in the hedges in the cold, but all of them will flee away and disappear, like locusts when the sun comes up and warms the earth.
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O Assyrian king, your princes lie dead in the dust; your people are scattered across the mountains; there is no shepherd now to gather them.
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There is no healing for your wound—it is far too deep to cure. All who hear your fate will clap their hands for joy, for where can one be found who has not suffered from your cruelty?
This is the message that came to the prophet Habakkuk in a vision from God:
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O Lord, how long must I call for help before you will listen? I shout to you in vain; there is no answer. “Help! Murder!” I cry, but no one comes to save.
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Must I forever see this sin and sadness all around me?
Wherever I look I see oppression and bribery and men who love to argue and to fight.
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The law is not enforced, and there is no justice given in the courts, for the wicked far outnumber the righteous, and bribes and trickery prevail.
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The Lord replied: “Look, and be amazed! You will be astounded at what I am about to do! For I am going to do something in your own lifetime that you will have to see to believe.
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I am raising a new force on the world scene, the Chaldeans,
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a cruel and violent nation who will march across the world and conquer it.
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They are notorious for their cruelty. They do as they like, and no one can interfere.
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Their horses are swifter than leopards. They are a fierce people, more fierce than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry move proudly forward from a distant land; like eagles they come swooping down to pounce upon their prey.
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All opposition melts away before the terror of their presence. They collect captives like sand.
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“They scoff at kings and princes and scorn their forts. They simply heap up dirt against their walls and capture them!
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They sweep past like wind and are gone, but their guilt is deep, for they claim their power is from their gods.”
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O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—is your plan in all of this to wipe us out? Surely not! O God our Rock, you have decreed the rise of these Chaldeans to chasten and correct us for our awful sins.
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We are wicked, but they far more! Will you, who cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly by while they swallow us up? Should you be silent while the wicked destroy those who are better than they?
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Are we but fish, to be caught and killed? Are we but creeping things that have no leader to defend them from their foes?
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Must we be strung up on their hooks and dragged out in their nets, while they rejoice?
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Then they will worship their nets and burn incense before them! “These are the gods who make us rich,” they’ll say.
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Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless wars?