From you, O Nineveh, comes forth a plotter of evil against the LORD, a counselor of wickedness.
Parallel translations
- WEB There is one gone out of you, who devises evil against Yahweh, who counsels wickedness.
- KJV There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor.
- ESV From you came one who plotted evil against the LORD, a worthless counselor.
- NKJV From you comes forth one Who plots evil against the Lord, A wicked counselor.
- NASB From you has gone out One who plotted evil against the Lord, A wicked counselor.
- NLT Who is this wicked counselor of yours who plots evil against the Lord?
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
From Nineveh came one who devises evil against the Lord and counsels wickedness. The city is marked by leadership set against God.
Overview
This likely refers to an Assyrian king or commander, possibly Sennacherib, whose defiance of the Lord epitomized the empire's arrogance. To counsel wickedness against God is the height of rebellion. Such opposition to the Lord and his people ultimately collapses, as all who set themselves against God's anointed will discover.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Nah 1:9Whatever you plot against the LORD, He will bring to an end. Affliction will not rise up a second time.
- 2 Chr 13:7Then worthless and wicked men gathered around him to resist Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young, inexperienced, and unable to resist them.
- 2 Chr 32:15–19So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand!”
- 2 Sam 20:1Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!”
- 2 Kgs 19:22–25Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- 1 Sam 2:12Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD
- 2 Kgs 18:30Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
- Isa 10:7–15But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.
- 2 Kgs 18:13–14In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.
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Christ at the center
The certain judgment on Nineveh and the comfort that 'the LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble' point to Christ, who is both the refuge of his people and the judge of their enemies.
How Nahum 1:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.