Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
- BSB Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.
- NKJV Yet she was carried away, She went into captivity; Her young children also were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound in chains.
- NASB Yet she became an exile, She went into captivity; Also her small children were smashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound with shackles.
- NLT Yet Thebes fell, and her people were led away as captives. Her babies were dashed to death against the stones of the streets. Soldiers threw dice to get Egyptian officers as servants. All their leaders were bound in chains.
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
Thebes was nonetheless taken into captivity, its children dashed in the streets and its leaders bound in chains. Its fall was total and brutal.
Overview
The horrors described, including the slaughter of children and the enslavement of nobles, reflect the savagery of ancient conquest, which Assyria itself had inflicted. By recalling these atrocities, Nahum signals that Nineveh will reap the very terror it sowed. The verse underscores the biblical principle that those who deal in cruelty will themselves face just recompense.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 20:4So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
- Hos 13:16Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
- Obad 1:11In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
- Joel 3:3And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
- Lam 2:19Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the LORD: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.
- Isa 13:16Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
- Isa 13:6Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
- Ps 137:8O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
- Ps 33:16–17There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
- Lam 4:1How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
- Amos 1:13Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
- 2 Kgs 8:12And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.
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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 3:10 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.