Nahum 3

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¹Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs. ✦ ²The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels, Of galloping horses, Of clattering chariots! ✦ ³Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. There is a multitude of slain, A great number of bodies, Countless corpses— They stumble over the corpses— ✦ ⁴Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, The mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations through her harlotries, And families through her sorceries. ✦ ⁵“Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts; “I will lift your skirts over your face, I will show the nations your nakedness, And the kingdoms your shame. ✦ ⁶I will cast abominable filth upon you, Make you vile, And make you a spectacle. ✦ ⁷It shall come to pass that all who look upon you Will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her?’ Where shall I seek comforters for you?” ✦ ⁸Are you better than No Amon That was situated by the River, That had the waters around her, Whose rampart was the sea, Whose wall was the sea? ✦ ⁹Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, And it was boundless; Put and Lubim were your helpers. ✦ ¹⁰Yet 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. ✦ ¹¹You also will be drunk; You will be hidden; You also will seek refuge from the enemy. ✦ ¹²All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs: If they are shaken, They fall into the mouth of the eater. ✦ ¹³Surely, your people in your midst are women! The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies; Fire shall devour the bars of your gates. ✦ ¹⁴Draw your water for the siege! Fortify your strongholds! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Make strong the brick kiln! ✦ ¹⁵There the fire will devour you, The sword will cut you off; It will eat you up like a locust. Make yourself many—like the locust! Make yourself many— like the swarming locusts! ✦ ¹⁶You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven. The locust plunders and flies away. ✦ ¹⁷Your commanders are like swarming locusts, And your generals like great grasshoppers, Which camp in the hedges on a cold day; When the sun rises they flee away, And the place where they are is not known. ✦ ¹⁸Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; Your nobles rest in the dust. Your people are scattered on the mountains, And no one gathers them. ✦ ¹⁹Your injury has no healing, Your wound is severe. All who hear news of you Will clap their hands over you, For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually? ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Nah 2 ·11 Jer 51 ·8 Rev 18 ·7 Jer 46 ·5 Isa 47 ·4 Ezek 30 ·3 Zeph 2 ·3 Nah 1 ·3

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Nahum videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Nahum 3YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Nahum 3David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on NahumMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Nahum 3Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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