American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Nahum 3
2
The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
Reference
3
The horseman lifts up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble on their corpses:
Reference
4
Because of the multitude of the prostitutions of the well favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that sells nations through her prostitutions, and families through her witchcrafts.
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 47:9
5
Behold, I am against you, said the LORD of hosts; and I will discover your skirts on your face, and I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 13:26
Jeremiah 13:22
Ezekiel 23:29
Ezekiel 16:37
References Lord
Nahum 2:13
Habakkuk 2:16
6
And I will cast abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you as a spectacle.
Reference
Parallel theme
Malachi 2:9
Job 9:31
Jeremiah 51:37
Hebrews 10:33
Job 30:8
1 Corinthians 4:9
Nahum 1:14
7
And it shall come to pass, that all they that look on you shall flee from you, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? from where shall I seek comforters for you?
Reference
8
Are you better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?
Reference
Parallel theme
Amos 6:2
9
Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were your helpers.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 27:10
Ezekiel 30:5
Jeremiah 46:9
Genesis 10:6
Ezekiel 38:5
References Egypt
Isaiah 20:5
2 Chronicles 12:3
10
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 honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
Reference
11
You also shall be drunken: you shall be hid, you also shall seek strength because of the enemy.
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 2:10
Isaiah 49:26
Isaiah 2:19
Psalm 75:8
Jeremiah 4:5
Nahum 1:10
Luke 23:30
Hosea 10:8
12
All your strong holds shall be like fig trees with the first ripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
Reference
Parallel theme
Revelation 6:13
13
Behold, your people in the middle of you are women: the gates of your land shall be set wide open to your enemies: the fire shall devour your bars.
Reference
14
Draw you waters for the siege, fortify your strong holds: go into clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brick kiln.
Reference
Parallel theme
Nahum 2:1
15
There shall the fire devour you; the sword shall cut you off, it shall eat you up like the cankerworm: make yourself many as the cankerworm, make yourself many as the locusts.
Reference
16
You have multiplied your merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoils, and flees away.
17
Your crowned are as the locusts, and your captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun rises they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
Reference
18
Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: your nobles shall dwell in the dust: your people is scattered on the mountains, and no man gathers them.
Reference
Summary of Nahum 3
Nahum 3 concludes the prophecy against Nineveh by explaining why its destruction is deserved, presenting the Assyrian capital as a city characterized by bloodshed, deception, exploitation, political manipulation, and imperial violence before demonstrating that the same methods it used against other nations will eventually return upon itself.
The chapter begins by calling Nineveh a city of blood.
Its streets are associated with violence, lies, robbery, and constant destruction, making clear that Nahum's prophecy is not simply predicting the fall of a powerful political state but explaining the moral reasons behind that fall.
The sounds of battle then fill the chapter.
Whips crack, wheels race, horses charge, chariots rush forward, and soldiers attack with swords and spears.
The imagery is deliberately overwhelming because Nineveh, which had once terrified other nations through military power, is now experiencing the terror of an invading army itself.
Nahum then describes Nineveh using the image of a deceptive prostitute.
The comparison represents more than sexual immorality.
It portrays a city that attracted nations through wealth, political influence, alliances, promises, and power while ultimately exploiting and controlling them.
Nineveh's influence was therefore built upon manipulation as well as military force.
God announces that He will expose Nineveh's shame before the nations.
The city that once displayed its power publicly will become an object of humiliation, and other nations will look upon its destruction without wanting to mourn its loss.
Nahum strengthens the argument by pointing to Thebes in Egypt.
Thebes had been a powerful and well-protected city with important allies, yet Assyria itself had conquered the city in 663 BC.
The lesson is obvious: Nineveh should not assume that its own strength makes it different from the nations it conquered.
If Thebes could fall despite its allies and defenses, Nineveh can fall as well.
The prophecy then describes Nineveh becoming frightened and helpless.
Its fortresses will collapse like ripe figs falling from a tree, its soldiers will be unable to resist, and its gates will be opened to the enemy.
Nahum sarcastically tells the city to prepare water, strengthen its defenses, repair its fortifications, and manufacture bricks, but the preparations will ultimately be useless.
Fire and the sword will consume the city.
The prophet also describes Nineveh's enormous wealth and commercial activity.
Its merchants have multiplied across the region, but when destruction arrives, the city's economic prosperity will disappear just as quickly as its military power.
Even its officials and military leaders are compared to locusts that disappear when the sun rises.
The chapter ends with the king's leaders lying dead and the population scattered across the mountains with no one capable of gathering them.
Nineveh's wound is described as incurable.
The nations that suffered under Assyria will hear of its destruction and celebrate because the empire's downfall brings relief to those who experienced its oppression.
The central message is that Nahum 3 explains that Nineveh's destruction is the consequence of a long history of violence, deception, exploitation, and imperial cruelty, demonstrating that an empire can accumulate enormous wealth and military power while simultaneously creating the conditions that eventually lead to its own downfall.
The chapter also emphasizes the reversal of power, because Assyria had destroyed cities such as Thebes and terrified countless nations, yet Nineveh eventually experiences the same humiliation, destruction, and displacement that it had imposed upon others, showing that no empire can rely upon military strength, wealth, political alliances, or fortified cities to escape accountability forever.
The chapter begins by calling Nineveh a city of blood.
Its streets are associated with violence, lies, robbery, and constant destruction, making clear that Nahum's prophecy is not simply predicting the fall of a powerful political state but explaining the moral reasons behind that fall.
The sounds of battle then fill the chapter.
Whips crack, wheels race, horses charge, chariots rush forward, and soldiers attack with swords and spears.
The imagery is deliberately overwhelming because Nineveh, which had once terrified other nations through military power, is now experiencing the terror of an invading army itself.
Nahum then describes Nineveh using the image of a deceptive prostitute.
The comparison represents more than sexual immorality.
It portrays a city that attracted nations through wealth, political influence, alliances, promises, and power while ultimately exploiting and controlling them.
Nineveh's influence was therefore built upon manipulation as well as military force.
God announces that He will expose Nineveh's shame before the nations.
The city that once displayed its power publicly will become an object of humiliation, and other nations will look upon its destruction without wanting to mourn its loss.
Nahum strengthens the argument by pointing to Thebes in Egypt.
Thebes had been a powerful and well-protected city with important allies, yet Assyria itself had conquered the city in 663 BC.
The lesson is obvious: Nineveh should not assume that its own strength makes it different from the nations it conquered.
If Thebes could fall despite its allies and defenses, Nineveh can fall as well.
The prophecy then describes Nineveh becoming frightened and helpless.
Its fortresses will collapse like ripe figs falling from a tree, its soldiers will be unable to resist, and its gates will be opened to the enemy.
Nahum sarcastically tells the city to prepare water, strengthen its defenses, repair its fortifications, and manufacture bricks, but the preparations will ultimately be useless.
Fire and the sword will consume the city.
The prophet also describes Nineveh's enormous wealth and commercial activity.
Its merchants have multiplied across the region, but when destruction arrives, the city's economic prosperity will disappear just as quickly as its military power.
Even its officials and military leaders are compared to locusts that disappear when the sun rises.
The chapter ends with the king's leaders lying dead and the population scattered across the mountains with no one capable of gathering them.
Nineveh's wound is described as incurable.
The nations that suffered under Assyria will hear of its destruction and celebrate because the empire's downfall brings relief to those who experienced its oppression.
The central message is that Nahum 3 explains that Nineveh's destruction is the consequence of a long history of violence, deception, exploitation, and imperial cruelty, demonstrating that an empire can accumulate enormous wealth and military power while simultaneously creating the conditions that eventually lead to its own downfall.
The chapter also emphasizes the reversal of power, because Assyria had destroyed cities such as Thebes and terrified countless nations, yet Nineveh eventually experiences the same humiliation, destruction, and displacement that it had imposed upon others, showing that no empire can rely upon military strength, wealth, political alliances, or fortified cities to escape accountability forever.