Bible in 90 Days

Israel to Have New Life

¹¹ “In that day I will build again the tent of David that fell down. Yes, I will build it again from the stones that fell down. I will set it up again as it used to be. ¹² And so the people of Israel will own what is left of the land of Edom and all the nations that are called by My name,” says the Lord who does this.

¹³ “The days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the man who plows will catch up with the man who gathers. The man who crushes the grapes will catch up with the man who plants the seed. The mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it. ¹⁴ And I will return My people Israel to their riches. They will build again the cities that have been destroyed, and live in them. They will plant grape-fields and drink their wine. And they will make gardens and eat their fruit. ¹⁵ I will plant My people on their land. And they will never again be pulled up from the land I gave them,” says the Lord your God.

Edom to Be Judged

¹ This is the special dream of Obadiah, what the Lord God says about Edom. We have heard this news from the Lord. And a man has been sent among the nations to say, “Get ready! Let us go fight a war against Edom.” ² “I will make you small among the nations. Everyone will hate you. ³ The pride of your heart has fooled you. You live in the holes of the rock. Your home is high in the mountains. And so you say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ ⁴ Even when you build your home as high as the eagle, and make your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord. ⁵ “If robbers came to you during the night, O how you will be destroyed! Would they not steal only enough for themselves? If those who gather grapes came to you, would they not leave some behind? ⁶ O how Esau will be robbed! His hidden riches will be looked for until they are found. ⁷ All the men you have made an agreement with will drive you from the country. The men at peace with you will lie to you and get power over you. Those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not know it.” ⁸ The Lord says, “On that day I will destroy the wise men from Edom and understanding from Mount Esau. ⁹ Then your powerful soldiers will be troubled, O Teman, and every one from Mount Esau will be killed.

Edom Hurt His Brother

¹⁰ “Because you have hurt your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and destroyed forever. ¹¹ You stood aside on that day when strangers carried his riches away. Men from another land went in through his gate and divided Jerusalem among themselves. And you were like one of them. ¹² Do not look down on your brother in the day of his trouble. Do not be happy about the sons of Judah in the day they are destroyed. Yes, do not speak with pride in the day of their trouble. ¹³ Do not go in through the gate of My people in the day of their trouble. Do not speak with pride about their suffering in the day of their trouble. And do not rob their riches in the day of their trouble. ¹⁴ Do not stand at the cross-roads to kill their people who get away. And do not put into prison those who are left alive in the day of their trouble.

¹⁵ “For the day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. What you do will come back to you on your own head. ¹⁶ Just as you drank on My holy mountain, so all the nations will drink all the time. They will drink and drink, and be as if they had never been.

Israel Will Win

¹⁷ “But on Mount Zion there will be a way to be set free, and it will be holy. The people of Jacob will own what belongs to them. ¹⁸ The people of Jacob will be a fire. The people of Joseph will be burning. But the people of Esau will be like dry grass. They will set them on fire and destroy them. None of the people of Esau will be left alive,” for the Lord has spoken. ¹⁹ People of the Negev will live on Mount Esau. And those in the lower land will live in the land of the Philistines. They will live in the land of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will own Gilead. ²⁰ The people of Israel who are living among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, and the people of Jerusalem who are in Sephared, will own the cities of the Negev. ²¹ The men of Jerusalem who fight and win the battle will go up Mount Zion to rule over Mount Esau. And the nation will belong to the Lord.

Jonah Does Not Obey the Lord

1 The Word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ² “Get up and go to the large city of Nineveh, and preach against it. For their sin has come up before Me.” ³ But Jonah ran away from the Lord going toward Tarshish. He went down to Joppa and found a ship which was going to Tarshish. Jonah paid money, and got on the ship to go with them, to get away from the Lord.

⁴ Then the Lord sent a powerful wind upon the sea, and there was such a big storm that the ship was about to break up. ⁵ The sailors became afraid, and every man cried to his god. They threw the things that were in the ship into the sea so that it would not be so heavy. But Jonah had gone below in the ship and had lain down and fallen asleep. ⁶ So the captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god. It may be that your god will care about us, and we will not die.” ⁷ Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us draw names so we can find out who is to blame for this trouble.” So they drew names, and Jonah’s name was drawn. ⁸ Then they said to him, “Now tell us! Who is to blame for this? What is your work? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” ⁹ Jonah said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord God of heaven Who made the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰ Then the men were filled with fear and said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was running away from the Lord, because he had told them. ¹¹ So they said to him, “What should we do to you to make the sea quiet down for us?” For the storm was getting worse. ¹² Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for you. For I know that this bad storm has come upon you because of me.” ¹³ The men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the wind was blowing even worse against them. ¹⁴ Then they called on the Lord and said, “We beg You, O Lord, do not let us die for what this man has done. And do not let us become guilty for killing someone who is not to blame. For You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”

¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the storm stopped. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord very much. They gave a gift in worship to the Lord and made promises to Him.

¹⁷ The Lord sent a big fish to swallow Jonah, and he was in the stomach of the fish for three days and three nights.

Jonah’s Prayer

2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God while in the stomach of the fish, ² saying, “I called out to the Lord because of my trouble, and He answered me. I cried for help from the place of the dead, and You heard my voice. ³ You threw me into the deep waters, to the very bottom of the sea. A flood was all around me and all Your waves passed over me. ⁴ Then I said, ‘I have been sent away from Your eyes. But I will look again toward Your holy house.’ ⁵ Waters closed in over me. The sea was all around me. Weeds were around my head. ⁶ I went down to the roots of the mountains. The walls of the earth were around me forever. But You have brought me up from the grave, O Lord my God. ⁷ While I was losing all my strength, I remembered the Lord. And my prayer came to You, into Your holy house. ⁸ Those who worship false gods have given up their faith in You. ⁹ But I will give gifts in worship to You with a thankful voice. I will give You what I have promised. The Lord is the One Who saves.”

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spit Jonah out onto the dry land.

Jonah Obeys the Lord

3 The Word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ² “Get up and go to the large city of Nineveh, and tell the people there the news which I am going to tell you.” ³ So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, as the Lord had told him. Now Nineveh was a very large city. It took three days to walk through it. ⁴ Jonah started into the city, for a day’s walk, and he cried out, “In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed!”

⁵ Then the people of Nineveh believed in God. They called for a time when no food was to be eaten. And all the people, from the greatest to the least, put on clothes made from hair. ⁶ When the news came to the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne and laid aside his beautiful clothing. Then he covered himself with cloth made from hair, and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he sent word through all of Nineveh, saying, “By the law of the king and his leaders, do not let man or animal, cattle or flock, taste anything. Do not let them eat or drink water. ⁸ Both man and animal must be covered with cloth made from hair. Everyone must pray to God with all his heart, so each person may turn from his sinful way and from the bad things he has done. ⁹ Who knows? God may change His mind and stop being angry so that we will not die.”

¹⁰ When God saw what they did, and that they turned from their sinful way, He changed His mind about the trouble He said He would bring upon them, and He did not destroy Nineveh.

Jonah’s Anger and the Lord’s Loving-Pity

4 But Jonah was not pleased at all, and he became angry. ² He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is this not what I said You would do while still in my own country? That is why I ran away to Tarshish. For I knew that You are a kind and loving God Who shows pity. I knew that You are slow to anger and are filled with loving-kindness, always ready to change Your mind and not punish. ³ So now, O Lord, take my life from me. For death is better to me than life.” ⁴ And the Lord said, “Have you any reason to be angry?”

⁵ Then Jonah left the city and sat to the east of the city. There he made a tent for himself, and sat in its shadow until he could see what would happen in the city. ⁶ Then the Lord God made a plant grow up over Jonah to cover him from the hot sun and to stop his suffering. Jonah was very happy about the plant. ⁷ But at the beginning of the next day, God sent a worm to destroy the plant and it dried up. ⁸ When the sun came up, God sent a hot east wind. And the sun’s heat came upon Jonah’s head so that he became weak and begged with all his heart to die. He said, “Death is better to me than life.”

⁹ Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the plant?” And Jonah said, “I have a good reason to be angry, angry enough to die.” ¹⁰ The Lord said, “You had loving-pity on the plant which you did not work for. You did not cause it to grow. It came up during the night and died during the night. ¹¹ And should I not have loving-pity for Nineveh, the large city where more than 120,000 people live who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”

1 This is the Word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth about Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Israel Is Judged

² Hear, O people, all of you. Listen, O earth and all who are in it. The Lord God will speak against you from His holy house. ³ See, the Lord is coming from His place. He will come down and walk on the high places of the earth. ⁴ The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will break open, like a candle in front of the fire, like water poured down a hill. ⁵ All this is because Jacob would not obey and because of the sins of the people of Israel. What is Jacob’s sin? Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? ⁶ So I will make Samaria a waste in the open country, making it a place to plant grape-fields. I will pour her stones down into the valley, and lay open the base of the city. ⁷ All of her false gods will be broken to pieces. Everything given in the place of worship will be burned with fire. I will destroy all her objects of worship, for she gathered them from the pay of a woman who sells the use of her body. They will return to pay a woman who sells the use of her body.

Jerusalem Will Be Taken

⁸ Because of this I must cry out in sorrow. I must go without shoes and clothing. I must cry out like the wild dogs, and cry in sorrow like the ostriches. ⁹ For her hurt cannot be cured. It has come to Judah. It has come to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Do not tell about it in Gath. Do not cry at all. Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah. ¹¹ Go on your way, people of Shaphir, without clothing and in shame. The people of Zaanan do not come out. Cries of sorrow come from Beth-ezel. Its help is taken from you. ¹² Those who live in Maroth become weak waiting for good, because trouble has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem. ¹³ Tie the war-wagons to the horses, you people of Lachish. You were the beginning of sin to the people of Zion, for the sins of Israel were found in you. ¹⁴ So give gifts to Moresheth-gath. The people of Achzib will fool the kings of Israel. ¹⁵ I will bring one who will beat you in battle, O people of Mareshah. The shining-greatness of Israel will come to Adullam. ¹⁶ Cut off all your hair in sorrow for the children you love. Let no hair be on your head like the eagle, for your children will be taken away from you.

It Is Bad for Wrong-Doers

2 It is bad for those who make plans to do wrong, who lie on their beds thinking of something sinful to do! When morning comes, they do it, because it is in their power. ² They want fields that belong to someone else, and take them. They want houses, and take them. They rob a man and his house, a man and what has been given to him. ³ So the Lord says, “I am planning trouble against this family, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk in pride, for it will be a time of much trouble. ⁴ On that day they will make fun of you and sing a bitter song of sorrow, saying, ‘We are destroyed and everything is gone! My people’s land is divided. He takes it from me! He gives our fields to those who turned against us.’” ⁵ So you will have no one among the Lord’s people to divide the land in a right way for you.

Men Who Lie

⁶ “The people say to me, ‘Do not speak about these things, because we will not be put to shame.’ ⁷ Should it be said, O people of Jacob: “Is the Spirit of the Lord angry? Would He do such things? Do not My Words do good to the one whose way is right and good? ⁸ My people have begun to hate those who are at peace with them. You pull the coat off from a brother Israelite, from those who pass by in peace like men returning from war. ⁹ You drive the women of My people away from their beautiful houses. You take My greatness away from their children forever. ¹⁰ Get up and go away, for this is no place of rest, because it is made unclean. It is destroyed with much suffering. ¹¹ If a man comes speaking lies and says, ‘I will speak to you about wine and strong drink,’ he would be the one for these people!

Israel Is Gathered Together

¹² “I will gather all of you together, Jacob. I will gather all those left of Israel. I will put them together like sheep within a fence, like a flock in its field. The land will be filled with the noise of many people. ¹³ The One Who breaks open the way will go out before them. They will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, and the Lord will lead them.”

Sinful Leaders and Rulers

3 And I said, “Hear now, leaders of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel! Should you not know what is fair? ² Yet you hate good and love sin. You tear off the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones. ³ You eat my people’s flesh, pull their skin off, break their bones, and cut them up like meat for the pot.” ⁴ Then they will cry to the Lord, but He will not answer them. He will hide His face from them at that time, because they have done sinful things.

⁵ This is what the Lord says about the men who speak in God’s name and lead my people the wrong way. When they have something to eat, they speak of peace. But they make holy war against him who does not feed them. ⁶ So night will come to you without a special dream. Darkness will come to you without any word about the future. The sun will go down on those who speak about special dreams, and the day will become dark over them. ⁷ Those who tell what is going to happen in the future will be ashamed. Those who learn about the future using their secret ways will be ashamed. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God. ⁸ But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, with what is fair, and with strength. I am able to make known to Jacob his wrong-doing, and to Israel his sin. ⁹ Now listen to this, you leaders of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel. You hate what is fair, and turn everything around that is right. ¹⁰ You built Zion with blood and Jerusalem with much wrong-doing. ¹¹ Her leaders take pay in secret for doing wrong. Her religious leaders teach for a price. Her men who tell what is going to happen in the future do it for money. Yet they rest upon the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No trouble will come to us.” ¹² So because of you Zion will be plowed as a field. Jerusalem will be laid waste. And the mountain of the Lord’s house will be covered with trees.

The Lord Rules in Jerusalem

4 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest one of all. It will be raised above the hills, and the people will flow to it. ² Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” For the Law will go out from Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ³ He will judge between many people. He will decide for strong nations that are far away. Then they will beat their swords into plows, and their spears into cutting hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and they will never learn war any more. ⁴ Every man will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to make him afraid. For the mouth of the Lord of All has spoken. ⁵ All the nations may walk in the name of their god. But we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

Israel Will Return from the Strange Land

⁶ “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather together those who cannot walk and those who have been driven away, even those whom I have made to suffer. ⁷ I will make a new beginning with those who cannot walk. I will make a strong nation of those who have been driven away. And the Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever. ⁸ As for you, O watch-tower of the flock, the strong-place of the people of Zion, the power you had to rule will come to you again. The nation will come to Jerusalem.

⁹ “Now why do you cry out in a loud voice? Is there no king among you? Has your wise man died, so that you have pains like a woman giving birth? ¹⁰ Suffer in pain, O people of Zion, like a woman giving birth. For now you will go out of the city and live in the field, and go to Babylon. There you will be saved and He will make you free from the power of those who hate you.

¹¹ “Now many nations are gathered against you. They say, ‘Let her be unclean. Let our eyes look on Zion.’ ¹² But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord. They do not understand His plan. For He has gathered them like grain to the crushing-floor. ¹³ Get up and crush the grain, O people of Zion. For I will give you horns of iron and feet of brass, and you will break many nations to pieces. You will give to the Lord what they received by hurting others. You will give their riches to the Lord of all the earth.

5 “Now gather yourselves into armies, people of Israel. They are all around us with their army. They will hit the judge of Israel on the face.

God’s Chosen One Will Come from Bethlehem

² “Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are too little to be among the family groups of Judah. But from you One will come who will rule for Me in Israel. His coming was planned long ago, from the beginning.” ³ He will give them up until the time when the woman in pain gives birth to a child. Then the rest of His brothers will return to the people of Israel. ⁴ And He will come and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the great power of the name of the Lord His God. His people will live there and be safe, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth. ⁵ And He will be their peace.

Those Who Fight Israel Are Judged

When the Assyrian comes into our land and crushes under foot our strong-places, we will fight against him with seven shepherds and eight leaders. ⁶ They will rule the land of Assyria, the land of Nimrod, with the sword. And He will take us from the Assyrians when they come into our country and crush under foot our land.

⁷ Then the people who are left of Jacob will be among many people like water on the ground in the early morning from the Lord, like rain on the grass, which does not wait for man. ⁸ Those who are left of Jacob will be among the nations, among many people, like a lion among the animals in the woods, like a young lion among flocks of sheep. When he passes through, he crushes them and tears them to pieces, and there is no one to help them. ⁹ Your hand will be lifted up against those who hate you, and all of them will be destroyed.

¹⁰ “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will destroy your horses and your war-wagons from among you. ¹¹ I will destroy the cities of your land and tear down all your strong-places. ¹² I will put an end to your witchcraft, and you will not have people telling your future any more. ¹³ I will destroy your false gods and your pillars of worship, so that you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands. ¹⁴ I will pull up your wooden, female goddesses Asherah, and destroy your cities. ¹⁵ And in My anger I will punish the nations that have not obeyed.”

The Lord Speaks against Israel

6 Listen to what the Lord says: “Stand up and make your cause known in front of the mountains. Let the hills hear your voice. ² Listen to the Lord’s cause, you mountains and bases of the earth that last forever. The Lord has something against His people, and will speak against Israel. ³ My people, what have I done to you? How have I made it hard for you? Answer Me. ⁴ I brought you out of the land of Egypt. I took you out of the land where you were servants. And I sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam to lead you. ⁵ My people, remember what Balak king of Moab said, and what Balaam son of Beor answered him. Remember what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may know the good things the Lord has done.”

What the Lord Wants

⁶ What should I bring to the Lord when I bow down before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt gifts, with calves a year old? ⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with 10,000 rivers of oil? Should I give my first-born to pay for not obeying? Should I give the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ⁸ O man, He has told you what is good. What does the Lord ask of you but to do what is fair and to love kindness, and to walk without pride with your God?

Israel Is Punished

⁹ The voice of the Lord is calling to the city, and it is wise to fear Your name: “Listen, O family of Judah, you who are gathered in the city. ¹⁰ O sinful house, can I forget the riches you got by wrong-doing? You lied about the weight of things, which I hate. ¹¹ Can I make a man not guilty who lies and has false weights in his bag? ¹² The rich men of the city have hurt many people. Her people are liars. Their tongues in their mouths speak false words. ¹³ So I have begun to punish you, to destroy you because of your sins. ¹⁴ You will eat, but you will not be filled. Your stomachs will still be empty. You will store up, but save nothing. And what you save I will give to the sword. ¹⁵ You will plant, but you will not gather. You will crush the olive, but you will not pour oil on yourself. You will crush the grapes, but you will not drink wine. ¹⁶ You have kept the laws of Omri and all the works of the people of Ahab. You have followed their ways. So I will give you up to be destroyed, and your people will be made fun of. You, My people, will be put to shame.”

Sorrow for Israel’s Sins

7 It is bad for me! For I am like those who pick fruit and gather grapes. There are no grapes to eat, or any of the early figs that I want so much. ² There is not a God-like person left in the land. There is no good person among men. All of them lie in wait to kill. Each one hunts the other with a net. ³ Both hands are very able in doing sinful things. The ruler and the judge ask for pay in secret to do what is wrong. The powerful man tells what he wants, and they all make plans together. ⁴ The best of them is like a thistle. The most honest of them is like a thorn bush. The day you have a watchman, you will be punished. Then their trouble will come. ⁵ Do not trust a neighbor. Do not put trust in a friend. Be careful what you say even with her who lies in your arms. ⁶ For a son does not honor his father. A daughter rises up against her mother. And a daughter-in-law turns against her mother-in-law. Those of a man’s own house hate him.

⁷ But as for me, I will watch for the Lord. I will wait for the God Who saves me. My God will hear me.

The Lord Saves

⁸ Do not have joy over me, you who hate me. When I fall, I will rise. Even though I am in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ⁹ I will suffer under the Lord’s anger, because I have sinned against Him, until He speaks for me and does what is fair for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His saving power. ¹⁰ Then the one who hated me will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will look on her, and she will be crushed under foot like mud in the streets. ¹¹ It will be a day for building your walls. At that time your land will be made larger. ¹² In that day people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, from Egypt to the Euphrates River, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. ¹³ The earth will be laid waste because of its people and the things they have done.

The Lord’s Loving-Kindness for Israel

¹⁴ Shepherd Your people with Your power. Take care of Your chosen flock which lives by itself in the woods, in a field of much fruit. Let them eat in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago. ¹⁵ “As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show you powerful works.” ¹⁶ Nations will see and be ashamed of all their power. They will put their hands on their mouths, and will not be able to hear with their ears. ¹⁷ They will eat the dust like a snake, like animals that move along the ground. They will come out of their strong-places shaking with fear. They will come in much fear to the Lord our God, and they will be afraid of You. ¹⁸ Who is a God like You, Who forgives sin and the wrong-doing of Your chosen people who are left? He does not stay angry forever because He is happy to show loving-kindness. ¹⁹ He will again have loving-pity on us. He will crush our sins under foot. Yes, You will throw all our sins into the deep sea. ²⁰ You will be true to Jacob and show loving-kindness to Abraham, as You promised our fathers in days long ago.

1 This is the word about Nineveh, the book of the special dream of Nahum the Elkoshite.

God’s Anger against Nineveh

² The Lord is a jealous God and One Who punishes. The Lord punishes and is angry. The Lord punishes those who fight against Him. He is angry with those who hate Him. ³ The Lord is slow to anger and great in power. The Lord will be sure to punish the guilty. The way He punishes is in the strong-wind and storm. The clouds are the dust under His feet. ⁴ He speaks sharp words to the sea and makes it dry. He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel dry up. The flowers of Lebanon dry up. ⁵ Mountains shake because of Him, and the hills melt. The earth is laid waste before Him, the world and everyone in it. ⁶ Who can stand before His anger? Who can live through the burning of His anger? His anger is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken up by Him. ⁷ The Lord is good, a safe place in times of trouble. And He knows those who come to Him to be safe. ⁸ But He will put an end to Nineveh by making a flood flow over it. And He will drive those who hate Him into darkness.

⁹ Whatever plan you make against the Lord, He will destroy it. Trouble will not come a second time. ¹⁰ They are like thorns that tie themselves together, like those who are drunk with strong drink. They are destroyed like dry grass. ¹¹ From you one has come who makes sinful plans against the Lord, one who talks about sinful things to do. ¹² The Lord says, “Even if they are strong and many, they will be destroyed and pass away. I have brought trouble to you, O Judah, but I will not bring you trouble any more. ¹³ Now I will break his load off your shoulders and tear off your chains.”

¹⁴ The Lord has said this about you: “You will have no one to carry on your name. I will destroy the false gods and objects of worship from the house of your gods. I will make your grave ready, for you are very sinful.”

¹⁵ See, on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news and speaks of peace! Keep your special suppers, O Judah. Keep your promises. For the sinful one will never come against you again. He is destroyed.

Nineveh Is Destroyed

2 The one who destroys has come against you, O Nineveh. Put men on the battle-walls. Watch the road. Be strong. Be ready for battle. ² For the Lord will make Jacob great again, like the greatness of Israel, even when destroyers have destroyed them and their vine branches.

³ The battle-coverings of his strong men are red. His men of war are dressed in red. The war-wagons shine like fire when they are made ready. The cypress spears are waved. ⁴ The war-wagons race in the streets. They rush through the city. They look like fire and move like lightning. ⁵ The leaders are called. They lose their step as they go, and hurry to the wall. The battle-covering is set up. ⁶ The river gates are opened, and the king’s house falls down. ⁷ The city is laid waste and the people are carried away. Her women servants are crying like doves, beating on their breasts.

⁸ Nineveh is like a pool, where water runs away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry. But no one turns back. ⁹ Take the silver! Take the gold! For there is no end of the riches, every kind of thing of great worth. ¹⁰ Everything has been taken from her! Yes, she is an empty waste! Hearts are melting in fear and knees are knocking! All bodies suffer, and all their faces turn white! ¹¹ Where is the home of the lions, the place where they feed their young, where the male and female and young lions went, with nothing to be afraid of? ¹² The lion killed enough for his young, and for his female lions. He filled his home with food, with torn flesh. ¹³ “I am against you,” says the Lord of All. “I will burn up your war-wagons in smoke. A sword will destroy your young lions. I will cut off your food from the land. And the voice of your men who came with news will never be heard again.”

It Is Bad for Nineveh

3 It is bad for the city of blood, full of lies and stolen riches! There is no end of her prizes of war! ² The noise of the whip, the noise of the wheel, running horses and rolling war-wagons! ³ Horsemen rushing to battle, swords and spears shining, many dead, too many dead bodies to number! They fall over the dead bodies! ⁴ All this is because of the many sins of the woman who sells the use of her body. She tempts with her beauty and uses witchcraft. She sells nations by her sinful acts, and families by her witchcraft. ⁵ “I am against you,” says the Lord of All. “I will lift up your clothing over your face and let the nations see your body. The nations will see your shame. ⁶ I will throw dirt on you and make you unclean. People will look at you and see how bad you are. ⁷ All who see you will leave you and say, ‘Nineveh is destroyed! Who will have sorrow for her?’ Where can I find anyone to comfort you?”

⁸ Are you better than Thebes, which is by the Nile River? Water was all around her. The sea kept her safe, for the water was her wall. ⁹ Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, with too many to number. Put and Lubim were among her helpers. ¹⁰ Yet she was taken away to a strange land. She was taken away in chains. Her small children were beaten to death at every street corner. They drew names to see who would get her men of honor. And all her great men were put in chains. ¹¹ You also will become drunk. You will be hidden. You will look for a safe place from those who hate you. ¹² All your strong towers are like fig trees with first-fruits. When they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the one who eats them. ¹³ Your soldiers are all women. The gates of your land are opened wide to those who hate you. Fire destroys your gates. ¹⁴ Store up water to drink when you are shut in by armies! Make your walls stronger! Go into the clay to make more clay blocks for building! ¹⁵ There the fire will destroy you. The sword will kill you. It will destroy you like the locust.

Make yourselves as many as the locusts, as many as the flying locusts. ¹⁶ You have more traders than the stars of heaven. The locust destroys everything from the land and flies away. ¹⁷ Your watchmen are like the flying locusts. Your leaders are like clouds of locusts. They stay in the stone walls on a cold day. When the sun rises they fly away and no one knows where they are. ¹⁸ Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria. Your leaders are lying down. Your people have gone everywhere on the mountains. And there is no one to gather them together again. ¹⁹ Nothing can heal your hurt. Your sore cannot be cured. All who hear about you will clap their hands over you. For who has not suffered under your sinful ways again and again?