God Is Awesome

1The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

2A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;

The Lord is avenging and wrathful.

The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,

And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

3The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,

And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

In whirlwind and storm is His way,

And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

4He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;

He dries up all the rivers.

Bashan and Carmel wither;

The blossoms of Lebanon wither.

5Mountains quake because of Him

And the hills dissolve;

Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence,

The world and all the inhabitants in it.

6Who can stand before His indignation?

Who can endure the burning of His anger?

His wrath is poured out like fire

And the rocks are broken up by Him.

7The Lord is good,

A stronghold in the day of trouble,

And He knows those who take refuge in Him.

8But with an overflowing flood

He will make a complete end of its site,

And will pursue His enemies into darkness.

9Whatever you devise against the Lord,

He will make a complete end of it.

Distress will not rise up twice.

10Like tangled thorns,

And like those who are drunken with their drink,

They are consumed

As stubble completely withered.

11From you has gone forth

One who plotted evil against the Lord,

A wicked counselor.

12Thus says the Lord,

“Though they are at full strength and likewise many,

Even so, they will be cut off and pass away.

Though I have afflicted you,

I will afflict you no longer.

13So now, I will break his yoke bar from upon you,

And I will tear off your shackles.”

14The Lord has issued a command concerning you:

“Your name will no longer be perpetuated.

I will cut off idol and image

From the house of your gods.

I will prepare your grave,

For you are contemptible.”

15Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news,

Who announces peace!

Celebrate your feasts, O Judah;

Pay your vows.

For never again will the wicked one pass through you;

He is cut off completely.

The Overthrow of Nineveh

1The one who scatters has come up against you.

Man the fortress, watch the road;

Strengthen your back, summon all your strength.

2For the Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob

Like the splendor of Israel,

Even though devastators have devastated them

And destroyed their vine branches.

3The shields of his mighty men are colored red,

The warriors are dressed in scarlet,

The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel

When he is prepared to march,

And the cypress spears are brandished.

4The chariots race madly in the streets,

They rush wildly in the squares,

Their appearance is like torches,

They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.

5He remembers his nobles;

They stumble in their march,

They hurry to her wall,

And the mantelet is set up.

6The gates of the rivers are opened

And the palace is dissolved.

7It is fixed:

She is stripped, she is carried away,

And her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves,

Beating on their breasts.

8Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,

Now they are fleeing;

“Stop, stop,”

But no one turns back.

9Plunder the silver!

Plunder the gold!

For there is no limit to the treasure—

Wealth from every kind of desirable object.

10She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste!

Hearts are melting and knees knocking!

Also anguish is in the whole body

And all their faces are grown pale!

11Where is the den of the lions

And the feeding place of the young lions,

Where the lion, lioness and lion’s cub prowled,

With nothing to disturb them?

12The lion tore enough for his cubs,

Killed enough for his lionesses,

And filled his lairs with prey

And his dens with torn flesh.

13“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”

Nineveh’s Complete Ruin

1Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;

Her prey never departs.

2The noise of the whip,

The noise of the rattling of the wheel,

Galloping horses

And bounding chariots!

3Horsemen charging,

Swords flashing, spears gleaming,

Many slain, a mass of corpses,

And countless dead bodies—

They stumble over the dead bodies!

4All because of the many harlotries of the harlot,

The charming one, the mistress of sorceries,

Who sells nations by her harlotries

And families by her sorceries.

5“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts;

“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,

And show to the nations your nakedness

And to the kingdoms your disgrace.

6I will throw filth on you

And make you vile,

And set you up as a spectacle.

7And it will come about that all who see you

Will shrink from you and say,

‘Nineveh is devastated!

Who will grieve for her?’

Where will I seek comforters for you?”

8Are you better than No-amon,

Which was situated by the waters of the Nile,

With water surrounding her,

Whose rampart was the sea,

Whose wall consisted of the sea?

9Ethiopia was her might,

And Egypt too, without limits.

Put and Lubim were among her helpers.

10Yet she became an exile,

She went into captivity;

Also her small children were dashed to pieces

At the head of every street;

They cast lots for her honorable men,

And all her great men were bound with fetters.

11You too will become drunk,

You will be hidden.

You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.

12All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit—

When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.

13Behold, your people are women in your midst!

The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;

Fire consumes your gate bars.

14Draw for yourself water for the siege!

Strengthen your fortifications!

Go into the clay and tread the mortar!

Take hold of the brick mold!

15There fire will consume you,

The sword will cut you down;

It will consume you as the locust does.

Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,

Multiply yourself like the swarming locust.

16You have increased your traders more than the stars of heaven—

The creeping locust strips and flies away.

17Your guardsmen are like the swarming locust.

Your marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers

Settling in the stone walls on a cold day.

The sun rises and they flee,

And the place where they are is not known.

18Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria;

Your nobles are lying down.

Your people are scattered on the mountains

And there is no one to regather them.

19There is no relief for your breakdown,

Your wound is incurable.

All who hear about you

Will clap their hands over you,

For on whom has not your evil passed continually?

The Seventh Seal—the Trumpets

1When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

3Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. 4And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. 5Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

6And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.

7The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

8The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, 9and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. 11The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.

12The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.

13Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

PSALM 136

Thanks for the Lord’s Goodness to Israel.

1Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

2Give thanks to the God of gods,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

3Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

4To Him who alone does great wonders,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

5To Him who made the heavens with skill,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

6To Him who spread out the earth above the waters,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

7To Him who made the great lights,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting:

8The sun to rule by day,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

9The moon and stars to rule by night,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

10To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

11And brought Israel out from their midst,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

12With a strong hand and an outstretched arm,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

13To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

14And made Israel pass through the midst of it,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

15But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

16To Him who led His people through the wilderness,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

17To Him who smote great kings,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

18And slew mighty kings,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting:

19Sihon, king of the Amorites,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

20And Og, king of Bashan,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

21And gave their land as a heritage,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

22Even a heritage to Israel His servant,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

23Who remembered us in our low estate,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting,

24And has rescued us from our adversaries,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting;

25Who gives food to all flesh,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

26Give thanks to the God of heaven,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

7Two things I asked of You,

Do not refuse me before I die:

8Keep deception and lies far from me,

Give me neither poverty nor riches;

Feed me with the food that is my portion,

9That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or that I not be in want and steal,

And profane the name of my God.