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city of blood

Nahum 2:1-3:4 (JDV)

Nahum 2:1 One who scatters is coming up against you. Man the fortifications! Watch the road! Brace yourself! Summon all your strength!
Nahum 2:2 Because Yahveh will restore the majesty of Jacob, yes, the majesty of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined their vine branches.
Nahum 2:3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red; the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariot flash like fire on the day of its battle preparations, and the spears are brandished.
Nahum 2:4 The chariots dash madly through the streets; they rush around in the plazas. They look like torches; they dart back and forth like lightning.
Nahum 2:5 He gives orders to his officers; they stumble as they advance. They race to its wall; the protective shield is set in place.
Nahum 2:6 The river gates are opened, and the palace erodes away.
Nahum 2:7 Beauty is stripped; she is carried away; her ladies-in-waiting moan like the sound of doves and beat their breasts.
Nahum 2:8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water from her first days, but they are fleeing. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
Nahum 2:9 “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!” There is no end to the treasure, an abundance of every precious thing.
Nahum 2:10 Desolation, decimation, devastation! Hearts melt, knees tremble, insides churn, every face grows pale!
Nahum 2:11 Where is the lions’ lair, or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled, and the lion’s cub, with nothing to frighten them away?
Nahum 2:12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed and strangled prey for its lionesses. It filled up its dens with the kill, and its lairs with mauled prey.
Nahum 2:13 Watch, I am against you. This is the declaration of Yahveh of Armies. I will make your chariots go up in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut down your prey from the land, and the sound of your messengers will never be heard again.
Nahum 3:1 Woe to the city of blood, totally deceitful, full of plunder, never without prey.
Nahum 3:2 The crack of the whip and rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and jolting chariot!
Nahum 3:3 Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end — they stumble over their dead.
Nahum 3:4 Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute, the attractive mistress of sorcery, who treats nations and clans like merchandise by her prostitution and sorcery.

city of blood

Nahum calls Nineveh the city of blood, which was probably the name given it by the Israelites and others who had felt the violence of its attacks. The prophet described in vivid detail one of its attacks, but with Nineveh as the victim. The LORD would return its violence upon its own head. The heaps of corpses would testify that the LORD does not allow such sin to go unpunished.

LORD, we fall at the foot of the cross and plead his blood as atonement for our sins. Do not give us what we deserve. Give us your grace, for we fear your justice.