Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 19 December 2020

 Running WAY behind today.  Getting to be altogether too common.  

Some things being pondered, far too early to speak of them.

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NAHUM 1

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

God’s Vengeance

2The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;

the Lord takes vengeance

and is fierce in  wrath.

The Lord takes vengeance against His foes; 

He is furious with His enemies. 

3The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;

the Lord will never leave the guilty unpunished. 

His path is in the whirlwind and storm, 

and clouds are the dust beneath His feet. 

4He rebukes the sea so that it dries up,

and He makes all the rivers run dry. 

Bashan and Carmel wither; 

even the flower of Lebanon withers.

5The mountains quake before Him,

and the hills melt;

the earth trembles   at His presence —

the world and all who live in it. 

6Who can withstand His indignation?

Who can endure His burning anger? 

His wrath is poured out like fire, 

even rocks are shattered before Him.

Destruction of Nineveh

7The Lord is good,

a stronghold in a day of distress;

He cares for those who take refuge  in Him.

8But He will completely destroy Nineveh 

with an overwhelming flood, 

and He will chase His enemies into darkness.

9Whatever you  plot against the Lord,

He will bring it to complete destruction; 

oppression will not rise up a second time.

10For they will be consumed

like entangled thorns, 

like the drink of a drunkard

and like straw that is fully dry. 

11One has gone out from you, 

who plots evil against Yahweh,

and is a wicked counselor.

Promise of Judah’s Deliverance

12This is what the Lord says:

Though they are strong  and numerous,

they will still be mowed down,

and he  will pass away.

Though I have afflicted you,  

I will afflict you no longer. 

13For I will now break off his yoke from you

and tear off your shackles.

The Assyrian King’s Demise

14The Lord has issued an order concerning you:

There will be no offspring

to carry on your name.  

I will eliminate the carved idol and cast image

from the house of your gods; 

I will prepare your grave,

for you are contemptible.

15Look to the mountains —

the feet of one bringing good news 

and proclaiming peace!

Celebrate your festivals, Judah;

fulfill your vows.

For the wicked one will never again

march through you;

he will be entirely wiped out.

NAHUM 2

Attack against Nineveh

1One who scatters is coming up against you. 

Man the fortifications!

Watch the road!

Brace  yourself!

Summon all your strength! 

2For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob, 

yes,  the majesty of Israel,

though ravagers have ravaged them 

and ruined their vine branches. 

3The 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.

4The chariots dash madly through the streets;

they rush around in the plazas.

They look like torches;

they dart back and forth like lightning.

5He gives orders to his officers;

they stumble as they advance.

They race to its wall;

the protective shield is set in place.

6The river gates are opened,

and the palace erodes away. 

7Beauty  is stripped, 

she is carried away;

her ladies-in-waiting moan

like the sound of doves, 

and beat their breasts. 

8Nineveh has been like a pool of water

from her first days, 

but they are fleeing.

“Stop! Stop! ” they cry,

but no one turns back.

9“Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! ” 

There is no end to the treasure,

an abundance of every precious thing. 

10Desolation, decimation, devastation!

Hearts melt, 

knees tremble, 

loins shake, 

every face grows pale! 

11Where 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? 

12The 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. 

13Beware, I am against you. 

This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

I will make your chariots go up in smoke 

and the sword will devour your young lions. 

I will cut off your prey from the earth,

and the sound of your messengers

will never be heard again. 

NAHUM 3

Nineveh’s Downfall

1Woe to the city of blood, 

totally deceitful,

full of plunder,

never without prey. 

2The crack of the whip

and rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse

and jolting chariot! 

3Charging horseman,

flashing sword,

shining spear;

heaps of slain,

mounds of corpses, 

dead bodies without end  —

they stumble over their dead.

4Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,

the attractive mistress of sorcery,

who betrays nations by her prostitution

and clans by her witchcraft, 

5I am against you. 

This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

I will lift your skirts over your face

and display your nakedness to nations,

your shame to kingdoms. 

6I will throw filth on you

and treat you with contempt; 

I will make a spectacle of you.

7Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying, 

“Nineveh is devastated;

who will show sympathy to her? ”

Where can I find anyone to comfort you?

8Are you better than Thebes  

that sat along the Nile

with water surrounding her,

whose rampart was the sea,

the river   her wall?

9Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;

Put and Libya were among her  allies.

10Yet she became an exile;

she went into captivity.

Her children were also dashed to pieces 

at the head of every street.

They cast lots for her dignitaries, 

and all her nobles were bound in chains.

11You  also will become drunk;

you will hide yourself. 

You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

12All your fortresses are fig trees

with figs that ripened first;

when shaken, they fall —

right into the mouth of the eater!

13Look, your troops are like women among you;

the gates of your land

are wide open to your enemies.

Fire will devour the bars of your gates.

14Draw water for the siege;

strengthen your fortresses.

Step into the clay and tread the mortar;

take hold of the brick-mold!

15The fire will devour you there;

the sword will cut you down.

It will devour you like the young locust. 

Multiply yourselves like the young locust,

multiply like the swarming locust!

16You have made your merchants 

more numerous than the stars of the sky.

The young locust strips  the land

and flies away.

17Your court officials are like the swarming locust,

and your scribes like clouds of locusts,

which settle on the walls on a cold day;

when the sun rises, they take off,

and no one knows where they are.

18King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; 

your officers sleep.

Your people are scattered across the mountains 

with no one to gather them together. 

19There is no remedy for your injury;

your wound is severe. 

All who hear the news about you

will clap their hands because of you, 

for who has not experienced

your constant cruelty?