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1This is a message that God showed as a vision to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh. It is a message about the people of Nineveh.[#1:1 Elkosh was a town in Judah.]
2The Lord wants people to worship only him.[#1:2 When we write like this, it is a special name for God. Sometimes people write it as ‘Yahweh’, or as ‘Jehovah’. It is his own name that he told Moses. See Exodus 3:14. It means ‘I am who I am’. This shows that God has always been there and he always will be there.]
If people turn against him, he punishes them.
He becomes very angry with his enemies.
He pays them back as they deserve .
He continues to be angry with his enemies
until their punishment is complete.
3The Lord does not quickly become angry,
but he is a very powerful God.
If people are guilty ,
he will surely punish them.
You can see his power in the wind and the storms.
The clouds are like dust under his feet.
4When he shouts a command at the sea, it becomes dry!
He causes water in the rivers to disappear too.
The grass in the fields of Bashan and Carmel starts to die.
The flowers of Lebanon die too.
5He causes the mountains and the hills to shake .
The earth shakes as he appears.
His power causes all the people in the world to shake.
6When the Lord is angry, nobody can stop him.
His great anger can destroy anyone.
He pours out his anger like flames of fire.
It causes rocks to break into pieces.
7The Lord is good!
He is a safe place for his people
when trouble comes to them.
He takes care of people who trust him.
8But he will quickly destroy Nineveh.
He will chase his enemies to a dark place of death.
9Any plan that you make to hurt the Lord will be useless .
He will only need to punish you once
and that will be the end of you!
10He will completely destroy his enemies.
They will be like thorn bushes that a fire quickly destroys.
They will be like wine that a drunk man quickly finishes.
They will be like dry straw that a fire completely burns.
11Someone who makes wicked plans has come out from you, Nineveh.
He wants to do evil things against the Lord .
12This is what the Lord says:
‘The people of Assyria are very many
and they have a powerful army.
But I will destroy them
so that they disappear .
I have caused you, my people, to suffer ,
but I will not punish you any more.
13Now I will make you free from Assyria's power.
I will break the chains that they have put on you, as their slaves.’
14The Lord has spoken this command about you, king of Assyria. He says,
‘You will have no descendants
and your family name will disappear.
I will destroy the idols and the images
that you worship in the temple of your gods.
I will prepare your grave
because you are a useless king.’
15People of Judah, look towards the mountains!
A messenger is coming with good news for you.
He brings a message about peace .
So you can have your special festivals again now.
You can bring your offerings that you have promised to give to God.
Those wicked people will not attack you any more.
God has completely destroyed them.