Nahum 1-3
1 The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2 God is jealous, and the Lord is an avenger; the Lord is avenging with fury; the Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and drives out His enemies. 3 The Lord is patient and His power is great, but the Lord will not acquit the guilty. His way is in destruction and in a whirlwind; the clouds are the dust of His feet. 4 He threatens the sea and makes it dry, and he dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel have diminished, and the flowers of Lebanon have died out. 5 By Him the mountains are shaken and the hills quake, and the earth heaves at His presence—the whole earth and all who dwell in it. 6 Who can stand before His wrath? Who can withstand the fierceness of His anger? His fury melts away ruling powers, and He shatters the rocks into pieces.
7 The Lord is merciful to those who wait on Him in the day of affliction, and He knows those who reverence Him. 8 For with an overwhelming flood He shall make an end to those rising up, and darkness will pursue His enemies. 9 What do you plot against the Lord? He shall bring about a complete end to it; He will not twice punish with affliction for the same thing, 10 for the enemy shall be laid bare even to the foundations, and consumed as twisted yew, even as fully dried stubble.
11 From out of you shall come forth a plot against the Lord, counseling things hostile to Him. 12 Thus says the Lord who rules over many waters: “In the same manner you will be torn apart, and the report of you will no longer be heard. 13 And now I will break his rod from off you, and I will break your bonds.” 14 The Lord shall Himself give a command concerning you: “Your name shall be perpetuated no longer. I will utterly destroy the graven and molten images out of the house of your god. I shall dig your grave, and that quickly!”
The Judgment of Nineveh
1 Behold, on the mountains the feet of him that brings good tidings and proclaims peace. O Judah, celebrate your feasts, pay your vows; for in no way shall they pass through you as one who is beaten. He is completely destroyed; he has been removed. 2 The one being delivered from affliction has come up breathing in your presence. Watch the road, gird your loins, and be valiant in your strength!
3 For the Lord has turned away the pride of Jacob, just as He did the pride of Israel, for the shakers have shaken them off and completely destroyed their branches. 4 The weapons of their power from men—mocking mighty men with fire, the reins of their chariots in the day of their readiness, and their horsemen—shall be thrown into a state of confusion 5 in the streets, and the chariots shall clash and become entangled with one another in the broad roads. Their appearance is as torches of fire and flashing lightning. 6 And their great men will be remembered, and they will flee by day. They will be weak as they go on their way; they will hasten to the walls, and they will prepare their advance defenses.
7 The gates of the rivers have been opened, and the palaces have fallen into ruin, 8 and the foundation has been exposed. She has gone up, and her bondwomen were led away as doves moaning in their hearts. 9 And as for Nineveh, her waters are as a pool of water, and fleeing away, they did not stand; there was no one paying attention.
10 They were plundering the silver, they were plundering the gold—and there was no end of her treasures; they have been weighed down by all her precious things. 11 There is thrusting, shaking, and tumult, and breaking of hearts and weakening of knees, agony in every loin, and the face of each one appearing as the blackening of a pot.
12 Where is the dwelling place of the lions and the feeding place for her cubs? Where did the lion go, that the lion’s cub should go where there is none to scare him away? 13 The lion carried off sufficient prey for his cubs, and he strangled prey for his lions and filled his lair with prey, even his dwelling-place of plunder. 14 “Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord Almighty; “I shall burn up your multitude in smoke, and the sword will devour your lions. I shall utterly destroy your prey from the land, and your deeds shall never again be heard.”
The Wickedness of Nineveh
1 O city of blood, totally false and full of unrighteousness: the prey will not be touched. 2 The cracking of whips and the sound of rumbling wheels, the galloping horses and bounding chariots, 3 cavalrymen in full charge with the glistening of swords and the glittering of weapons, a multitude of wounded and of heavy falling; and there was no end to her nations, but they will be weak in their bodies 4 because of the abundance of sexual immorality. She is a prostitute who is cultured and pleasing, skilled in the art of sorcery, selling the nations with her sexual immorality and the people by her sorceries.
5 “Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord God Almighty. “I shall uncover your backside in your presence, and I shall make known your shame to the nations and your disgrace to the kingdoms. 6 I shall cast abominable filth upon you according to your uncleanness, and I shall cause you to be a public example. 7 And it will be that all who see you will turn away from you and say, ‘Wretched Nineveh, who shall lament her? Where shall I seek consolation for her?’ ”
8 Prepare yourself a portion, tune the string of the lyre, and prepare a portion for Amon, the one dwelling by the rivers with the river round about her, whose dominion is the sea and the water her walls. 9 Ethiopia is her strength, and Egypt as well, and there is no limit to her flight, and the Libyans became her helper. 10 And she will go into captivity as a prisoner, and they will dash her infants to the ground at the heads of all the streets; they will cast lots over all her splendid things, and all her nobles will be bound in chains. 11 And you will become drunk and be disregarded. You will seek for yourself a place of refuge from your enemies. 12 All your strongholds are as fig trees having a watchman: if shaken, they will fall into the mouth of the eater! 13 Behold, your people are as women among you. The gates of your land shall be wide open to your enemies, and fire will destroy the bars of your gates.
14 Draw water for the siege and fortify your strongholds. Trample the clay and tread it with straw; make it stronger than brick. 15 There the fire will devour you, and the sword will utterly destroy you. It will devour you as a locust, and you will be oppressed as a locust. 16 You have multiplied your commerce beyond the stars of heaven; the locust has attacked and flown away. 17 As a grasshopper, your crowd of half-breeds has suddenly left, as a locust perched on a hedge on a frosty morning; the sun rises and it flies away. It does not know its place. Woe to them! 18 Your shepherds slumber; the king of Assyria put your nobles to rest; your people departed to the mountains, and there was no one expecting them. 19 There is no healing your destruction. Your wound is festering. All those hearing the news of you shall clap their hands over you, for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?
Psalm 93:1–15
1 A psalm by David; for the fourth day of the week.
The Lord is the God of vengeance;
The God of vengeance declares Himself boldly.
2 Be exalted, O You who judge the earth;
Render the arrogant their reward.
3 How long will sinners, O Lord,
How long will sinners boast,
4 How long will they utter and speak wrongdoing,
How long will all who work lawlessness speak?
5 They humbled Your people, O Lord,
And they maltreated Your inheritance;
6 They killed the widow and the resident alien,
And they murdered the orphans,
7 And said, “The Lord will not see;
Nor will the God of Jacob understand.”
8 Now understand, all you without discernment among the people,
And all you fools, at length be discerning.
9 He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?
Or He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
10 He who chastises the nations, shall He not reprove them,
He who teaches man knowledge?
11 The Lord knows the thoughts of men are vain.
12 Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord,
And whom You teach from Your law,
13 So You may give him rest from evil days,
Until a pit is dug for the sinner.
14 For the Lord will not reject His people,
And He will not forsake His inheritance
15 Until righteousness returns to judgment,
And all the upright in heart possess it.
(Pause)
Proverbs 20:6–10
6 Man is important, and a man who shows mercy is noble,
But it is difficult to find a faithful man.
7 He who lives blamelessly in righteousness,
He will leave blessed children behind him.
8 When a righteous king sits upon the throne,
No evil thing can oppose his presence.
9 Who will boast about having a pure heart?
Or who will declare boldly being clean from sins?
10 The lamp of him who reviles his father or mother shall be put out,
And the pupils of his eyes shall see darkness.
2 Thessalonians 3
1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you,
2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.
3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
4 And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you.
5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
Warning Against Idleness
6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you;
8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you,
9 not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.
12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.
15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
Benediction
16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
17 The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.