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Nahum 1

1:1 God's Mercy and Judgment

The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2 God's Wrath on His Enemies

God is jealous, and the LORD avenges;The LORD avenges and is furious.The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries,And He reserves wrath for His enemies; 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,And will not at all acquit the wicked.
The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm,And the clouds are the dust of His feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,And dries up all the rivers.Bashan and Carmel wither,And the flower of Lebanon wilts. 5 The mountains quake before Him,The hills melt,And the earth heaves at His presence,Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.
6 Who can stand before His indignation?And who can endure the fierceness of His anger?His fury is poured out like fire,And the rocks are thrown down by Him.
7 The LORD is good,A stronghold in the day of trouble;And He knows those who trust in Him. 8 But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place,And darkness will pursue His enemies.
9 What do you conspire against the LORD?He will make an utter end of it.Affliction will not rise up a second time. 10 For while tangled like thorns,And while drunken like drunkards,They shall be devoured like stubble fully dried. 11 From you comes forth oneWho plots evil against the LORD,A wicked counselor.
12 Thus says the LORD:
"Though they are safe, and likewise many,Yet in this manner they will be cut down When he passes through.Though I have afflicted you,I will afflict you no more; 13 For now I will break off his yoke from you,And burst your bonds apart."
14 The LORD has given a command concerning you:"Your name shall be perpetuated no longer.Out of the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the molded image.I will dig your grave,For you are vile."
15 Behold, on the mountains The feet of him who brings good tidings,Who proclaims peace!O Judah, keep your appointed feasts,Perform your vows.For the wicked one shall no more pass through you;He is utterly cut off.

Nahum 2

2:1 The Destruction of Nineveh

He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort!Watch the road!Strengthen your flanks!Fortify your power mightily.
2 For the LORD will restore the excellence of JacobLike the excellence of Israel,For the emptiers have emptied them out And ruined their vine branches.
3 The shields of his mighty men are made red,The valiant men are in scarlet.The chariots come with flaming torches In the day of his preparation,And the spears are brandished. 4 The chariots rage in the streets,They jostle one another in the broad roads;They seem like torches,They run like lightning.
5 He remembers his nobles;They stumble in their walk;They make haste to her walls,And the defense is prepared. 6 The gates of the rivers are opened,And the palace is dissolved. 7 It is decreed: She shall be led away captive,She shall be brought up;And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves,Beating their breasts.
8 Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,Now they flee away.'Halt! Halt!" they cry;But no one turns back. 9 Take spoil of silver!Take spoil of gold!There is no end of treasure,Or wealth of every desirable prize. 10 She is empty, desolate, and waste!The heart melts, and the knees shake;Much pain is in every side,And all their faces are drained of color.
11 Where is the dwelling of the lions,And the feeding place of the young lions,Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion's cub,And no one made them afraid? 12 The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs,Killed for his lionesses,Filled his caves with prey,And his dens with flesh.
13 "Behold, I am against you," says the LORD of hosts, "I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more."

Nahum 3

3:1 The Woe of Nineveh

Woe to the bloody city!It is all full of lies and robbery.Its victim never departs. 2 The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels,Of galloping horses,Of clattering chariots! 3 Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear.There is a multitude of slain,A great number of bodies,Countless corpses — They stumble over the corpses — 4 Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot,The mistress of sorceries,Who sells nations through her harlotries,And families through her sorceries.
5 "Behold, I am against you," says the LORD of hosts;"I will lift your skirts over your face,I will show the nations your nakedness,And the kingdoms your shame. 6 I will cast abominable filth upon you,Make you vile,And make you a spectacle. 7 It shall come to pass that all who look upon you Will flee from you, and say,'Nineveh is laid waste!Who will bemoan her?'Where shall I seek comforters for you?"
8 Are you better than No Amon That was situated by the River, That had the waters around her,Whose rampart was the sea,Whose wall was the sea? 9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,And it was boundless;Put and Lubim were your helpers. 10 Yet she was carried away,She went into captivity;Her young children also were dashed to pieces At the head of every street;They cast lots for her honorable men,And all her great men were bound in chains. 11 You also will be drunk;You will be hidden;You also will seek refuge from the enemy.
12 All your strongholds are fig trees with ripened figs:If they are shaken,They fall into the mouth of the eater. 13 Surely, your people in your midst are women!The gates of your land are wide open for your enemies;Fire shall devour the bars of your gates.
14 Draw your water for the siege!Fortify your strongholds!Go into the clay and tread the mortar!Make strong the brick kiln! 15 There the fire will devour you,The sword will cut you off;It will eat you up like a locust.
Make yourself many — like the locust!Make yourself many — like the swarming locusts! 16 You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven.The locust plunders and flies away. 17 Your commanders are like swarming locusts,And your generals like great grasshoppers,Which camp in the hedges on a cold day;When the sun rises they flee away,And the place where they are is not known.
18 Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria;Your nobles rest in the dust.Your people are scattered on the mountains,And no one gathers them. 19 Your injury has no healing,Your wound is severe.All who hear news of you Will clap their hands over you,For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2

2 Thessalonians 2

2:1 The Great Apostasy

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 Stand Fast

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

NAHUM

The book of Nahum was written approximately 150 years after the recorded events in the book of Jonah. During that period of time, Nineveh had turned from its repentant attitude and had taken the Northern Kingdom of Israel into captivity. Whereas Jonah proclaimed a message of mercy and repentance, Nahum proclaimed an indictment of doom upon Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. They who were once used as God's tool against the people of Israel and Jerusalem, would now be destroyed because of their great wickedness.

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