Nahum 3: Woe to the Bloody City
A funeral lament over the city of blood, lies, and cruelty, whose wound is incurable and whose fall brings relief to all she oppressed.
Nahum 3 (WEB)
1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey doesn’t depart.
2 The noise of the whip, the noise of the rattling of wheels, prancing horses, and bounding chariots,
3 the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble on their bodies,
4 because of the multitude of the prostitution of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and families through her witchcraft.
5 “Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.
6 I will throw abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you a spectacle.
7 It will happen that all those who look at you will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will mourn for her?’ Where will I seek comforters for you?”
8 Are you better than No-Amon, who was situated among the rivers, who had the waters around her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea?
9 Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength. Put and Libya were her helpers.
10 Yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 You also will be drunken. You will be hidden. You also will seek a stronghold because of the enemy.
12 All your fortresses will be like fig trees with the first-ripe figs: if they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your troops in your midst are women. The gates of your land are set wide open to your enemies. The fire has devoured your bars.
14 Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar. Make the brick kiln strong.
15 There the fire will devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the grasshopper. Multiply like grasshoppers. Multiply like the locust.
16 You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the skies. The grasshopper strips, and flees away.
17 Your guards are like the locusts, and your officials like the swarms of locusts, which settle on the walls on a cold day, but when the sun appears, they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
18 Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.
19 There is no healing your wound, for your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you; for who hasn’t felt your endless cruelty?
Nahum 3 (KJV)
1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;
2 The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
3 The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.
7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
8 Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?
9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
10 Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.
12 All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.
14 Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.
15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
Nahum 3 (ASV)
1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and rapine; the prey departeth not.
2 The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and prancing horses, and bounding chariots,
3 the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies; they stumble upon their bodies;—
4 because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
5 Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face; and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing-stock.
7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
8 Art thou better than No-amon, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea?
9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
10 Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity; her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 Thou also shalt be drunken; thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a stronghold because of the enemy.
12 All thy fortresses shall be like fig-trees with the first-ripe figs: if they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire hath devoured thy bars.
14 Draw thee water for the siege; strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar; make strong the brickkiln.
15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it shall devour thee like the canker-worm: make thyself many as the canker-worm; make thyself many as the locust.
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the canker-worm ravageth, and fleeth away.
17 Thy princes are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
19 There is no assuaging of thy hurt; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the report of thee clap their hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
Summary
Nahum cries woe over the bloody city, full of lies and robbery, where the prey never departs. He piles up the sounds of war, the crack of whips, rattling wheels, prancing horses, bounding chariots, heaps of corpses without end, all the fruit of a nation that has sold peoples through its prostitution and witchcraft. Once more comes the verdict, “Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, who will strip the city naked before the nations, throw filth upon her, and make her a shameful spectacle that all who see will flee, asking who will mourn for her. Nahum then asks whether Nineveh is any better than No-Amon, the mighty Egyptian city ringed by waters and helped by Cush, Egypt, Put, and Libya, who was nonetheless carried into captivity, her children dashed in the streets. So Nineveh too will reel like a drunkard and seek a stronghold in vain; her fortresses will fall like ripe figs into the mouth of the eater, her troops weak as women, her gates flung open, her bars devoured by fire. Though her merchants are as many as the stars and her guards like swarms of locusts, they will strip and flee away when the sun appears. The book ends with the king of Assyria's shepherds slumbering and his people scattered, and a final, fitting word: there is no healing for this wound, and all who hear of Nineveh's end clap their hands, for who has not felt her endless cruelty?
Key Figures
- Yahweh of Armies — The Lord who declares himself against the bloody city, exposing her shame before the nations and bringing her endless cruelty to an end.
- Nineveh / the king of Assyria — The city of blood, lies, and witchcraft, and her slumbering rulers, whose fall is incurable and whose people are scattered with none to gather them.
- No-Amon (Thebes) — The great Egyptian city, once mighty and well-defended, yet carried into captivity, held up as a warning that Nineveh is no safer.
- The nations — All who suffered Assyria's cruelty, who now look on her ruin, flee from her, and clap their hands in relief at her end.
Key Verse
Nahum 3:19 (WEB)
There is no healing your wound, for your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you; for who hasn’t felt your endless cruelty?
Lessons Learned
- God exposes and judges nations built on blood, deceit, and exploitation.
- No fortress, ally, or wealth can secure those who have set themselves against the Lord.
- Past power is no guarantee of future safety; the proud city follows the very nations it conquered.
- God's final judgment on persistent cruelty brings relief and justice to all who suffered under it.
- God sees the city's bloodshed. “Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery” (Nahum 3:1, WEB). The Lord is not blind to violence and deceit; he names it and will judge it.
- The proud will be publicly shamed. “I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame” (Nahum 3:5, WEB). What was exalted in pride will be exposed in disgrace.
- Other empires' falls are warnings. “Are you better than No-Amon…?” (Nahum 3:8, WEB). The ruin of mighty cities before us should sober every nation that trusts in its strength.
- Cruelty meets a just and final end. “There is no healing your wound… for who hasn’t felt your endless cruelty?” (Nahum 3:19, WEB). God's justice answers the suffering of the oppressed.
- How does Nahum describe the sins of Nineveh in this chapter, and why does he call it the “bloody city” (3:1)?
- What is the point of comparing Nineveh to No-Amon (3:8-10), and what warning does it carry?
- The chapter lists Nineveh's merchants, guards, and officials (3:16-17), yet they all flee away. What does this say about relying on numbers and resources?
- Why do you think the book ends with people clapping their hands over Nineveh's fall (3:19)?
- This is a hard chapter about judgment. How does it comfort those who have suffered cruelty, and where do you long to see God set things right?
- Nahum names lies, robbery, ceaseless prey, and the seduction and enslavement of nations through “prostitution” and “witchcraft” (3:1-4). The phrase “bloody city” captures Assyria's notorious violence, the heaps of corpses left in its wake. God's woe is a moral verdict on a culture built on cruelty and deceit.
- No-Amon (Thebes) was a great Egyptian city, ringed by waters and backed by strong allies, yet it fell and went into captivity (3:8-10). Nahum's point is plain: if such a fortress could fall, Nineveh is no safer. The fall of past empires warns every proud power not to presume on its defenses.
- Nineveh's merchants are as many as the stars and its guards like swarms of locusts, yet when the sun appears they strip and fly away, their place unknown (3:16-17). Sheer numbers and wealth provide no security against God's judgment. Real safety is never found in resources but in the Lord.
- The clapping is the relief of nations long crushed under Assyria's “endless cruelty” (3:19). It is not gloating so much as the deep exhale of victims finally set free. Help the group feel the justice in it, and to long, as the oppressed do, for the day when all cruelty is answered.
- This is a personal-application question. Acknowledge that judgment is sobering, then point to its comfort: God sees every wound inflicted on the weak and will not let cruelty stand. Invite members to bring before God the injustices that grieve them, trusting the One who judges rightly and, in Christ, will make all things new.