Don’t mess with God
1Nahum, from Elkosh, [1] had a vision about Nineveh. [2] The message he received is recorded in this book.2God expects loyalty.
He punishes people who make him angry.
The LORD is hard on his enemies.
He makes them pay.
3The LORD is slow to get angry.
But though he’s patient, he’s powerful, too.
He won’t give guilty people a pass.
He rides on winds of the storm.
He leaves clouds in his wake
As the dust from his feet.
4He scolds the sea and dries it.
He drains the rivers into walking trails.
He wilts the fields of Bashan [3] and Carmel [4]
And fades the flowers of Lebanon.
5Mountains tremble in front of him.
Hills collapse and fall.
The ground heaves in rolling quakes,
Shaking the earth and all upon it.
6Who could handle the heat of his anger?
Who could survive its fire?
He pours wrath like buckets of flame.
Rocks crumble into the dust.
God is our safehouse
7The LORD is good.He’s our safehouse in dangerous times.
He protects those who come to him.
8He’ll order a flood to wipe out the enemy. [5]
He’ll send them running to darkness.
Trying to outsmart God
9Why do they try to outsmart the LORD?He’ll beat them every time.
Then when he’s done,
They’re done for good.
No second chance for them.
10He’ll leave them as staggering drunks,
Pitiful souls tangled in thorns,
Destroyed like straw in a blaze.
11The troublemaker [6] is gone,
The evil one who tried and failed
To maneuver the LORD.
Your strong enemy will drop and die
12Here’s what the LORD says:Your enemy is strong,
And there are a lot of them.
But they’re going to drop and die.
I used them to punish you.[7]
But I won’t do that anymore.
13Your enemy locked a yoke around your neck,
And drives you like an ox.
I’m removing the yoke
And setting you free.
14The LORD issued this order about the enemy:
Your families will die,
Temples collapse,
Carved idols disappear.
I’m preparing a grave for you now
Because you’re worth nothing
But a hole in the ground.
15Look there on the hills.
A messenger is coming.
He’s going to deliver good news.
Go ahead, Judah, celebrate your festivals.
Make your vows to the LORD.
Your enemy will never come back.
They are as good as dead and gone for good.
