Nahum 3 - Legacy Standard Bible

Nahum 3

Woe to Nineveh

Woe to the city of bloodshed, completely full of deception and pillage;

Her prey never departs.

The sound of the whip,

And the sound of the rumbling of the wheel,

Galloping horses,

And bounding chariots!

Horsemen charging,

And swords flaming, and spears flashing,

Many slain, a mass of corpses,

And there is no end to dead bodies—

They stumble over the dead bodies!

All because of the many harlotries of the harlot,

The charming one, the mistress of sorceries,

Who sells nations by her harlotries

And families by her sorceries.

“Behold, I am against you,” declares Yahweh of hosts;

“And I will uncover your skirts over your face

And show to the nations your nakedness

And to the kingdoms your disgrace.

I will throw detestable filth on you

And display you as a wicked fool

And set you up as a spectacle.

And it will be that all who see you

Will flee from you and say,

‘Nineveh is devastated!

Who will console her?’

Where will I seek comforters for you?”

Are you better than No‑amon,

Which sits along the waters of the Nile,

With water surrounding her,

Whose rampart was the sea,

Whose wall consisted of the sea?

Ethiopia was her might,

And Egypt too, without end.

Put and Lubim were among her helpers.

Yet she became an exile;

She went into captivity;

Also her infants were dashed to pieces

At the head of every street;

They cast lots for her honorable men,

And all her great men were bound with fetters.

You too will become drunk;

You will be hidden.

You too will search for a strong defense from the enemy.

All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit—

When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.

Behold, your people are women in your midst!

The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;

Fire consumes your gate bars.

Draw for yourself water for the siege!

Strengthen your fortifications!

Go into the clay and tread the mortar!

Take hold of the brick mold!

There, fire will consume you;

The sword will cut you down;

It will consume you as the locust does.

Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,

Multiply yourself like the swarming locust.

You have increased your traders more than the stars of heaven—

The creeping locust strips and flies away.

Your guardsmen are like the swarming locust.

Your marshals are like a locust‑swarm

Encamping in the stone walls on a cold day.

The sun rises, and they flee,

And the place where they are is not known.

Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria;

Your mighty ones are lying down.

Your people are scattered on the mountains,

And there is no one to regather them.

There is no relief for your breakdown,

Your wound is incurable.

All who hear the report about you

Will clap their hands over you,

For on whom has not your evil passed continually?

Zephaniah 1

Yahweh Will End All Things

The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah: 2

“I will completely end all things

From the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.

“I will end man and beast;

I will end the birds of the sky

And the fish of the sea

And the ruins along with the wicked;

And I will cut off man from the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.

“So I will stretch out My hand against Judah

And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place,

And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,

And those who worship on the housetops the host of heaven,

And those who worship and swear to Yahweh and yet swear by Milcom,

And those who have turned back from following Yahweh,

And those who have not sought Yahweh or inquired of Him.”

The Day of Yahweh Is Near

Be silent before Lord Yahweh!

For the day of Yahweh is near,

For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice;

He has set apart His guests.

“Then it will be on the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice

That I will punish the princes, the king’s sons,

And all who clothe themselves with foreign garments.

And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold,

Who fill the house of their Lord with violence and deceit.

And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,

“That there will be the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate

And a wail from the Second Quarter

And a great destruction from the hills.

Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar,

For all the people of Canaan will be silenced;

All who weigh out silver will be cut off.

And it will be at that time

That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

And I will punish the men

Who are stagnant in spirit,

Who say in their hearts,

‘Yahweh will not do good or evil!’

And it will be that their wealth will become spoil

And their houses desolate;

Indeed, they will build houses but not inhabit them,

And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”

Near is the great day of Yahweh,

Near and coming very quickly;

O the sound, the day of Yahweh!

In it the mighty man cries out bitterly.

A day of fury is that day,

A day of trouble and distress,

A day of destruction and desolation,

A day of darkness and thick darkness,

A day of clouds and dense gloom,

A day of trumpet and loud shouting

Against the fortified cities

And the high corner towers.

I will bring distress on men

So that they will walk like the blind

Because they have sinned against Yahweh;

And their blood will be poured out like dust

And their flesh like dung.

Neither their silver nor their gold

Will be able to deliver them

On the day of the fury of Yahweh;

And all the earth will be devoured

In the fire of His jealousy,

For He will make a complete destruction,

Indeed a terrifying one,

Of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Acts 18 - 19

In Corinth

After these things he departed Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, and his wife Priscilla, who recently came from Italy because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them, 3 and because he was of the same trade, he was staying with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. 4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks. 5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly bearing witness to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. 6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a God-fearer, whose house was next to the synagogue. 8 And Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no man will lay a hand on you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12 But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, 13 saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; 15 but if there are questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am not willing to be a judge of these matters.” 16 And he drove them away from the judgment seat. 17 And they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos

18 And Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brothers and put out to sea for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow. 19 And they arrived at Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, 21 but taking leave of them and saying, “I will return to you again if God wills,” he set sail from Ephesus. 22 And when he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch. 23 And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. 24 Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, arrived at Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; 26 and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

Paul in Ephesus

Now it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus and found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard if the Holy Spirit is being received.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Then Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. 7 Now there were in all about twelve men. 8 And after he entered the synagogue, he continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were becoming hardened and were not believing, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he left them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles in Ephesus

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that cloths or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. 13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I implore you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Now seven sons of one named Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them, subdued all of them, and utterly prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 Also, many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and were burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.

Riots in Ephesus

21 Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. 23 Now about that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; 25 these he gathered together with the workers of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is from this business. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable crowd, saying that things made with hands are not gods. 27 And not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be considered as worthless and that she, whom all of Asia and the world worship, is even about to be brought down from her majesty.” 28 When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 And the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia. 30 And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, the disciples would not let him. 31 Also some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater. 32 So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the meeting was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together. 33 And some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single cry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 35 Now after calming the crowd, the city clerk *said, “Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven? 36 So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful meeting. 40 For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no cause for which we can give as an account for this disorderly gathering.” 41 After saying this he dismissed the meeting.

Psalm 90

From Everlasting to Everlasting, You Are God

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Lord, You have been our dwelling place from generation to generation.

Before the mountains were born

Or You brought forth the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

You turn man back into dust

And say, “Return, O sons of men.”

For a thousand years in Your sight

Are like yesterday when it passes by,

Or as a watch in the night.

You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;

In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.

In the morning it blossoms and sprouts anew;

Toward evening it withers away and dries up.

For we have been consumed by Your anger

And by Your wrath we have been dismayed.

You have set our iniquities before You,

Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

For all our days have declined in Your fury;

We have finished our years like a sigh.

As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,

Or if due to might, eighty years,

Yet their pride is but labor and wickedness;

For soon it is gone and we fly away.

Who knows the power of Your anger

And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?

So teach us to number our days,

That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

Return, O Yahweh; how long will it be?

And be sorry for Your slaves.

O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,

That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us,

And the years we have seen evil.

Let Your work appear to Your slaves

And Your majesty to their sons.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;

And establish for us the work of our hands;

Establish the work of our hands.