From the Greek Septuagint text as was used by First Century Christians

Chapter 1

¹ The concern over Nineveh. This is the scroll of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

² Because He is zealous, Jehovah will punish… the Lord will punish in His rage. Jehovah will punish His opponents, and all of His enemies remove.

³ Jehovah is patient and has great strength, but the [guilty] [He] will not acquit. His ways are rumbling and final, and the clouds are as dust under His feet. ⁴ He can squeeze and dry up the seas, and [He] can desolate rivers. Thus Bashan and Carmel were weakened, and the blossoms of Lebanon have failed.

⁵ Before Him the mountains have shaken, and the hills have all trembled. Throughout the whole earth they rise at His presence, as do all who live on it.

⁶ Who can stand in the [face] of His rage… who can withstand His anger? For, His rage melts away sovereign rulers, and because of Him the rocks split apart.

⁷ Yet, Jehovah is gentle to all those who’ll wait, for Him [to act] in their day of affliction, and He knows all those who deeply respect Him.

⁸ By a downpour He’ll execute and consume, all those who’re aroused [to attack them], and His enemies will be pursued by the darkness.

⁹ What plans can you make against Jehovah? For, He Himself brings destruction. Yet, He will not punish twice, or bring affliction for the same [errors].

¹⁰ The [place] of His enemies He’ll lay bare, down to their very foundations… they’ll be consumed like twisted yew trees, and as stubble that has dried.

¹¹ Against Jehovah you have planned… wicked things you’ve plotted against Him. ¹² So, thus says Jehovah who rules many waters, ‘They will now be sent away, and not be heard from again. ¹³ I’ll remove his rod from [your backs], and I’ll remove all his shackles.’

¹⁴ It was concerning you that Jehovah said this: ‘Your name will no longer be mentioned, in the [Temple] of your God; for, I’ll destroy all your idols (those that are molded and carved), then a time to bury you will be set, and it will come very soon.’

¹⁵ {Look!} Upon the mountains are coming, the feet of [the one] who announces good news, and with reports about peace! So, call a holiday, O Judah, and render all of your vows! For, they won’t enter [your gates] anymore, and they won’t see your corruption.

Chapter 2

¹ He’s finished… He’s consumed… He’s ascended… He who breathed in your face… He who [brought] your affliction!

Watch the road and grab hold of your loins! Be very manly in strength! ² For, the insolence of Jacob Jehovah’s removed, and the insolence of Israel; for those who shake off, shook them off, and the [leaves] on their branches they ruined.

³ Under his command there are weapons and men, who laugh at fire because of their might. The chariots [will be ready] in the day he prepares, and the horsemen will be the cause of much wailing. ⁴ Their chariots will wreak havoc in the roads, and then they will meet in the squares. The sight of them is like lamps of fire, with lightning [trailing in their wake].

⁵ Then their great men will stop and consider, and in the daytime they’ll flee. They will be weak as they leave, and between the walls they will run… for they will send advance guards.

⁶ The gates of the city will then open wide, and its great homes will fall into ruin… ⁷ all their supports will lie bare. Then [women] will appear with their servants, and be led away as though they are doves, amid the sounds of their beating hearts.

⁸ Nineveh is just a pool in her waters; for they didn’t stand (they just fled), when no one was paying attention. ⁹ So they looted the silver and plundered the gold… there was no limit to all that they took, for with all her desirable things, they were weighed down [as they left].

¹⁰ There was thrusting, shaking, and tumult! Hearts were breaking and knees became weak. Loins became loose, and all faces looked like burnt pots.

¹¹ Where is the den of the lion? Where is the pasture [where she hides] her cubs? Where did the lion then go? She went to be with her cubs, and there was nothing to scare them. ¹² The lion then grabbed the things the things that her cubs required, and for her young lions choked her prey. Their nest became filled up with game… their home was full of the things she had seized.

¹³ ‘Look, I am against you,’ says Jehovah the Almighty, ‘and all your army I’ll burn into smoke. Your lions I’ll devour by the broadsword, and I’ll destroy the game from your land, so the things that you do won’t be heard of again.’

Chapter 3

¹ O city of blood, and all that is false and unrighteous; You’ll no longer be in charge of the game. ² For, the sounds of whips [you will hear], as well as the rumbling of wheels; the hot pursuits upon horses, and the dust that is stirred by chariot wheels; ³ the attacking of horseman and the shine of their swords, as well as the flashing of shields. Multitudes then will be killed, and there will be a great downfall. For, there’s no limit to the nations that will come, and from [raping] their bodies will grow weak.

⁴ ‘You’re a whore who brought gratification, and you led in making magic potions. Then your whoring you sold to the nations, and your potions you sold to the tribes. ⁵ So, Look! I am against you,’ says Jehovah the Almighty, ‘and I will uncover your backside, then show all the nations your shame, and your dishonor to all other kingdoms!

⁶ ‘Because of all your uncleanness, upon you I’ll bring disgusting things, and I’ll set you as an example. ⁷ Then all who see you will leave you and then say, O Nineveh the wretched; O who will now mourn her… where should I search to find comfort for her?

⁸ ‘So, tune up the strings of the lyre, and prepare a portion for Amon (he who inhabits the rivers)! For, she and her walls are surrounded by water, and she has ruled to the sea. ⁹ Ethiopia and Egypt have been her strength, but they’ll be [no help] in her flight into exile… yet, Sudan and Libya will come to her aid.

¹⁰ ‘But she’ll be captured and carried into exile, and her infants will be dashed on the curbs of her roads. They will cast lots for her honorable things, and all her great men will be bound.

¹¹ ‘Then you’ll be provoked and get drunk, and from your enemies try to hide. ¹² But what happens to your forts will happen to you… you will all [eat] the same fruit. And as soon as they have been shaken, they’ll fall into the mouths of those who’ll consume [them].

¹³ ‘{Look!} To your enemies all your people are like women! So, they’ll open the gates of your land, and fire will burn all the bars on your gates! ¹⁴ So, draw from the water that surrounds you, in order to save all your forts! Tread the mortar and trample it with straw… make it stronger than bricks! ¹⁵ For, fire and the sword will destroy you; it will consume you like locusts, and by grasshoppers you’ll be oppressed.

¹⁶ ‘You grew your trade above the stars in the sky, but grasshoppers came and spread [over you]. ¹⁷ Small locusts will leap and consume, and cover your fences like frost. Then, as the sun rises they’ll start hopping… and woe to them, since they know not their place!

¹⁸ ‘O king of Assyria; Your shepherds are all fast asleep, and all your mighty are resting. Your people [have strayed] into the mountains, and no one is searching for them.’

¹⁹ ‘[O Samaria]; No one will heal your destruction, and all your wounds are inflamed. Yet, those hearing the message about you, are clapping their hands over you… for upon whom did your evil not come?’

Notes

The Heavens or Sky, the Earth or the Land?

In both the Ancient Scriptures of Israel (OT) and the Christian Era Scriptures (NT), we find all the realm of creation divided into three entities; the heavens (or sky), the earth (the land or ground), and the seas (the waters). Now, in contemporary English, we understand that there is a difference between the heavens and the sky, the earth and the land (or ground), and the seas and waters. However, in both Hebrew and Greek, these fine distinctions that we accept because of our modern technology, can’t be found. So, Genesis 1:1 could literally be translated as, ‘In the beginning, God created the sky and the ground.’

This is accurate, because it was the view of man from the earth. There was the land that he stood on, the sky above him, and the waters or seas over there. There was no technical understanding of the earth as a planet, because men didn’t view the earth as we do today, as a ball in space… it just wasn’t necessary at the time! However, because of these distinctions that we understand so well today, translators must choose the proper words to provide the right nuances in English, in order for readers to grasp the proper meaning of each text.

This is why you’ll find the Greek word ourano translated as both heaven(s) and sky herein, depending on the context. You’ll also find the Greek words ge and ges translated as earth, ground, or land, depending on the context. So, the symbolic words at 2 Peter 3:5, 6, for example, are translated herein as, ‘The thing that they don’t want to understand is this: That the ancient earth and sky were out of the water, but (in obedience to God’s instructions) they stood together between the waters.’ (For an example of the problems created by the wrong use of the words ge and ges, see the linked document Isaiah 24 - Is It Speaking of Armageddon?).

Notice that the ‘earth and sky’ were located ‘between the water.’ So, although other Bibles translated this verse as speaking of the ‘heavens and earth,’ the reference is to the portion of the heavens that are close to the earth… to the sky. Likewise, at Matthew 5:5, where Jesus spoke of the ‘meek’ as inheriting ‘the earth; since he was talking about people receiving an ‘allotment’ on the earth,’ we have chosen to translate ges as earth, not land or ground. However, the words land and ground are equally correct.

And finally, when it comes to the seas (gr. thalassa), there are already distinctions as to different types of waters in the Greek text. For instance, seas are called thalassa and rivers are called potamos (or ‘flowing’). However, notice (in Revelation 20: 13) how the resurrection of the dead is divided between those who died on land and those who were lost in the water, ‘The sea gave up its dead, death and the grave gave up those dead in them, and they were all judged by the things that they did.’

We again find all three of these realms of creation brought together symbolically at Revelation 21:1, where it says, ‘Then I saw a new earth and sky, because the previous earth and sky had disappeared, as did the sea.’

Also, in the case of where EliJah was taken in a celestial chariot, most people think he was taken to (as their Bibles put it) ‘heaven,’ where he went to live with God. This isn’t true, because King JehoRam later received a letter from Elijah (see 2 Chronicles 21:12). So, God had apparently used the celestial chariot to take him into the sky (the proper translation here), where he was then taken to another place here on the earth. For more information on this, see the linked document, The Hereafter.

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