Bible

 

Nahum 2

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1 2 He who scatters has come·​·up before thy face. Preserve the siege, watch the way, make·​·firm thy loins, encourage thy power exceedingly.

2 3 For Jehovah has turned·​·back the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel; for they who exhaust have exhausted them, and destroyed their sprigs.

3 4 The shield of his heroes* is made red, the men of valor are made scarlet; in the fire of torches is the chariot, in the day of his preparation, and the fir·​·trees shall be·​·in·​·trepidation.

4 5 The chariots shall rave in the streets; they shall jostle against each other in the avenues; their appearance shall be as torches; they shall run as the lightnings.

5 6 He shall remember his magnificent ones; they shall stumble in their walking; they shall make·​·haste to her wall, and the shelter shall be prepared.

6 7 The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.

7 8 And Huzzab shall be exiled, she shall be brought·​·up, and her maidservants shall direct her as the voice of doves, playing·​·on·​·timbrels on their hearts.

8 9 But Nineveh was as a pool of water from the days that she was; but now they shall flee. Stand, Stand, they cry, but none shall turn· their ·face.

9 10 Plunder silver, Plunder gold; and there is no end to the dimension of glory from all the vessels of desire.

10 11 She exhausts, and is·​·exhausted, and emptied·​·out; and the heart melts, and there is staggering at the knees, and travailing in all the loins, and the faces of all of them bring·​·together a blackening.

11 12 Where is the abode of the lions, and the feeding·​·place—it was for the young·​·lionsWhere the lion, the old·​·lion walked, and the whelp of a lion, and none frightened them?

12 13 The lion tore enough for his whelps, and strangled for his old·​·lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his abodes with what is torn.

13 14 Behold, I am against thee, says Jehovah of Armies, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall eat·​·up thy young·​·lions; and I will cut·​·off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall not be heard any·​·more.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

Komentář

 

Road

  

These days we tend to think of "roads" as smooth swaths of pavement and judge them by how fast we can drive cars on them. A "path" is something different, suitable only for walking or maybe bicycles, and a "way" has more to do with giving directions than any physical reality. When we get "lost" it usually means we're in a car on an unfamiliar road -- a far cry from being in the middle of a trackless wilderness with no idea which direction to go. The ancient world was very different, with isolated towns and endless square miles of trackless wilderness. Then a "way" was a set of landmarks to follow to get from one place to another through the wilderness. A "path" was a way used enough to leave a visible trace on the ground, and a "road" was a heavily used path, easily followed and walkable. So it makes sense that when used in the Bible, all three terms represent guiding truth, ideas that lead us where we want to go. This is pictured in the modern use of "way" -- when we talk about the "way" to do something or the "way" to get somewhere. We're talking about the correct, best, most efficient method of doing something or getting somewhere. And it's good information -- truth -- that helps us find that best way.