Page 1306 - The MacArthur Daily Bible

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DECEMBER 22
5 He remembers his nobles; And the noise of rattling wheels,
They stumble in their walk; Of galloping horses,
They make haste to her walls, Of clattering chariots!
And the defense is prepared. 3 Horsemen charge with bright sword
The gates of the rivers are opened,
6 and glittering spear.
And the palace is dissolved. There is a multitude of slain,
It is decreed:
7 A great number of bodies,
She shall be led away captive, Countless corpses—
She shall be brought up; They stumble over the corpses—
And her maidservants shall lead her as 4 Because of the multitude of harlotries
with the voice of doves, of the seductive harlot,
Beating their breasts. The mistress of sorceries,
Who sells nations through her
8
Though Nineveh of old was like a pool harlotries,
of water, And families through her sorceries.
Now they flee away.
5
“Halt! Halt!” they cry; “Behold, I am against you,” says the
But no one turns back. LORD of hosts;
Take spoil of silver!
9 “I will lift your skirts over your face,
Take spoil of gold! I will show the nations your nakedness,
There is no end of treasure, And the kingdoms your shame.
6 I will cast abominable filth upon you,
Or wealth of every desirable prize.
She is empty, desolate, and waste!
10 Make you vile,
The heart melts, and the knees shake; 7 And make you a spectacle.
Much pain is in every side, It shall come to pass that all who look
And all their faces are drained of color. upon you
Will flee from you, and say,
11
Where is the dwelling of the lions, ‘Nineveh is laid waste!
And the feeding place of the young Who will bemoan her?’
lions, Where shall I seek comforters for you?”
Where the lion walked, the lioness and 8
lion’s cub, Are you better than No Amon
And no one made them afraid? That was situated by the River,
12 That had the waters around her,
The lion tore in pieces enough for his
cubs, Whose rampart was the sea,
Killed for his lionesses, Whose wall was the sea?
Filled his caves with prey, 9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,
And his dens with flesh. And it was boundless;
Put and Lubim were your helpers.
“Behold, I am against you,” says the LORD of 10
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hosts, “I will burn your chariots in smoke, and Yet she was carried away,
She went into captivity;
the sword shall devour your young lions; I will Her young children also were dashed
cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice to pieces
of your messengers shall be heard no more.”
At the head of every street;
3 Woe to the bloody city! They cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound
It is all full of lies and robbery.
Its victim never departs. in chains.
2 The noise of a whip 11 You also will be drunk;
You will be hidden;
You also will seek refuge from the
enemy.
3:1 bloody city. The first accusation was a 12 All your strongholds are fig trees
charge well documented in history. Assyria with ripened figs:
proved to be an unusually cruel, bloodthirsty If they are shaken,
nation. lies. Assyria employed falsehood and They fall into the mouth of the eater.
treachery to subdue her enemies (2 Kin. 13 Surely, your people in your midst are
18:28–32). robbery. Preying upon her victims, women!
she filled her cities with the goods of other The gates of your land are wide open
nations. for your enemies;
Fire shall devour the bars of your gates.
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