Thy Strong Word — Nahum 3:1-19: No Healing for Nineveh: The End of Cruelty

Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder! Nahum’s last chapter moves like the assault itself, the crack of the whip, the rattle of the wheel, the galloping horse and bounding chariot, and then a question: are you better than Thebes? That Egyptian city sat secure behind her waters, and Assyria herself dragged the people of Thebes (No’ ‘Amon) into exile. For Nineveh there is no easing of the hurt and no healing of the wound, and the book’s last line explains why the nations clap when the news arrives: “upon whom has not come your unceasing evil?” God’s judgment has come upon them as Law, but as comfort to those the Assyrians terrorized.

The Rev. Dr. Keith Haney, Assistant to the President for Missions, Human Care, and Stewardship in the LCMS Iowa District West, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Nahum 3:1-19.

Edom stands at the crossroads and watches his brother Judah dragged off in chains, and Obadiah announces that the day of the LORD is coming for the bystander, too. Joel sees a locust swarm strip a nation bare in a single season, calls the people to rend their hearts and not their garments, and promises a Spirit poured out on all flesh. Nahum returns to Nineveh a century after Jonah’s revival, and this time the superpower does not repent. Zephaniah spends two chapters on the day of wrath and then ends with the Lord singing over the people He has rescued. This series on Thy Strong Word works through these selected books of the so-called “minor” prophets verse by verse, showing how the Lord judges the nations while also keeping his promises to gather His people home.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Nahum 3:1-19

Woe to Nineveh

[1] Woe to the bloody city,

all full of lies and plunder—

no end to the prey!

[2] The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse and bounding chariot!

[3] Horsemen charging,

flashing sword and glittering spear,

hosts of slain,

heaps of corpses,

dead bodies without end—

they stumble over the bodies!

[4] And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute,

graceful and of deadly charms,

who betrays nations with her whorings,

and peoples with her charms.

[5] Behold, I am against you,

declares the LORD of hosts,

and will lift up your skirts over your face;

and I will make nations look at your nakedness

and kingdoms at your shame.

[6] I will throw filth at you

and treat you with contempt

and make you a spectacle.

[7] And all who look at you will shrink from you and say,

“Wasted is Nineveh; who will grieve for her?”

Where shall I seek comforters for you?

[8] Are you better than Thebes

that sat by the Nile,

with water around her,

her rampart a sea,

and water her wall?

[9] Cush was her strength;

Egypt too, and that without limit;

Put and the Libyans were her helpers.

[10] Yet she became an exile;

she went into captivity;

her infants were dashed in pieces

at the head of every street;

for her honored men lots were cast,

and all her great men were bound in chains.

[11] You also will be drunken;

you will go into hiding;

you will seek a refuge from the enemy.

[12] All your fortresses are like fig trees

with first-ripe figs—

if shaken they fall

into the mouth of the eater.

[13] Behold, your troops

are women in your midst.

The gates of your land

are wide open to your enemies;

fire has devoured your bars.

[14] Draw water for the siege;

strengthen your forts;

go into the clay;

tread the mortar;

take hold of the brick mold!

[15] There will the fire devour you;

the sword will cut you off.

It will devour you like the locust.

Multiply yourselves like the locust;

multiply like the grasshopper!

[16] You increased your merchants

more than the stars of the heavens.

The locust spreads its wings and flies away.

[17] Your princes are like grasshoppers,

your scribes like clouds of locusts

settling on the fences

in a day of cold—

when the sun rises, they fly away;

no one knows where they are.

[18] Your shepherds are asleep,

O king of Assyria;

your nobles slumber.

Your people are scattered on the mountains

with none to gather them.

[19] There is no easing your hurt;

your wound is grievous.

All who hear the news about you

clap their hands over you.

For upon whom has not come

your unceasing evil?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Rev. Dr. Phil Booe

Native North Carolinian Rev. Dr. Phil Booe serves pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, and host of Thy Strong Word on KFUO Radio. His parishioners probably think he can’t teach Bible study without a mug of coffee in his hand, and he’ll always be happy to eat a plate of sushi. When he’s not shepherding his flock or teaching on the radio, you might find him watching bad movies from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and especially binging RiffTrax and MST3K episodes. Some day he’d love to travel to the Lutheran homeland in Germany, but for now he spends time in Minnesota with his wife, son, daughter, and cat, and looks forward to Holy Week every year.