Thy Strong Word — Nahum 2:1-13: The Siege of Nineveh: What Becomes of the Proud

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Nahum walks Judah through the fall of Nineveh before it happens: red shields at the wall, chariots flashing through the squares, the river gates thrown open, the palace melting away. Assyria styled her kings as lions and their capital as the den where the prey was dragged home; Nahum asks where the lions’ den is now. Behind all the poetry stands the one sentence that decides the outcome: “Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts.” The city that tore the nations apart is torn apart, and the LORD restores the majesty of Jacob.

The Rev. John Shank, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Edwardsville, IL, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Nahum 2:1-13.

To learn more about Trinity in Edwardsville, visit trinitylutheranministries.org.

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 2

The Destruction of Nineveh

[1] The scatterer has come up against you.

Man the ramparts;

watch the road;

dress for battle;

collect all your strength.

[2] For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob

as the majesty of Israel,

for plunderers have plundered them

and ruined their branches.

[3] The shield of his mighty men is red;

his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.

The chariots come with flashing metal

on the day he musters them;

the cypress spears are brandished.

[4] The chariots race madly through the streets;

they rush to and fro through the squares;

they gleam like torches;

they dart like lightning.

[5] He remembers his officers;

they stumble as they go,

they hasten to the wall;

the siege tower is set up.

[6] The river gates are opened;

the palace melts away;

[7] its mistress is stripped; she is carried off,

her slave girls lamenting,

moaning like doves

and beating their breasts.

[8] Nineveh is like a pool

whose waters run away.

“Halt! Halt!” they cry,

but none turns back.

[9] Plunder the silver,

plunder the gold!

There is no end of the treasure

or of the wealth of all precious things.

[10] Desolate! Desolation and ruin!

Hearts melt and knees tremble;

anguish is in all loins;

all faces grow pale!

[11] Where is the lions’ den,

the feeding place of the young lions,

where the lion and lioness went,

where his cubs were, with none to disturb?

[12] The lion tore enough for his cubs

and strangled prey for his lionesses;

he filled his caves with prey

and his dens with torn flesh.

[13] Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.

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.