plunder to Jehovah, and their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth. Gather yourselves together now, daughter of a troop; they have set a garrison against you, they have smitten the judge on the cheek, the judge of Israel.

6 And you, Bethlehem Ephratah, little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of you shall come one to be ruler of Israel, and his descent is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore [God] shall give them up, till one with child shall bear, and the rest of his brothers return to the sons of Israel. Then one shall stand up and rule with the strength of Jehovah, with the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God, and they shall dwell [in safety], for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be the peace of Assyria when he shall come into our land, and tread down our palaces. For we will appoint against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men, and they shall feed the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod [shall remain] within her gates, and he shall deliver [us] from Assyria, when he comes into our land, and when he treads down our border.

7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, as dew from Jehovah, as rain-drops on the grass, which stay not for man, nor wait for the sons of man. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion in flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, both treads down and tears, and none can deliver. Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off.

8 And in that day, says Jehovah, I will cut off your horses from the midst of you, and destroy your chariots. And I will cut off the enemies of your land, and destroy all your fortresses; and I will cut off the magi from your land, and you shall have no sorcerers; and I will cut off your carved images and your statues from the midst of you, and you shall no more worship the work of your hands. And I will cast down your Asheras from the midst of you, and will destroy your enemies. And I will execute judgment in anger and indignation on the nations which obey not.

GOD INSISTS ON RIGHTEOUSNESS. HIS JUDGMENTS AND KINGDOM.

1 HEAR now what Jehovah says: Arise, contend before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, mountains, the controversy of Jehovah, and you strong foundations of the earth, for Jehovah has a controversy with his people, and will contend with Israel. My people, what have I done to you? and in what have I wearied you? Answer me. For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of servants; and I sent before you Moses and Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember now what counsel Balak king of Moab took, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from the Acacias to Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness of Jehovah.

2 With what shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself before the most high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings of bullocks a year old? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams? and ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my first born for my transgression? the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, man, what is good; and what does Jehovah require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? The voice of Jehovah calls to the city, and is the help of those that fear thy name. Hear the rod, and [him] who has appointed it. Are not the treasures of wickedness a fire in the house of the wicked? and [is not] the scant ephah [a cause of] indignation? Shall I account [men] pure with false scales, and with a bag of false weights? And her rich men also are full of violence, and her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

3 And I also will make you sick; I will smite you to make [you] desolate, for your sins. You shall eat and not be satisfied, and your emptiness shall be within you; and you shall turn back, and not escape; and him that is delivered will I give to the sword. You shall sow, and not reap; you shall tread the olive, and not anoint yourself with oil; and [you shall make] new wine, and not drink wine. For you have kept the ordinances of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and walked in their counsels, that I should make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing, and you shall bear the reproach of my people.

4 Alas for me! For I am like the gathering of the fruit harvest, like the gleaning of the vintage. There is not a cluster to eat, and my soul craves the first ripe fruits. The pious man has perished from the earth, and there is not a just man among men. All of them lie in wait for blood; they hunt each one his brother with a net. Their hands are expert for mischief; the prince and the judge ask for a reward; the great man speaks the desire of his soul, and they are perverse. Their good [man] is like a thorn bush, and the just sharper than. a thorn hedge. The day of your watchtowers, of your visitation, has come; now shall be their perplexity. Believe not a neighbor, trust not in a friend; keep the doors of your mouth from her that lies in your bosom. For the son despises the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, [and] the daughterin-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of his house. But I will watch for Jehovah; I will wait on the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, my enemy, for when I fall I shall arise, when I sit in darkness Jehovah shall be my light. I will bear the indignation of Jehovah, because I have sinned against him, till he pleads my cause and executes my judgment. He will bring me to the light; I shall see his righteousness; my enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her. She said to me, Where is Jehovah, your God? My eyes shall see her; now shall she be trodden down, like the mire of the streets.

5 The day of building your walls,— in that day shall the task be put far away. In that day shall they come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and [you shall extend] from Egypt to the Euphrates, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain; for the land is made a desolation on account of its inhabitants, because of their doings.

6 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy inheritance living solitary in the forest; let them feed in the midst of Carmel, Bashan, and Gilead, as in days of old. I will show you wonders, as in the days when you went out of the land of Egypt. Nations shall see and be ashamed of all their power; they shall put their hand on their mouth; their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, and tremble like reptiles of the earth, from their strongholds. They shall tremble at Jehovah our God, and fear him.

7 Who is a God like thee? forgiving wickedness, passing over transgression to the remnant of his inheritance, that keeps not his

anger forever, for he delights in kindness. He will again have mercy on us; he will tread under foot our wickedness, and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt give truth to Jacob, [and] kindness to Abraham, as thou didst swear to our fathers from ancient times.

6. NAHUM.

Burden of Nineveh. Book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

1 JEHOVAH is a jealous God, and an avenger; Jehovah is an avenger, and Lord of indignation; Jehovah executes vengeance on his adversaries, and keeps [his anger] for his enemies. Jehovah is slow to anger, and of great power, but will by no means acquit [the guilty]. Jehovah's way is in the whirlwind and in the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea, and dries it up, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel, and the verdure of Lebanon languishes. The mountains shake before. him, and the hills are dissolved; the earth rises up before him, and the world and all its inhabitants. Before his indignation who can stand? And who can withstand his fierce anger? His indignation is poured out like fire, and the rocks are cast down by it.

2 Jehovah is a good fortress in a day of distress, and he knows those that trust in him. But he will destroy [Nineveh] with an overflowing torrent, and make her place [desolate]; and darkness shall pursue his enemies. What do you devise against Jehovah? He finishes [the work] which he does; distress shall not rise up a second time. For while they are entangled with thorn bushes, and drunk as with wine, they shall be consumed like chaff that is fully dry. 3 One went forth from you, devising evil against Jehovah, [and] taking wicked counsel. Thus says Jehovah, Though they are sound and so many, they shall both be cut down and pass away; and I will afflict you, I will not afflict you again; for now I will break his yoke off from you, and burst your bands. For Jehovah has commanded concerning you, that nothing of your name shall be sown any more. I will cut off [says God] the carved image and the cast image from the house of your God; I will make your grave, for you have become small.

4 Behold on the mountains the feet of him that brings good news, that publishes peace. Celebrate, Judah, your feasts, perform your vows, for the destruction shall pass through you no more; for it is entirely cut off. A war club has come up against your face, [Nineveh ;] guard the fortress, watch the way, gird the loins, strengthen yourselves greatly. For Jehovah has restored the excellency of Jacob, like the excellency of Israel, for desolators desolated them, and destroyed their branches. The shields of his mighty men are red; men of war are clothed in crimson; chariots are with flashing blades in the day of his preparation; and the lances tremble. In the streets the chariots shall rage, and run about in the ways. Their appearance is like torches, and they shall run like lightnings. He shall review his nobles; they shall stumble on their march; they shall hasten to the wall and to the prepared covert. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace dissolved. She shall be set up; she shall be made naked; she shall go up, and her maids shall sigh like the voice of doves, beating on their breasts. Though Nineveh was like a pool of waters from the days of old, yet they said to the fleeing, Stand, stand; but none turned. Plunder the silver; plunder the gold; there is no end of the costly furniture; there is an abundance of all precious vessels.

5 She is poured out and emptied; her heart melts, and her knees smite together; trembling is in all loins, and the faces of all contract paleness. Where now is the habitation of lions, and the pasture of young lions, where the lion and the young lion walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid? The lion tore in pieces for his whelps, and strangled for his young lions, and filled his den with booty, and his habitation with prey. Behold, I am against you, says Jehovah of hosts, and will burn your chariots with fire; and the sword shall devour your young lions, and I will cut off your prey from the land; and the sound of your work shall be heard no

more.

6 Woe to the city which is all blood; it is full of lies and violence; it withdraws not from plunder. The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rumbling of the wheel, and the horse whirling, and the chariot leaping! The horseman lifts up both the flaming sword and the glittering spear; and there is a multitude of killed, and a multitude of dead bodies, and no end to bodies; they stumble on their bodies. From the multitude of the fornications of the