Nahum 3:14
What does Nahum 3:14 mean?
A plain-English look at Nahum 3:14 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nahum 3:14 means
The prophet commands, with biting irony, that Nineveh do everything possible to withstand the siege: store water, strengthen forts, make more bricks, work the clay. It reads like a military checklist, but the tone is mocking. All the practical steps that once ensured victory will now accomplish nothing. Human ingenuity and industry are not despised, but they are rendered insufficient when God opposes. The verse invites the reader to see the mismatch: the city busies itself feverishly, yet its fate is already sealed. Preparations without repentance are only the last motions of a doomed resistance.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Draw thee water for the siege; strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar; make strong the brickkiln.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Draw thee water for the siege; strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar; make strong the brickkiln.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Get water for the time when you are shut in, make strong your towns: go into the potter's earth, stamping it down with your feet, make strong the brickworks.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Waters of a siege draw for thyself, Strengthen thy fortresses, Enter into mire, and tread on clay, Make strong a brick-kiln.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Draw thee water for the siege, build up thy bulwarks: go into the clay, and tread, work it and make brick.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Draw thee water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar, make strong the brick-kiln.
Context
Verse 14 bridges the weakness described in verses 12–13 and the inevitability declared in verse 15. By spotlighting frantic preparations, the prophet sets up the next verse’s blunt assurance that fire and sword will still consume Nineveh. The flow underlines a key theme of the chapter: once God has spoken judgment, no human strategy can reverse it. The irony here intensifies the tragedy and makes the certainty in the following lines more striking.
v.13Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire hath devoured thy bars.
v.14This passage
v.15There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it shall devour thee like the canker-worm: make thyself many as the canker-worm; make thyself many as the locust.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Isaiah 22:9
And ye saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool;
- Jeremiah 46:3
Prepare ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
- 2 Chronicles 32:11
Doth not Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, Jehovah our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
- Isaiah 37:25
I have digged and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.
- Isaiah 8:9
Make an uproar, O ye peoples, and be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces.
- Joel 3:9
Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.
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