Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, July 16th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Nahum 3:18

King of Assyria, your officials and leaders sleep the eternal sleep, while your people are scattered in the mountains. Yes, your people are sheep without a shepherd.

Bible Study Resources

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Freedom;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Prophecy;   Shepherd;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Nineveh;   Shepherd;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Nahum;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Sheep, Shepherd;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Assyria ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Assyria;   Nineveh;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Nin'eveh;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Dust;   Slumber;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Dust;   Nineveh;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Nahum, the Book of;   Noble;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Shepherd;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;your officers sleep.Your people are scattered across the mountainswith no one to gather them together.
Hebrew Names Version
Your shepherds slumber, king of Ashshur. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.
King James Version (1611)
Thy shepheards slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered vpon the mountaines, & no man gathereth them.
King James Version
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
English Standard Version
Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains with none to gather them.
New American Standard Bible
Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria; Your officers are lying down. Your people are scattered on the mountains And there is no one to gather them.
New Century Version
King of Assyria, your rulers are asleep; your important men lie down to rest. Your people have been scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to bring them back.
Amplified Bible
Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; Your nobles are lying down [in death]. Your people are scattered on the mountains And there is no one to gather them.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Thy shepheardes doe sleepe, O King of Asshur: thy strong men lie downe: thy people is scattered vpon the mountaines, and no man gathereth them.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria; Your nobles are lying down. Your people are scattered on the mountains And there is no one to regather them.
Legacy Standard Bible
Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria;Your mighty ones are lying down.Your people are scattered on the mountains,And there is no one to regather them.
Berean Standard Bible
O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
Complete Jewish Bible
Your shepherds are slumbering, king of Ashur. Your leaders are asleep. Your people are scattered all over the mountains, with no one to round them up.
Darby Translation
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles lie still; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
Easy-to-Read Version
King of Assyria, your shepherds fell asleep. These powerful men are sleeping. And now your sheep have wandered away on the mountains. There is no one to bring them back.
George Lamsa Translation
Your friends slumber, O king of Assyria; your allies have deserted; your people are scattered on the mountains, and they have none to gather them.
Good News Translation
Emperor of Assyria, your governors are dead, and your noblemen are asleep forever! Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to bring them home again.
Lexham English Bible
Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria! Your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains; no one can gather them.
Literal Translation
Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; your nobles are lying down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and no one is gathering.
American Standard Version
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
Bible in Basic English
Sorrow! how are the keepers of your flock sleeping, O king of Assyria! your strong men are at rest; your people are wandering on the mountains, and there is no one to get them together.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria, thy worthies are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thy sheepheardes O king of Assur slumber, thy noble men shall dwell [in death] thy people is scattered vpon the mountaynes, & there is none to gather them together.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Thy shepherds have slumbered, the Assyrian king has laid low thy mighty men: thy people departed to the mountains, and there was none to receive them.
English Revised Version
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy worthies are at rest: thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
World English Bible
Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thi scheepherdis napten, thou kyng Assur, thi princes schulen be biried; thi puple ofte was hid in hillis, and ther is not that schal gadere.
Update Bible Version
Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; your nobles are at rest; your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
Webster's Bible Translation
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell [in the dust]: thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth [them].
New English Translation
Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria! Your officers are slumbering! Your people are scattered like sheep on the mountains and there is no one to regather them!
New King James Version
Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; Your nobles rest in the dust. Your people are scattered on the mountains, And no one gathers them.
New Living Translation
Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king; your princes lie dead in the dust. Your people are scattered across the mountains with no one to gather them together.
New Life Bible
Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria. Your leaders are lying down. Your people have gone everywhere on the mountains. And there is no one to gather them together again.
New Revised Standard
Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Asleep are thy shepherds, O king of Assyria, thy nobles, must needs rest. Scattered are thy people upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thy shepherds have slumbered, O king of Assyria, thy princes shall be buried: thy people are hid in the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
Revised Standard Version
Your shepherds are asleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains with none to gather them.
Young's Literal Translation
Slumbered have thy friends, king of Asshur, Rest do thine honourable ones, Scattered have been thy people on the mountains, And there is none gathering.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thy shepherdes are aslepe (o kinge of Assur) thy worthies are layed downe: yi people is scatred abrode vpon the mountaynes, and no man gathereth them together agayne.
THE MESSAGE
King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders, in charge of caring for your people, Are busy doing everything else but. They're not doing their job, And your people are scattered and lost. There's no one to look after them. You're past the point of no return. Your wound is fatal. When the story of your fate gets out, the whole world will applaud and cry "Encore!" Your cruel evil has seeped into every nook and cranny of the world. Everyone has felt it and suffered.

Contextual Overview

8 Nineveh, do you feel safer than the city of Thebes? The Nile River was its wall of defense. 9 Thebes trusted the mighty power of Ethiopia and Egypt; the nations of Put and Libya were her allies. 10 But she was captured and taken to a foreign country. Her children were murdered at every street corner. The members of her royal family were auctioned off, and her high officials were bound in chains. 11 Nineveh, now it's your turn! You will get drunk and try to hide from your enemy. 12 Your fortresses are fig trees with ripe figs. Merely shake the trees, and fruit will fall into every open mouth. 13 Your army is weak. Fire has destroyed the crossbars on your city gates; now they stand wide open to your enemy. 14 Your city is under attack. Haul in extra water! Strengthen your defenses! Start making bricks! Stir the mortar! 15 You will still go up in flames and be cut down by swords that will wipe you out like wheat attacked by grasshoppers. So, go ahead and increase like a swarm of locusts! 16 More merchants are in your city than there are stars in the sky— but they are like locusts that eat everything, then fly away. 17 Your guards and your officials are swarms of locusts. On a chilly day they settle on a fence, but when the sun comes out, they take off to who-knows-where.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Thy shepherds: That is, the rulers and tributary princes, who, as Herodotus informs us, deserted Nineveh in the day of her distress, and came not to her succour. Diodorus also says, that when the enemy shut up the king in the city, many nations revolted; each going over to the besiegers for the sake of their liberty; that the king despatched messengers to all his subjects, requiring power from them to succour him, and that he thought himself able to endure the siege, and remained in expectation of armies which were to be raised throughout his empire, relying on the oracle, that the city would not be taken till the river became its enemy. Nahum 2:6, Exodus 15:16, Psalms 76:5, Psalms 76:6, Isaiah 56:9, Isaiah 56:10, Jeremiah 51:39, Jeremiah 51:57

O King: Jeremiah 50:18, Ezekiel 31:3-18, Ezekiel 32:22, Ezekiel 32:23

nobles: or, valiant ones, Isaiah 47:1, Revelation 6:15

thy people: 1 Kings 22:17, Isaiah 13:14

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 6:3 - shepherds Jeremiah 50:36 - her mighty Ezekiel 31:11 - I have driven Ezekiel 31:12 - gone Zephaniah 2:13 - will make

Cross-References

Genesis 3:14
So the Lord God said to the snake: "Because of what you have done, you will be the only animal to suffer this curse— For as long as you live, you will crawl on your stomach and eat dirt.
Genesis 3:15
You and this woman will hate each other; your descendants and hers will always be enemies. One of hers will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel."
Job 1:21
and said: "We bring nothing at birth; we take nothing with us at death. The Lord alone gives and takes. Praise the name of the Lord !"
Job 5:5
Then hungry and greedy people gobble down their crops and grab up their wealth.
Job 31:40
If I had, I would pray for weeds instead of wheat to grow in my fields. After saying these things, Job was silent.
Psalms 90:3
At your command we die and turn back to dust,
Psalms 104:2
and surrounded by light. You spread out the sky like a tent,
Proverbs 22:5
Crooks walk down a road full of thorny traps. Stay away from there!
Proverbs 24:31
Thorns and weeds were everywhere, and the stone wall had fallen down.
Isaiah 5:6
It will turn into a desert, neither pruned nor hoed; it will be covered with thorns and briars. I will command the clouds not to send rain.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria,.... Who this king of Assyria was is not easy to say; some think Esarhaddon, who is the last of the kings of Assyria the Scriptures speak of; according to Diodorus Siculus n, Sardanapalus was the last of these kings, and in him the Assyrian monarchy ended; though, according to Alexander Polyhistor o, Saracus, perhaps the Chyniladanus of Ptolemy, was king when Nineveh was destroyed: it is very likely that Sardanapalus and Saracus design the same person, though set at a great distance by historians; since the same things are said of the one as of the other; particularly that, when they saw their danger, they burnt themselves and theirs in the royal palace at Nineveh; nor is it probable that the same city with the empire should be destroyed and subverted twice by the same people, the Medes and Babylonians, uniting together; and it is remarkable that the double destruction of this city and empire is related by different historians; and those that speak of the one say nothing of the other: but this king, be he who he will, his case was very bad, his "shepherds slumbered"; his ministers of state, his counsellors, subordinate magistrates in provinces and cities, and particularly in Nineveh; his generals and officers in his army were careless and negligent of their duty, and gave themselves up to sloth and ease; and which also was his own character, as historians agree in; or they were dead, slumbering in their graves, and so could be of no service to him:

thy nobles shall dwell [in the dust]; be brought very low, into a very mean and abject condition; their honour shall be laid in the dust, and they be trampled upon by everyone: or, "they shall sleep" p; that is, die, and be buried, as the Vulgate Latin renders it: or, "shall dwell in silence", as others q; have their habitation in the silent grave, being cut off by the enemy; so that this prince would have none of his mighty men to trust in, but see himself stripped of all his vain confidences:

thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth [them]; like sheep without a shepherd, which being frightened by beasts of prey, run here and there, and there is none to get them together, and bring them back again; so the subjects of this king, being terrified at the approach of the Medes and Babylonians, forsook their cities, and fled to the mountains; where they were scattered about, having no leader and commander to gather them together, and put them in regular order to face and oppose the enemy. So the Targum interprets it

"the people of thine armies.''

n Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 109, 115. o Apud Syncell. p. 210. p ישכבו "dormiunt", Piscator; so Ben Melech interprets it, "the rest of death." q "Habitarunt in silentio", Buxtorf, Drusius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thy shepherds - that is, they who should counsel for the people’s good and feed it, and “keep watch over their flocks by night,” but are now like their master, the “King of Assyria,” are his shepherds not the shepherds of the people whom they care not for; these slumber, at once through listlessness and excess, and now have fallen asleep in death, as the Psalmist says, “They have slept their sleep” Psalms 76:6. The prophet speaks of the future, as already past in effect, as it was in the will of God. All “the shepherds of the people” , all who could shepherd them, or hold them to together, themselves sleep “the sleep of death;” their mighty men dwelt in that abiding-place, where they shall not move or rise, the grave; and so as Micaiah, in the vision predictive of Ahab’s death, “saw all Israel scattered on the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd” 1 Kings 22:17, so the people of the Assyrian monarch shall be “scattered on the mountains,” shepherdless, and that irretrievably; no man gathers them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Nahum 3:18. Thy shepherds slumber — That is, the rulers and tributary princes, who, as Herodotus informs us, deserted Nineveh in the day of her distress, and came not forward to her succour.

Diodorus Siculus says, lib. ii., when the enemy shut up the king in the city, many nations revolted, each going over to the besiegers, for the sake of their liberty; that the king despatched messengers to all his subjects, requiring power from them to succour him; and that he thought himself able to endure the siege, and remained in expectation of armies which were to be raised throughout his empire, relying on the oracle that the city would not be taken till the river became its enemy. Nahum 2:6.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile