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¹⁴ Slander^* has shaken many,
   and scattered them from nation to nation;
it has destroyed strong cities,
   and overturned the houses of the great.
¹⁵ Slander^* has driven virtuous women from their homes,
   and deprived them of the fruit of their toil.
¹⁶ Those who pay heed to slander^* will not find rest,
   nor will they settle down in peace.
¹⁷ The blow of a whip raises a welt,
   but a blow of the tongue crushes the bones.
¹⁸ Many have fallen by the edge of the sword,
   but not as many as have fallen because of the tongue.
¹⁹ Happy is one who is protected from it,
   who has not been exposed to its anger,
who has not borne its yoke,
   and has not been bound with its fetters.
²⁰ For its yoke is a yoke of iron,
   and its fetters are fetters of bronze;
²¹ its death is an evil death,
   and Hades is preferable to it.
²² It has no power over the godly;
   they will not be burned in its flame.
²³ Those who forsake the Lord will fall into its power;
   it will burn among them and will not be put out.
It will be sent out against them like a lion;
   like a leopard it will mangle them.
^24a As you fence in your property with thorns,
^25b   so make a door and a bolt for your mouth.
^24b As you lock up your silver and gold,
^25a   so make balances and scales for your words.
²⁶ Take care not to err with your tongue,^*
   and fall victim to one lying in wait.

Nahum

1An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

The Consuming Wrath of God

² A jealous and avenging God is the Lord,
   the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
   and rages against his enemies.
³ The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,
   and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.

His way is in whirlwind and storm,
   and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
⁴ He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
   and he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither,
   and the bloom of Lebanon fades.
⁵ The mountains quake before him,
   and the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
   the world and all who live in it.

⁶ Who can stand before his indignation?
   Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
   and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.
⁷ The Lord is good,
   a stronghold on a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
⁸   even in a rushing flood.
He will make a full end of his adversaries,^*
   and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
⁹ Why do you plot against the Lord?
   He will make an end;
   no adversary will rise up twice.
¹⁰ Like thorns they are entangled,
   like drunkards they are drunk;
   they are consumed like dry straw.
¹¹ From you one has gone out
   who plots evil against the Lord,
   one who counsels wickedness.

Good News for Judah

¹² Thus says the Lord,
‘Though they are at full strength and many,^*
   they will be cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
   I will afflict you no more.
¹³ And now I will break off his yoke from you
   and snap the bonds that bind you.’

¹⁴ The Lord has commanded concerning you:
   ‘Your name shall be perpetuated no longer;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
   the carved image and the cast image.
I will make your grave, for you are worthless.’

The Woman and the Dragon

12A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ²She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. ³Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. ⁴His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. ⁵And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule^* all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; ⁶and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Jesus Denounces Pharisees and Lawyers

37 While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. ³⁸The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner. ³⁹Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you.

42 ‘But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practised, without neglecting the others. ⁴³Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honour in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the market-places. ⁴⁴Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.’

45 One of the lawyers answered him, ‘Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.’ ⁴⁶And he said, ‘Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them. ⁴⁷Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. ⁴⁸So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute”, ⁵⁰so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, ⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. ⁵²Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.’