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

    The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;
        the LORD is avenging and wrathful;
    the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries
        and keeps wrath for his enemies.
    The LORD is slow to anger and 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.
    He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
        he dries up all the rivers;
    Bashan and Carmel wither;
        the bloom of Lebanon withers.
    The mountains quake before him;
        the hills melt;
    the earth heaves before him,
        the world and all who dwell in it.
    
    
    Who can stand before his indignation?
        Who can endure the heat of his anger?
    His wrath is poured out like fire,
        and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
    The LORD is good,
        a stronghold in the day of trouble;
    he knows those who take refuge in him.
        But with an overflowing flood
    he will make a complete end of the adversaries,
        and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
    What do you plot against the LORD?
        He will make a complete end;
        trouble will not rise up a second time.
    For they are like entangled thorns,
        like drunkards as they drink;
        they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
    From you came one
        who plotted evil against the LORD,
        a worthless counselor.
    
    
    Thus says the LORD,
    “Though they are at full strength and many,
        they will be cut down and pass away.
    Though I have afflicted you,
        I will afflict you no more.
    And now I will break his yoke from off you
        and will burst your bonds apart.”
    
    
    The LORD has given commandment about you:
        “No more shall your name be perpetuated;
    from the house of your gods I will cut off
        the carved image and the metal image.
    I will make your grave, for you are vile.”
    
    
    Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him
        who brings good news,
        who publishes peace!
    Keep your feasts, O Judah;
        fulfill your vows,
    for never again shall the worthless pass through you;
        he is utterly cut off.
    
    
        The scatterer has come up against you.
        Man the ramparts;
        watch the road;
    dress for battle;
        collect all your strength.
    
    
    For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob
        as the majesty of Israel,
    for plunderers have plundered them
        and ruined their branches.
    
    
    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.
    The chariots race madly through the streets;
        they rush to and fro through the squares;
    they gleam like torches;
        they dart like lightning.
    He remembers his officers;
        they stumble as they go,
    they hasten to the wall;
        the siege tower is set up.
    The river gates are opened;
        the palace melts away;
    its mistress is stripped; she is carried off,
        her slave girls lamenting,
    moaning like doves
        and beating their breasts.
    Nineveh is like a pool
        whose waters run away.
    “Halt! Halt!” they cry,
        but none turns back. (ESV)

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

  Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

  Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (ESV)