A reading from
the Book of the Prophet Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7
See, upon the mountains there advances/ the bearer of good news, announcing peace!/ Celebrate your feasts, O Judah,/ fulfill your vows!/ For nevermore shall you be invaded/ by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed./ The Lord will restore the vine of Jacob,/ the pride of Israel,/ Though ravagers have ravaged them/ and ruined the tendrils.
Woe to the bloody city, all lies,/ full of plunder, whose looting never stops!/ The crack of the whip, the rumbling sound of wheels;/ horses a-gallop, chariots bounding,/ Cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear,/ the many slain, the heaping corpses,/ the endless bodies to stumble upon!/ I will cast filth upon you,/ disgrace you and put you to shame;/ Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying,/ “Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her?/ Where can one find any to console her?”
The word of the Lord.
