He said, "Go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to the people the message I have given you."

How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city. After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals!"

From that land he went to Assyria and built the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah,

Then the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib withdrew and returned to Nineveh.

This is a message about Nineveh, the account of a vision seen by Nahum, who was from Elkosh.

Nineveh, you are under attack! The power that will shatter you has come. Prepare the defenses! Guard the road! Prepare for battle!

The enemy soldiers carry red shields and wear uniforms of red. They are preparing to attack! Their chariots flash like fire! Their horses prance!

The LORD will use his power to destroy Assyria. He will make the city of Nineveh a deserted ruin, a waterless desert.

That is what will happen to the city that is so proud of its own power and thinks it is safe. Its people think that their city is the greatest in the world. What a desolate place it will become, a place where wild animals will rest! Everyone who passes by will shrink back in horror.

He said, "Go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to the people the message I have given you."

The LORD says, "Shout as loud as you can! Tell my people Israel about their sins!

But the LORD said to me, "Do not say that you are too young, but go to the people I send you to, and tell them everything I command you to say.

Then the LORD reached out, touched my lips, and said to me, "Listen, I am giving you the words you must speak.

You will tell them whatever I tell you to say, whether they listen or not. Remember what rebels they are.

I am not sending you to a nation that speaks a difficult foreign language, but to the Israelites.

But none of the people of Israel will be willing to listen; they will not even listen to me. All of them are stubborn and defiant.

I will make you as firm as a rock, as hard as a diamond; don't be afraid of those rebels."

But as for me, the LORD fills me with his spirit and power, and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel what their sins are.

For my sake you will be brought to trial before rulers and kings, to tell the Good News to them and to the Gentiles.

Then the LORD said to Abraham, "There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great.

I must go down to find out whether or not the accusations which I have heard are true."

I said, "O God, I am too ashamed to raise my head in your presence. Our sins pile up higher than our heads; they reach as high as the heavens.

You have not paid any wages to those who work in your fields. Listen to their complaints! The cries of those who gather in your crops have reached the ears of God, the Lord Almighty.

For her sins are piled up as high as heaven, and God remembers her wicked ways.