Nahum 3:18

¹⁶ You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of the sky. The young locust strips the land and flies away.

¹⁷ Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.

O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.

¹⁹ There is no healing for your injury; your wound is severe. All who hear the news of you applaud your downfall, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty?

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
KJV: 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.
WEB: 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.
ASV: 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.
DARBY: Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles lie still; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
BLB: Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; your nobles are at rest; your people are scattered on the mountains, and no one is gathering them.

ÅB: Dine hyrder slumrer, Assurs konge! Dine gjæve menn ligger i ro; ditt folk er spredt på fjellene, og det er ingen som samler det.
OTB: Dine hyrder sover, Assyrias konge;
Dine edle ligger nede.
Ditt folk er spredt på fjellene,
Og det er ingen som samler dem.
B1930: Dine hyrder slumrer, Assurs konge! Dine gjæve menn ligger i ro; ditt folk er spredt på fjellene, og det er ingen som samler det.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

1 Kings 22:17
So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
Read in context
Psalms 76:5–6
The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep. No men of might could lift a hand.
Read in context
Jeremiah 50:18
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.
Read in context
Jeremiah 51:57
I will make her princes and wise men drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and not wake up,” declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
Read in context
Isaiah 13:14
Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.
Read in context
Isaiah 47:1
“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
Read in context
Ezekiel 31:3–18
Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.
Read in context
Revelation 6:15
Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
Read in context