Nahum 1:3
“The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →God is patient and mighty, yet He will not leave the guilty unpunished; the storms themselves are the path of His coming.
What Does Nahum 1:3 Mean?
This verse holds together two truths often kept apart. God is slow to anger, echoing how He once described Himself to Moses; His patience is real and long. But patience is not indulgence. He will not at all acquit the wicked who refuse to turn. Nineveh had once been spared because it repented; its delay of judgment was mercy, not blindness. The same forbearance that gave the city time would not excuse its return to bloodshed.
The poet then pictures the Lord striding through whirlwind and storm, the clouds no more than the dust kicked up by His feet. Nature's most overwhelming forces are merely the trailing edge of His approach. For the powerful who imagine themselves untouchable, this is a warning; for the oppressed, it is comfort that the One who comes in such majesty is moving toward their rescue. His slowness measures His mercy; His power measures His resolve. Both meet perfectly in the patient, righteous heart of God.