Judgment on Judah's Enemies

¹Gather together, yes, gather,

O sshameless nation,

²tbefore the decree takes effect1

—before the day passes away ulike chaff—

vbefore there comes upon you

the burning anger of the Lord,

before there comes upon you

the day of the anger of the Lord.

³wSeek the Lord, xall you humble of the land,

who do his just commands;2

yseek righteousness; seek humility;

yperhaps zyou may be hidden

on the day of the anger of the Lord.

⁴aFor Gaza shall be deserted,

and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;

Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.

⁵Woe to byou inhabitants of the seacoast,

you nation of cthe Cherethites!

dThe word of the Lord is against you,

eO Canaan, land of the Philistines;

and I will destroy you funtil no inhabitant is left.

⁶gAnd you, O seacoast, hshall be pastures,

with meadows3 for shepherds

and folds for flocks.

⁷iThe seacoast shall become the possession

of jthe remnant of the house of Judah,

hon which they shall graze,

and in the houses of Ashkelon

they shall lie down at evening.

For the Lord their God kwill be mindful of them

and lrestore their fortunes.

⁸“I have heard mthe taunts of Moab

and nthe revilings of the Ammonites,

how they have taunted my people

and made boasts oagainst their territory.

⁹Therefore, pas I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel,

“Moab shall become qlike Sodom,

and the Ammonites qlike Gomorrah,

a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,

and a waste forever.

The remnant of my people shall plunder them,

and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”

¹⁰This shall be their lot in return rfor their pride,

because they taunted and boasted

against the people of the Lord of hosts.

¹¹The Lord will be awesome against them;

sfor he will famish all the gods of the earth,

and tto him shall bow down,

each in its place,

all uthe lands of the nations.

¹²vYou also, O Cushites,

shall be slain by my sword.

¹³And he will stretch out his hand against the north

wand destroy Assyria,

and he xwill make Nineveh a desolation,

a dry waste like the desert.

¹⁴yHerds shall lie down in her midst,

all kinds of beasts;4

zeven the owl and the hedgehog5

shall lodge in her capitals;

a voice shall hoot in the window;

devastation will be on the threshold;

for aher cedar work will be laid bare.

¹⁵This is the exultant city

bthat lived securely,

that said in her heart,

“I am, and there is no one else.”

What a desolation she has become,

ca lair for wild beasts!

dEveryone who passes by her

hisses and eshakes his fist.