Judgment on Judah’s Enemies
Gather together, yes, gather,
O ashameless nation,
2 abefore the decree takes effect
—before the day passes away blike chaff—
cbefore there comes upon you
the burning anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 aSeek the Lord, ball you humble of the land,
who do his just commands;
cseek righteousness; seek humility;
cperhaps dyou may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the Lord.
4 aFor Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to ayou inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of bthe Cherethites!
cThe word of the Lord is against you,
dO Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you euntil no inhabitant is left.
6 aAnd you, O seacoast, bshall be pastures,
with meadows for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 aThe seacoast shall become the possession
of bthe remnant of the house of Judah,
con which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God dwill be mindful of them
and erestore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard athe taunts of Moab
and bthe revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts cagainst their territory.
9 Therefore, aas I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become blike Sodom,
and the Ammonites blike 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.”
10 This shall be their lot in return afor their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them;
afor he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and bto him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all cthe lands of the nations.
12 aYou also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
aand destroy Assyria,
and he bwill make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14 aHerds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;
beven the owl and the hedgehog
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for cher cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city
athat lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
ba lair for wild beasts!
cEveryone who passes by her
hisses and dshakes his fist.