A Call to Repentance
1 Gatheryourselves together, yes, gather together,
O undesirable nation,
2 Before the decree is issued,
Orthe day passes like chaff,
Before theLord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of theLord’s anger comes upon you!
3 Seek theLord,all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
# It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of theLord’s anger.
Judgment on Nations
4 ForGaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon desolate;
# They shall drive out Ashdodat noonday,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants ofthe seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of theLordisagainst you,
# OCanaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you;
So there shall be no inhabitant.”
6 The seacoast shall be pastures,
# With shelters for shepherdsand folds for flocks.
7 The coast shall be forthe remnant of the house of Judah;
They shall feedtheirflocks there;
In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.
# For theLordtheir God willintervene for them,
# Andreturn their captives.
8 “Ihave heard the reproach of Moab,
# Andthe insults of the people of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people,
# Andmade arrogant threats against their borders.
9 Therefore, as I live,”
Says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel,
# “SurelyMoab shall be like Sodom,
# Andthe people of Ammon like Gomorrah—
# Overrun with weeds and saltpits,
And a perpetual desolation.
The residue of My people shall plunder them,
And the remnant of My people shall possess them.”
10 This they shall havefor their pride,
Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats
Against the people of theLordof hosts.
11 TheLordwillbeawesome to them,
For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
# Peopleshall worship Him,
Each one from his place,
# Indeed allthe shores of the nations.
12 “YouEthiopians also,
# You shall be slain byMy sword.”
13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north,
# Destroy Assyria,
And make Nineveh a desolation,
As dry as the wilderness.
14 The herds shall lie down in her midst,
# Every beast of the nation.
# Both thepelican and the bittern
Shall lodge on the capitalsofherpillars;
Their voice shall sing in the windows;
Desolationshallbeat the threshold;
# For He will lay bare thecedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city
# That dwelt securely,
# That said in her heart,
“Iamit,andthereisnone besides me.”
How has she become a desolation,
A place for beasts to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
# Shall hiss andshake his fist.