1. Gather together, gather, O nation without shame,
2. Before the day the decree is born -- The day flies by like chaff -- Before the fierce anger Of the LORD overtakes you, Before the day of anger Of the LORD overtakes you.
3. Seek the LORD, All you humble of the land Who have fulfilled His law; Seek righteousness, Seek humility. Perhaps you will find shelter On the day of the LORD's anger.
4. Indeed, Gaza shall be deserted And Ashkelon desolate; Ashdod's people shall be expelled in broad daylight, And Ekron shall be uprooted.
5. Ah, nation of Cherethites Who inhabit the seacoast! There is a word of the LORD against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: I will lay you waste Without inhabitants.
6. The seacoast Cheroth shall become An abode for shepherds and folds for flocks,
7. And shall be a portion for the remnant of the House of Judah; On these [pastures] they shall graze [their flocks], They shall lie down at eventide In the houses of Ashkelon. For the LORD their God will take note of them And restore their fortunes.
8. I have heard the insults of Moab And the jeers of the Ammonites, Who have insulted My people And gloated over their country.
9. Assuredly, as I live -- declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel -- Moab shall become like Sodom And the Ammonites like Gomorrah: Clumps of weeds and patches of salt, And desolation evermore. The remnant of My people shall plunder them, The remainder of My nation shall possess them.
10. That is what they'll get for their haughtiness, For insulting and jeering At the people of the LORD of Hosts.
11. The LORD will show Himself terrible against them, Causing all the gods on earth to shrivel; And all the coastlands of the nations Shall bow down to Him -- Every man in his own home.
12. You Cushites too -- They shall be slain by My sword.
13. And He will stretch out His arm against the north And destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, Arid as the desert.
14. In it flocks shall lie down, Every species of beast, While jackdaws and owls roost on its capitals, The great owl hoots in the window, And the raven [croaks] on the threshold. For he has stripped its cedarwork bare.
15. Is this the gay city That dwelt secure, That thought in her heart, "I am, and there is none but me"? Alas, she is become a waste, A lair of wild beasts! Everyone who passes by her Hisses and gestures with his hand.
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