Doom on Judah and her neighbours
before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you.
     3   Seek the Lord,
all in the land who live humbly by his laws,
seek righteousness, seek a humble heart;
    it may be that you will find shelter
    in the day of the Lord's anger.
   4   For Gaza shall be deserted,
    Ashkelon left desolate,
  the people of Ashdod shall be driven out ^note at noonday
    and Ekron uprooted.


5   Listen, you who live by the coast, you Kerethite settlers.
  The word of the Lord is spoken against you;
  I will subdue you, ^note land of the Philistines,
  I will lay you waste and leave you without inhabitants,
6   and ^note you, Kereth, shall be all shepherds' huts ^note and sheepfolds;
7   and the coastland shall belong to the survivors of Judah.
  They shall pasture their flocks by the sea ^note
  and lie down at evening in the houses of Ashkelon,
  for the Lord their God will turn to them
    and restore their fortunes.


8   I have heard the insults of Moab, the taunts of Ammon,
  how they have insulted my people
    and encroached on their ^note frontiers.
     9   Therefore, by my life,
  says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel,
  Moab shall be like Sodom,
    Ammon like Gomorrah,
  a pile of weeds, a rotting heap of saltwort,
    waste land for evermore.
  The survivors of my people shall plunder them,
  the remnant of my nation shall possess their land.

10   This will be retribution for their pride, because they have insulted the people of the Lord of Hosts and encroached upon their rights. 11   The Lord will appear against them with all his terrors; for he will reduce to beggary all the gods of the earth, and all the coasts and islands of the nations will worship him, every man in his own home.

   12   You Cushites also shall be killed
    by the sword of the Lord. ^note

Doom on Judah and her neighbours
   13   So let him stretch out his hand over the north
    and destroy Assyria,
  make Nineveh desolate,
    arid as the wilderness.
   14   Flocks shall couch there,
    and all the beasts of the wild.
Horned owl and ruffed bustard shall roost on her capitals;
  the tawny owl shall hoot in the window,
    and the bustard stand in the porch. ^note
15   This is the city that exulted in fancied security,
saying to herself, ‘I am, and I alone.’
And what is she now? A waste, a haunt for wild beasts,
at which every passer-by shall hiss and shake his fist.

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