Turn to the Lord
1 You disgraceful nation,
gather around,
2 before it's too late.
The Lord has set a time
when his fierce anger
will strike like a storm
and sweep you away.
3 If you humbly obey the Lord,
then come and worship him.
If you do right and are humble,
perhaps you will be safe
on that day when the Lord
turns loose his anger.
Judgment on Philistia
4 Gaza and Ashkelon
will be deserted
and left in ruins.
Ashdod will be emptied
in broad daylight,
and Ekron uprooted.
5 To you people of Philistia
who live along the coast,
the Lord has this to say:
“I am now your enemy,
and I'll wipe you out!”
6 Your seacoast will be changed
into pastureland
and sheep pens.
7 The Lord God hasn't forgotten
those survivors in Judah,
and he will help them—
his people will take your land
to use for pasture.
And when evening comes,
they will rest
in houses at Ashkelon.
Judgment on Moab and Ammon
* 8 The Lord All-Powerful,
the God of Israel, said:
I've heard Moab and Ammon
insult my people
and threaten their nation.
9 And so, I swear by my very life
that Moab and Ammon will end up
like Sodom and Gomorrah—
covered with thornbushes
and salt pits forever.
Then my people who survive
will take their land.
10 This is how Moab and Ammon
will at last be repaid
for their pride—
and for sneering at the nation
that belongs to me,
the Lord All-Powerful.
11 I will fiercely attack.
Then every god on this earth
will shrink to nothing,
and everyone of every nation
will bow down to me,
right where they are.
Judgment on Ethiopia
12 People of Ethiopia,
the sword of the Lord
will slaughter you!
Judgment on Assyria
13 The Lord will reach to the north
to crush Assyria
and overthrow Nineveh.
14 Herds of wild animals
will live in its rubble;
all kinds of desert owls
will perch on its stones
and hoot in the windows.
Noisy ravens will be heard
inside its buildings,
stripped bare of cedar.
15 This is the glorious city
that felt secure and said,
“I am the only one!”
Now it's merely ruins,
a home for wild animals.
Every passerby simply sneers
and makes vulgar signs.
1 Gather your selues, euen gather you, O nation not worthie to be loued, 2 Before the decree come foorth, and ye be as chaffe that passeth in a day, and before the fierce wrath of the Lord come vpon you, and before the day of the Lords anger come vpon you. 3 Seeke yee the Lord all the meeke of the earth, which haue wrought his iudgement: seeke righteousnesse, seeke lowlinesse, if so bee that ye may be hid in the day of the Lords wrath. 4 For Azzah shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon desolate: they shall driue out Ashdod at the noone day, and Ekron shalbe rooted vp. 5 Wo vnto the inhabitants of the sea coast. the nation of the Cherethims, the worde of the Lord is against you: O Canaan, the lande of the Philistims, I will euen destroye thee without an inhabitant. 6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cotages for shepheardes and sheepefoldes. 7 And that coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Iudah, to feede thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lodge toward night: for the Lord their God shall visite them, and turne away their captiuitie. 8 I haue heard the reproch of Moab, and the rebukes of the children of Ammon, whereby they vpbraided my people, and magnified themselues against their borders. 9 Therefore, as I liue, saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall bee as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorah, euen the breeding of nettels and salt pittes, and a perpetuall desolation: the residue of my folke shall spoyle them, and the remnant of my people shall possesse them. 10 This shall they haue for their pride, because they haue reproched and magnified themselues against the Lord of hostes people. 11 The Lord will be terrible vnto them: for he wil consume all the gods of the earth, and euery man shall worship him from his place, euen all the yles of the heathen. 12 Ye Morians also shalbe slaine by my sword with them. 13 And he wil stretch out his hand against the North, and destroy Asshur, and will make Nineueh desolate, and waste like a wildernesse. 14 And flockes shall lie in the middes of her, and all the beastes of the nations, and the pelicane, and the owle shall abide in the vpper postes of it: the voyce of birdes shall sing in the windowes, and desolations shalbe vpon the postes: for the cedars are vncouered. 15 This is the reioycing citie that dwelt carelesse, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me: how is she made waste, and the lodging of the beastes! euery one that passeth by her, shall hisse and wagge his hand.