1 Gather yourselves, gather, O nation {goy: collective body} not desired {nikhsaf: lacking esteem}.
2 Before the decree is brought forth and the day passes away like chaff, before the burning wrath of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} comes upon you, before the day of the LORD’s wrath {af: intense wrath} comes upon you.
3 Seek the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Arbiter}, all you humble of the land who have performed His judgment {mishpato: covenant justice}; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you will be hidden on the day of the LORD’s anger.
4 For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon will become a desolation {shmamah: total ruin}; at midday Ashdod will be driven out, and Ekron will be uprooted {eqar: forcible removal}.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the region of the sea, nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD {YHWH, Announcing Judgment} is against you. O Canaan, land of the Philistines, I will destroy you so that there will be no inhabitant {yoshev: permanent resident} left.
6 And the region {chevel: Coastal Area} of the sea will become pastures and meadows for shepherds and enclosures for flocks {tson: Sheep and Goats}.
7 And the region will be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they will graze upon it, and in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening. For the LORD their God {YHWH Eloheihem, Faithful Restorer} will attend to them and turn back their captivity {shevitam: state of captivity}.
8 I have heard the reproach {cherpat: public insult} of Moab {moav: ancient adversary} and the revilings of the sons of Ammon, and how they have reproached my people and magnified themselves against their border.
9 Therefore, as I live, declares the LORD {YHWH Tsevaot, Commander of Armies} of hosts, the God of Israel: Moab shall become like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah, a land of nettles {charul: stinging plant} and salt pits, a desolation forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the remainder of my nation shall possess them.
10 This shall be for them in place of their pride, because they have insulted {kherfu: deeply shamed} and have exalted themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts {YHWH Tsevaot, Commander of Armies}.
11 The LORD {YHWH, Supreme Judge} will be awesome to them, for He has famished all the gods of the earth, and every man shall bow down to Him, each from his place, all the coastlands {iyei: distant regions} of the nations.
12 Also you, Cushites {kushim: Nubian people}, are the slain ones of My {YHWH, Just Judge} sword.
13 And He {YHWH, Righteous Judge} will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and He will make Nineveh a desolation {shmamah: utter ruin}, a dry waste like the wilderness.
14 And flocks will lie down in her midst, and all the beasts of the nations; both the bittern and the hedgehog will lodge on her capitals {kaphtoreha: decorative capitals}. A voice will cry out in the windows; desolation will stand at the threshold, for He {YHWH, Judge of Nations} has laid bare her cedar work.
15 This is the exultant city {allizah: exuberant celebration} dwelling in security, saying in her heart, “I am, and there is none besides me.” How she has become a desolation {shammah: utter devastation}, a lair for the beast! Everyone passing by her will hiss and shake his hand.