| NET Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Bunch yourselves together like straw, you undesirable nation, | 1Gather yourselves together; gather together, undesirable nation, |
| 2before God's decree becomes reality and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, before the LORD's raging anger overtakes you--before the day of the LORD's angry judgment overtakes you! | 2before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning of the LORD's anger overtakes you, before the day of the LORD's anger overtakes you. |
| 3Seek the LORD's favor, all you humble people of the land who have obeyed his commands! Strive to do what is right! Strive to be humble! Maybe you will be protected on the day of the LORD's angry judgment. | 3Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who carry out what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the LORD's anger. |
| 4Indeed, Gaza will be deserted and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, and Ekron will be overthrown. | 4For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon will become a ruin. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted. |
| 5Those who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete, are as good as dead. The LORD has decreed your downfall, Canaan, land of the Philistines: "I will destroy everyone who lives there!" | 5Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast, nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines: I will destroy you until there is no one left. |
| 6The seacoast will be used as pasture lands by the shepherds and as pens for their flocks. | 6The seacoast will become pasturelands with caves for shepherds and folds for sheep. |
| 7Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah will take possession of it. By the sea they will graze, in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening, for the LORD their God will intervene for them and restore their prosperity. | 7The coastland will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; they will find pasture there. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for the LORD their God will return to them and restore their fortunes. |
| 8"I have heard Moab's taunts and the Ammonites' insults. They taunted my people and verbally harassed those living in Judah. | 8I have heard the taunting of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their territory. |
| 9Therefore, as surely as I live," says the LORD who commands armies, the God of Israel, "be certain that Moab will become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah. They will be overrun by weeds, filled with salt pits, and permanently desolate. Those of my people who are left will plunder their belongings; those who are left in Judah will take possession of their land." | 9Therefore, as I live-- this is the declaration of the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel-- Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah-- a place overgrown with weeds, a salt pit, and a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them. |
| 10This is how they will be repaid for their arrogance, for they taunted and verbally harassed the people of the LORD who commands armies. | 10This is what they get for their pride, because they have taunted and acted arrogantly against the people of the LORD of Hosts. |
| 11The LORD will terrify them, for he will weaken all the gods of the earth. All the distant nations will worship the LORD in their own lands. | 11The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then all the distant coastlands of the nations will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place. |
| 12"You Ethiopians will also die by my sword!" | 12You Cushites will also be slain by My sword. |
| 13The LORD will attack the north and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins; it will be as barren as the desert. | 13He will also stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolate ruin, dry as the desert. |
| 14Flocks and herds will lie down in the middle of it, as well as every kind of wild animal. Owls will sleep in the tops of its support pillars; they will hoot through the windows. Rubble will cover the thresholds; even the cedar work will be exposed to the elements. | 14Herds will lie down in the middle of it, every kind of wild animal. Both the desert owl and the screech owl will roost in the capitals of its pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but devastation will be on the threshold, for He will expose the cedar work. |
| 15This is how the once-proud city will end up--the city that was so secure. She thought to herself, "I am unique! No one can compare to me!" What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live! Everyone who passes by her taunts her and shakes his fist. | 15This is the self-assured city that lives in security, that thinks to herself: I exist, and there is no one else. What a desolation she has become, a place for wild animals to lie down! Everyone who passes by her jeers and shakes his fist. |
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