| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Gather together—yes, gather together, you shameless nation. | 1Gather yourselves, gather together, O shameful nation, |
| 2Gather before judgment begins, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the LORD falls and the terrible day of the LORD’s anger begins. | 2before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the Day of the LORD’s anger comes upon you. |
| 3Seek the LORD, all who are humble, and follow his commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the LORD will protect you— protect you from his anger on that day of destruction. Judgment against Philistia | 3Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger. |
| 4Gaza and Ashkelon will be abandoned, Ashdod and Ekron torn down. | 4For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted. |
| 5And what sorrow awaits you Philistines who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan, for this judgment is against you, too! The LORD will destroy you until not one of you is left. | 5Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you, and no one will be left.” |
| 6The Philistine coast will become a wilderness pasture, a place of shepherd camps and enclosures for sheep and goats. | 6So the seacoast will become a land of pastures, with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep. |
| 7The remnant of the tribe of Judah will pasture there. They will rest at night in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon. For the LORD their God will visit his people in kindness and restore their prosperity again. Judgment against Moab and Ammon | 7The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for the LORD their God will attend to them and restore their captives. |
| 8“I have heard the taunts of the Moabites and the insults of the Ammonites, mocking my people and invading their borders. | 8“I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders. |
| 9Now, as surely as I live,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, “Moab and Ammon will be destroyed— destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah. Their land will become a place of stinging nettles, salt pits, and eternal desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them and take their land.” | 9Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.” |
| 10They will receive the wages of their pride, for they have scoffed at the people of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. | 10This they shall have in return for their pride, for taunting and mocking the people of the LORD of Hosts. |
| 11The LORD will terrify them as he destroys all the gods in the land. Then nations around the world will worship the LORD, each in their own land. Judgment against Ethiopia and Assyria | 11The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then the nations of every shore will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place. |
| 12“You Ethiopians will also be slaughtered by my sword,” says the LORD. | 12“You too, O Cushites, will be slain by My sword.” |
| 13And the LORD will strike the lands of the north with his fist, destroying the land of Assyria. He will make its great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland, parched like a desert. | 13And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert. |
| 14The proud city will become a pasture for flocks and herds, and all sorts of wild animals will settle there. The desert owl and screech owl will roost on its ruined columns, their calls echoing through the gaping windows. Rubble will block all the doorways, and the cedar paneling will be exposed to the weather. | 14Herds will lie down in her midst, creatures of every kind. Both the desert owl and screech owl will roost atop her pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but desolation will lie on the threshold, for He will expose the beams of cedar. |
| 15This is the boisterous city, once so secure. “I am the greatest!” it boasted. “No other city can compare with me!” But now, look how it has become an utter ruin, a haven for wild animals. Everyone passing by will laugh in derision and shake a defiant fist. | 15This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist. |
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