2:1 Gather yourselves together, yes, join together,
You nation without ①shame,
▷ ①Or longing
2:2 Before the decree ①takes effect—
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.
▷ ①Lit gives birth
2:3 Seek the LORD,
All you humble of the ①earth
Who have practiced His ②ordinances;
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
Perhaps you will remain hidden
On the day of the LORD’S anger.
▷ ①Or land ②Or justice
2:4 For Gaza will be abandoned,
And Ashkelon will become a desolation;
The inhabitants of Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
And Ekron will be uprooted.
2:5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the ①Cherethites!
The word of the LORD is against you,
Canaan, land of the Philistines;
And I will eliminate you
So that there will be no inhabitant.
▷ ①I.e., a segment of the Philistines with roots in Crete
2:6 So the seacoast will become grazing places,
With pastures for shepherds and folds for flocks.
2:7 And the coast will be
For the remnant of the house of Judah,
They will drive sheep to pasture on it.
In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;
For the LORD their God will care for them
And restore their fortunes.
2:8 “I have heard the taunting of Moab
And the abusive speech of the sons of Ammon,
With which they have taunted My people
And boasted against their territory.
2:9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the LORD of armies,
The God of Israel,
“Moab will assuredly be like Sodom,
And the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah—
Ground overgrown with weeds and full of salt mines,
And a permanent desolation.
The remnant of My people will plunder them,
And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”
2:10 This they will have in return for their arrogance, because they have taunted and boasted against the people of the LORD of armies.
2:11 The LORD will be terrifying to them, for He will ①starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.
▷ ①Lit allow to dwindle
2:12 “You also, Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”
2:13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north
And eliminate Assyria,
And He will make Nineveh a desolation,
Parched like the wilderness.
2:14 Flocks will lie down in her midst,
①All animals that range in herds;
Both the ②pelican and the hedgehog
Will spend their nights in ③the tops of her pillars;
④Birds will sing in the window,
Devastation will be on the threshold;
For He has uncovered the cedar work.
▷ ①Or All kinds of beasts in crowds; lit Every kind of beast of a nation ②Or owl; or jackdaw ③Lit her capitals ④Lit A voice
2:15 This is the presumptuous city
That dwells securely,
Who says in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
How she has become a desolation,
A resting place for animals!
Everyone who passes by her will ①hiss
And wave his hand in contempt.
▷ ①Or whistle