1 Gather together and assemble, O shameless people,
2 that you may be scattered by the wind like a heap of straw when the anger of Yahweh comes upon you!
3 Seek Yahweh, all you poor of the land who fulfill his commands, do justice and are meek, and perhaps you will find refuge on the day Yah weh comes to judge.
4 Gaza shall be a desert, Ash kelon completely destroyed to its very foundation.
5 Woe to the nation of the Chere thites on the seacoast, for Yahweh has spoken against it: “O Canaan, land of the Philistines, I will destroy you so that no one will be left in you.”
6 The seacoast shall be like pastures where the shepherds and their flocks go and the lambs gather.
7 This region will belong to the rem nant of the tribe of Judah; there they shall bring their flocks to graze and they will sleep at night in the houses of Ashkelon, when Yahweh their God comes to visit them and bring their captives back.
8 Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel says, “I have heard the affronts of Moab and the mockery of the Ammonites who insulted my people and extended their boundaries at the expense of my territory.
9 Therefore I swear that, as I live, Moab shall become like Sodom, and Ammon like Gomorrah, as desert indeed. The remnant of my peo ple shall plunder them, the survivors of my nation shall receive them as an inheritance.
10 This shall be their lot, in payment for their pride, for they insulted the people of the God of hosts and have enriched themselves at my people’s expense.”
11 Yah weh will be inflexible with them when he calls to account all the gods of the earth. 12 Then the pagans who live on the islands shall worship him, each in his own land.
12 “The threat of my sword also hangs over you, Ethiopians.”
13 Yahweh will raise his hand against the north and re duce Assyria to ruins.
14 He will leave Nineveh in utter desolation, barren as the desert. Herds of all kinds of animals shall find shelter in her, and even the pelican and the heron shall dwell in her ruins; the owl shall hoot from the window and the raven from the threshold.
15 The cedar has been uprooted! So will be the end of the happy city that felt secure in her own power and said to herself: I and no one but I. Why is it now a heap of ruins where animals take shelter? Everyone who passes by her hisses, making signs with the hand.