| Berean Study Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Gather yourselves, gather together, O shameful nation, | 1Bunch yourselves together like straw, you undesirable nation, |
| 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. | 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! |
| 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. | 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. |
| 4For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted. | 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. |
| 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.” | 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!" |
| 6So the seacoast will become a land of pastures, with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep. | 6The seacoast will be used as pasture lands by the shepherds and as pens for their flocks. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 8“I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders. | 8"I have heard Moab's taunts and the Ammonites' insults. They taunted my people and verbally harassed those living in Judah. |
| 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.” | 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." |
| 10This they shall have in return for their pride, for taunting and mocking the people of the LORD of Hosts. | 10This is how they will be repaid for their arrogance, for they taunted and verbally harassed the people of the LORD who commands armies. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 12“You too, O Cushites, will be slain by My sword.” | 12"You Ethiopians will also die by my sword!" |
| 13And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
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