2  ^c“I will utterly sweep away everything

from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

3  “I will sweep away ^dman and beast;

I will sweep away the birds of the heavens

and ^dthe fish of the sea,

and ^ethe rubble¹ with the wicked.

I will ^fcut off mankind

from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

4  “I will stretch out my hand against Judah

and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

^gand I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal

and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,

5  ^hthose who bow down on the roofs

to the host of the heavens,

ⁱthose who bow down and swear to the Lord

and yet swear by ^jMilcom,²

6  ^kthose who have turned back from following the Lord,

^lwho do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

7  ^mBe silent before the Lord God!

For ⁿthe day of the Lord is near;

^othe Lord has prepared a sacrifice

and ^pconsecrated his guests.

8  And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice—

^q“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons

and ^rall who array themselves in foreign attire.

9  On that day I will punish

everyone ^swho leaps over the threshold,

and those who fill their master’s³ house

with violence and fraud.

10  “On that day,” declares the Lord,

“a cry will be heard from ^tthe Fish Gate,

^ua wail from ^vthe Second Quarter,

a loud crash from the hills.

11  ^wWail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!

For all the traders⁴ are no more;

all who weigh out silver are cut off.

12  At that time ^xI will search Jerusalem with lamps,

and I will punish the men

^ywho are complacent,⁵

^zthose who say in their hearts,

‘The Lord will not do good,

nor will he do ill.’

13  Their goods shall be ^aplundered,

and their houses laid waste.

^bThough they build houses,

they shall not inhabit them;

^cthough they plant vineyards,

they shall not drink wine from them.”

14  ^dThe great day of the Lord is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;

^ethe mighty man cries aloud there.

15  ^fA day of wrath is that day,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ^gruin and devastation,

^ha day of darkness and gloom,

^ha day of clouds and thick darkness,

16  ⁱa day of trumpet blast and battle cry

^jagainst the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

17  ^kI will bring distress on mankind,

so that they shall walk ^llike the blind,

because they have sinned against the Lord;

^mtheir blood shall be poured out like dust,

and their flesh ⁿlike dung.

18  ^oNeither their silver nor their gold

shall be able to deliver them

on the day of the wrath of the Lord.

^pIn the fire of his jealousy,

^qall the earth shall be consumed;

^rfor a full and sudden end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

1  Gather together, yes, gather,

O ^sshameless nation,

2  ^tbefore the decree takes effect⁶

—before the day passes away ^ulike chaff—

^vbefore there comes upon you

the burning anger of the Lord,

before there comes upon you

the day of the anger of the Lord.

3  ^wSeek the Lord, ^xall you humble of the land,

who do his just commands;⁷

^yseek righteousness; seek humility;

^yperhaps ^zyou may be hidden

on the day of the anger of the Lord.

4  ^aFor Gaza shall be deserted,

and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;

Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.

5  Woe to ^byou inhabitants of the seacoast,

you nation of ^cthe Cherethites!

^dThe word of the Lord is against you,

^eO Canaan, land of the Philistines;

and I will destroy you ^funtil no inhabitant is left.

6  ^gAnd you, O seacoast, ^hshall be pastures,

with meadows⁸ for shepherds

and folds for flocks.

7  ⁱThe seacoast shall become the possession

of ^jthe remnant of the house of Judah,

^hon which they shall graze,

and in the houses of Ashkelon

they shall lie down at evening.

For the Lord their God ^kwill be mindful of them

and ^lrestore their fortunes.

8  “I have heard ^mthe taunts of Moab

and ⁿthe revilings of the Ammonites,

how they have taunted my people

and made boasts ^oagainst their territory.

9  Therefore, ^pas I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel,

“Moab shall become ^qlike Sodom,

and the Ammonites ^qlike Gomorrah,

a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,

and a waste forever.

The remnant of my people shall plunder them,

and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”

10  This shall be their lot in return ^rfor their pride,

because they taunted and boasted

against the people of the Lord of hosts.

11  The Lord will be awesome against them;

^sfor he will famish all the gods of the earth,

and ^tto him shall bow down,

each in its place,

all ^uthe lands of the nations.

12  ^vYou also, O Cushites,

shall be slain by my sword.

13  And he will stretch out his hand against the north

^wand destroy Assyria,

and he ^xwill make Nineveh a desolation,

a dry waste like the desert.

14  ^yHerds shall lie down in her midst,

all kinds of beasts;⁹

^zeven the owl and the hedgehog¹⁰

shall lodge in her capitals;

a voice shall hoot in the window;

devastation will be on the threshold;

for ^aher cedar work will be laid bare.

15  This is the exultant city

^bthat lived securely,

that said in her heart,

“I am, and there is no one else.”

What a desolation she has become,

^ca lair for wild beasts!

^dEveryone who passes by her

hisses and ^eshakes his fist.

1  Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,

^fthe oppressing city!

2  She listens to no voice;

^gshe accepts no correction.

^hShe does not trust in the Lord;

she does not draw near to her God.

3  ⁱHer officials within her

are roaring lions;

her judges are ^jevening wolves

that leave nothing till the morning.

4  ^kHer prophets are fickle, treacherous men;

^kher priests ^lprofane what is holy;

they do violence to the law.

5  The Lord within her ^mis righteous;

he does no injustice;

every morning he shows forth his justice;

each dawn he does not fail;

but ⁿthe unjust knows no shame.

6  ^o“I have cut off nations;

their battlements are in ruins;

I have laid waste their streets

^pso that no one walks in them;

their cities have been made desolate,

without a man, without an inhabitant.

7  ^qI said, ‘Surely you will fear me;

^ryou will accept correction.

Then your¹¹ dwelling would not be cut off

according to all that I have appointed against you.’¹²

But ^sall the more they were eager

to make all their deeds corrupt.

8  “Therefore ^twait for me,” declares the Lord,

“for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.

For my decision is ^uto gather nations,

to assemble kingdoms,

to pour out upon them my indignation,

all my burning anger;

for in the fire of my jealousy

^vall the earth shall be consumed.

9  “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples

to ^wa pure speech,

that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord

and serve him with one accord.

10  ^xFrom beyond the rivers ^yof Cush

my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,

shall bring my offering.

11  ^z“On that day ^ayou shall not be put to shame

because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;

for then ^bI will remove from your midst

your proudly exultant ones,

and ^cyou shall no longer be haughty

in my holy mountain.

12  But I will leave in your midst

a people ^dhumble and lowly.

^eThey shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,

13  ^fthose who are left in Israel;

they ^gshall do no injustice

and speak no lies,

^hnor shall there be found in their mouth

a deceitful tongue.

ⁱFor they shall graze and lie down,

and none shall make them afraid.”

14  ^jSing aloud, O daughter of Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

15  The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;

he has cleared away your enemies.

^kThe King of Israel, ^lthe Lord, is in your midst;

you shall never again fear evil.

16  ^zOn that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

“Fear not, O Zion;

^mlet not your hands grow weak.

17  ^lThe Lord your God is in your midst,

ⁿa mighty one who will save;

^ohe will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

18  I will gather those of you who mourn ^pfor the festival,

so that you will no longer suffer reproach.¹³

19  Behold, at that time ^qI will deal

with all your oppressors.

And ^rI will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change ^stheir shame into ^tpraise

and renown in all the earth.

20  ^uAt that time I will bring you in,

at the time when I gather you together;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

^vwhen I restore your fortunes

before your eyes,” says the Lord.

2  “Thus says the Lord:

^hBehold, waters are rising ⁱout of the north,

^hand shall become an overflowing torrent;

they shall overflow ^jthe land and all that fills it,

the city and those who dwell in it.

Men shall cry out,

and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.

3  At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,

^lat the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,

the fathers ^mlook not back to their children,

so feeble are their hands,

4  because of the day that is coming to destroy

all ^fthe Philistines,

to cut off from ⁿTyre and Sidon

every helper that remains.

For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,

^othe remnant of the coastland of ^pCaphtor.

5  ^qBaldness has come upon Gaza;

^rAshkelon has perished.

O remnant of their valley,

^show long will you gash yourselves?

6  ^tAh, sword of the Lord!

How long till you are quiet?

Put yourself into your scabbard;

rest and be still!

7  How can it¹ be quiet

^uwhen the Lord has given it a charge?

Against ^vAshkelon and against the seashore

^whe has appointed it.”

“Woe to ^yNebo, for it is laid waste!

^zKiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;

the fortress is put to shame ^aand broken down;

2  the renown of Moab is no more.

In ^bHeshbon they planned disaster against her:

‘Come, let us cut her off ^cfrom being a nation!’

You also, O ^dMadmen, shall be brought to silence;

the sword shall pursue you.

3  “A voice! A cry from ^eHoronaim,

‘Desolation and great destruction!’

4  Moab is destroyed;

her little ones have made a cry.

5  ^eFor at the ascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;²

for ^eat the descent of Horonaim

they have heard the distressed cry³ of destruction.

6  Flee! Save yourselves!

You will be like ^fa juniper in the desert!

7  For, ^gbecause you trusted in your works and your treasures,

you also shall be taken;

and ^hChemosh ⁱshall go into exile

with ^jhis priests and his officials.

8  ^kThe destroyer shall come upon every city,

and no city shall escape;

the valley shall perish,

and ^lthe plain shall be destroyed,

as the Lord has spoken.

9  “Give wings to Moab,

for she would fly away;

her cities shall become a desolation,

with no inhabitant in them.

11  “Moab has been at ease from his youth

and has ^osettled on his dregs;

he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

nor has he gone into exile;

so his taste remains in him,

and his scent is not changed.

14  “How do you say, ‘We are heroes

and mighty men of war’?

15  The destroyer of ^sMoab and his cities has come up,

and the choicest of his young men have ^tgone down to slaughter,

declares ^uthe King, ^uwhose name is the Lord of hosts.

16  The calamity of Moab is near at hand,

and his affliction hastens swiftly.

17  ^vGrieve for him, all you who are around him,

and all who know his name;

say, ^w‘How the mighty scepter is broken,

the glorious staff.’

18  ^x“Come down from your glory,

and sit on the parched ground,

O inhabitant of ^yDibon!

For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;

he has destroyed your strongholds.

19  ^zStand by the way ^zand watch,

O inhabitant of ^aAroer!

Ask him who flees and her who escapes;

say, ‘What has happened?’

20  Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;

^vwail and cry!

Tell it beside ^bthe Arnon,

that ^sMoab is laid waste.

28  ^r“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,

O inhabitants of Moab!

Be ^slike the dove that nests

in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.

29  ^tWe have heard of the pride of Moab—

he is very proud—

of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,

and the haughtiness of his heart.

30  I know his insolence, declares the Lord;

^uhis boasts are false,

his deeds are false.

31  ^vTherefore I wail for Moab;

I cry out for all Moab;

for the men of ^wKir-hareseth I mourn.

32  More than for ^xJazer I weep for you,

^yO vine of ^zSibmah!

^aYour branches passed over the sea,

reached to the Sea of ^xJazer;

on your summer fruits and your grapes

the destroyer has fallen.

33  ^bGladness and joy have been taken away

from the fruitful land of Moab;

I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;

no one treads them with shouts of joy;

the shouting is not the shout of joy.

40  For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, ⁿone shall fly swiftly like an eagle

^oand spread his wings against Moab;

41  ^pthe cities shall be taken

and the strongholds seized.

^qThe heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day

like the heart of ^ra woman in her birth pains;

42  Moab shall be ^sdestroyed and be no longer a people,

because ^the magnified himself against the Lord.

43  ^uTerror, pit, and snare

are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!

declares the Lord.

44  He who flees from the terror

shall fall into the pit,