1: Assemble yourselves, yes, assemble, O nation not desired; 2: Before the decree bringeth forth, [before] the day passeth as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD cometh upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger cometh upon you. 3: Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, who have performed his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger. 4: For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. 5: Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coasts, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD [is] against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. 6: And the sea coast shall be dwellings [and] cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks. 7: And the coasts shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed upon them: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God will visit them, and turn away their captivity. 8: I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, by which they have reproached my people, and magnified [themselves] against their border. 9: Therefore [as] I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, [even] the breeding of nettles, and salt-pits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall lay them waste, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. 10: This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified [themselves] against the people of the LORD of hosts. 11: The LORD [will be] terrible to them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and [men] shall worship him, every one from his place, [even] all the isles of the heathen. 12: Ye Cushites also, ye [shall be] slain by my sword. 13: And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, [and] dry like a wilderness. 14: And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; [their] voice shall sing in the windows; desolation [shall be] in the threshholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work. 15: This [is] the rejoicing city that dwelt in security, that said in her heart, I [am], and [there is] none besides me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, [and] wag his hand.
