4 For Gaza will be abandoned,

and Ashkelon as a desolation.

As for Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.

5 Woe to you, inhabitants of the region of the sea,

people of the Kerethites!

The word of Yahweh is against you,

O Canaan, land of the Philistines.

I will destroy you ⌊until there is no inhabitant⌋.a

6 And you, O region of the sea, shall become

pastures and meadows for shepherds

and sheep pens for the flocks.

7 And it shall become a region

for the remnant of the house of Judah;

upon them they shall graze,

and in the houses of Ashkelon

they shall lie down in the evening.

For Yahweh their God shall be mindful of them,

and he will restore their fortunes.

8 I have heard the reproaches of Moab

and the scorning of the ⌊Ammonites⌋,b

with which they have taunted my nation

and made boasts against their territory.

9 “Therefore, as I live”—a declaration of Yahweh of hosts,

the God of Israel—

“Moab shall be as Sodom,

and the ⌊Ammonites⌋c like Gomorrah,

a place of weeds and salt pits

and a desolation forever.

The remnant of my people shall plunder them,

and the remainder of my nation shall possess them.”

10 This shall be for them in place of their pride

because they mocked and boasted

against the people of Yahweh of hosts.

11 Yahweh will be awesome against them,

for he will destroy all the gods of the earth

and all the landsd of the nations;

each in its place will bow down to him.

12 You also, O Cushites,

they shall be killed by my sword.

13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north,

and he will destroy Assyria

and will make Nineveh a desolation,

a dry wasteland like the desert.

14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,

every wild animal of a nation;

even the desert owl and the screech owl

shall lodge on her capitals.

A voice shall hoot in the window;

rubblee on the threshold;

for the cedar is laid bare.

15 This is the city of rejoicing

that lived securely;

the one saying in her heart,

“⌊I am, and there is none besides me⌋.”f

How she has become a desolation,

a lair for wild animals!

Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

Judgment of Jerusalem and the Nations

3 Woe to you, O rebellious and defiled one!

The oppressing city!

2 She listens to no voice;

she does not accept correction.

In Yahweh she does not trust;

to her God she does not draw near.

3 Her officials in her midst are roaring lions;

her judges are evening wolves;

they leave nothing until the morning.

4 Her prophets are arrogant men of treachery;

her priests have defiled that which is holy;

they do violence to the law.

5 Yahweh is righteous in her midst;

he does not do wickedness.

⌊Morning by morning⌋a he renders his judgment;

at dawn he does not fail,

but an evil one knows no shame.

6 “I have cut off nations;

their strongholds are deserted.

I have laid waste their streets,

so that none pass through.

Their cities have been destroyed

and are without a man, without an inhabitant.

7 I have said, ‘Surely she will fear me;

she will accept discipline.

Then her dwelling place will not be cut down,

nor all that I have brought upon her.’

Surely they rise early;

they make all their deeds corrupt.

8 “Therefore, wait for me”—a declaration of Yahweh—

“for the day of my rising as a witness.

For my decision is to gather nations,

to assembleb kingdoms,

to pour out my wrath upon them, all my burning anger.

For by the fire of my anger all the land shall be consumed.

9 Because then I will ⌊make the speech of the nations pure⌋;c

that all of them might call on the name of Yahweh,

to serve him ⌊in unison⌋.d

10 From beyond the rivers of Cush

my worshipers and the daughter of my scattered ones

shall bring my offering.

11 On that day you shall not be humiliated

on account of all your deeds

by which you have rebelled against me.

For then I shall remove from your midst

those exulting in your pride,

and you shall no longer be haughty

in ⌊my holy mountain⌋.e

12 And I will leave in your midst

a people afflicted and poor,

and they shall take refuge

in the name of Yahweh.

13 The remnant of Israel

shall not do wickedness;

they shall not speak deception,

nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth.

For they shall graze and lie down,

and none shall frighten them.”