New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 Gather together—yes, gather together, you shameless nation.
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Gather together and assemble yourselves, shameless nation,
2 Gather before judgment begins, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the LORD falls and the terrible day of the LORD ’s anger begins.
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before the decision is made—the day vanishes like chaff— before the burning anger of the LORD comes against you, before the day of the LORD's anger comes against you.
3 Seek the LORD, all who are humble, and follow his commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the LORD will protect you— protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
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Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land who practice his justice; seek righteousness; seek humility. Maybe you will be hidden on the day of the LORD's anger.
4 Gaza and Ashkelon will be abandoned, Ashdod and Ekron torn down.
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Gaza will certainly be abandoned; and Ashkelon destroyed. Ashdod will be driven out at noon; Ekron will be uprooted.
5 And what sorrow awaits you Philistines who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan, for this judgment is against you, too! The LORD will destroy you until not one of you is left.
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Doom, inhabitants of the seacoast, nation of Cretans. The LORD's word is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines. I will exterminate you, leaving no inhabitant.
6 The Philistine coast will become a wilderness pasture, a place of shepherd camps and enclosures for sheep and goats.
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The seacoast will become pastureland, with wells for shepherds and pens for the flocks.
7 The remnant of the tribe of Judah will pasture there. They will rest at night in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon. For the LORD their God will visit his people in kindness and restore their prosperity again.
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The coast will belong to the survivors from the house of Judah; they will pasture beside the sea; in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening. The LORD their God will visit them and restore their possessions.
8 “I have heard the taunts of the Moabites and the insults of the Ammonites, mocking my people and invading their borders.
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I have heard the taunting of Moab and the defamation of the Ammonites; they taunted my people and enlarged their borders.
9 Now, as surely as I live,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, “Moab and Ammon will be destroyed— destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah. Their land will become a place of stinging nettles, salt pits, and eternal desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them and take their land.”
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Therefore, as I live— says the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel— Moab will become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah: a plot of weeds, salt pits, and devastation forever. The few remaining from my people will plunder them; the rest of my nation will possess them.
10 They will receive the wages of their pride, for they have scoffed at the people of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
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This will happen on account of their pride, because they taunted and boasted over the people of the LORD of heavenly forces.
11 The LORD will terrify them as he destroys all the gods in the land. Then nations around the world will worship the LORD, each in their own land.
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The LORD will terrify them; he will make all the gods of the earth disappear. All the coastlands of the nations will bow down to the LORD, each one in its own place.
12 “You Ethiopians will also be slaughtered by my sword,” says the LORD .
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Moreover, you too, Cushites, will be pierced by my sword.
13 And the LORD will strike the lands of the north with his fist, destroying the land of Assyria. He will make its great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland, parched like a desert.
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He will stretch out his hand against the north and will cause Assyria to perish. Let him make Nineveh a desolation, a desolate place like the wilderness.
14 The proud city will become a pasture for flocks and herds, and all sorts of wild animals will settle there. The desert owl and screech owl will roost on its ruined columns, their calls echoing through the gaping windows. Rubble will block all the doorways, and the cedar paneling will be exposed to the weather.
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Flocks will lie down in its midst, every living thing of the nation. Moreover, the owl and the porcupine will spend the night on its columns. A bird's call will resound from the window. Desolation will be on the sill, for the cedar will be stripped bare.
15 This is the boisterous city, once so secure. “I am the greatest!” it boasted. “No other city can compare with me!” But now, look how it has become an utter ruin, a haven for wild animals. Everyone passing by will laugh in derision and shake a defiant fist.
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This is the jubilant city, the one dwelling securely, the one saying in her heart, I, and no one else, will endure forever. How she has become a desolation, a resting place for the wild animals. All those who pass through her hiss and shake their fist.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible