呼吁百姓悔改
1-2不知羞耻的国民啊，
趁命令尚未发出、
日子尚未消逝如风中的糠秕、
耶和华的烈怒尚未临到你们、
祂向你们发怒的日子尚未来临，
要聚集，聚集起来！
3世上所有遵守耶和华典章的谦卑人啊，
要寻求耶和华，追求公义，追求谦卑。
也许在耶和华发怒的日子，
你们可以得到庇护。
审判以色列的邻国
4迦萨必被抛弃，
亚实基伦必沦为废墟，
亚实突的居民必在中午被赶走，
以革伦必被连根拔除。
5住在海边的基利提人啊，
你们有祸了！
非利士人的迦南啊，
耶和华宣告要毁灭你，
使你杳无人烟。
6沿海地区必成为草场，
有牧人的居所和羊圈。
7那里必归给犹大家的余民，
他们必在那里放牧，
晚上睡在亚实基伦的房屋里，
因为他们的上帝耶和华必眷顾他们，
使他们回归故土。
8-9以色列的上帝——万军之耶和华说：
“我听见了摩押人的毁谤和亚扪人的辱骂。
他们毁谤我的子民，扬言侵占他们的土地。
我凭自己的永恒起誓，
摩押和亚扪必刺草丛生、盐坑遍地、永远荒废，
如所多玛和蛾摩拉一样。
我余下的子民必掳掠他们，
我幸存的百姓必承受他们的土地。”
10这是他们的报应，
因为他们狂妄自大，
羞辱万军之耶和华的子民。
11耶和华必令他们恐惧，
因为祂要削弱世上的神明。
天下万民必在本地敬拜祂。
12古实人啊，
你们也必死在耶和华的刀下。
13祂必伸手攻击北方，毁灭亚述，
使尼尼微一片荒凉，
如干旱的旷野。
14牲畜和野兽必躺卧在那里，
猫头鹰和刺猬栖身在房柱上，
窗口传出鸟鸣，
门庭都必破败，
露出香柏木梁。
15这就是那欢乐安逸、
自以为天下无双的城，
现在竟然如此荒凉，
成为野兽栖息之地！
路过的人都摇手嘲笑它。
The Lord Will Judge Judah and Jerusalem Along With the Nations
God Calls Judah to Turn Away From Their Sins
1Gather together,
you shameful nation of Judah!
Gather yourselves together!
2Come together before the Lord’s judgment arrives.
The day of the Lord’s judgment will sweep in
like straw blown by the wind.
Soon the Lord’s great anger will come against you.
The day of his wrath will come against you.
3So look to him, all you people in the land
who worship him faithfully.
You always do what he commands you to do.
Continue to do what is right.
Don’t be proud.
Then perhaps the Lord will keep you safe
on the day he pours out his anger on the world.
A Message About Philistia
4Gaza will be deserted.
Ashkelon will be destroyed.
Ashdod will be emptied out at noon.
Ekron will be pulled up by its roots.
5How terrible it will be for you Kerethites
who live by the Mediterranean Sea!
Philistia, the Lord has spoken against you.
What happened to Canaan will happen to you.
The Lord says, “I will destroy you.
No one will be left.”
6The land by the sea will become grasslands.
It will have wells for shepherds and pens for flocks.
7That land will belong to those who are still left alive
among the people of Judah.
They will find grasslands there.
They will take over
the houses in Ashkelon and live in them.
The Lord their God will take care of them.
He will bless them with great success again.
A Message About Moab and Ammon
8The Lord says,
“I have heard Moab make fun of my people.
The Ammonites also laughed at them.
They told them that bad things
would happen to their land.
9So Moab will become like Sodom,”
announces the Lord who rules over all.
“Ammon will be like Gomorrah.
Weeds and salt pits will cover those countries.
They will be dry and empty deserts forever.
Those who are still left alive among my people
will take all their valuable things.
So they will receive those lands as their own.
And that is just as sure as I am alive.”
The Lord is the God of Israel.
10Moab and Ammon will be judged
because they are so proud.
They made fun of the Lord’s people.
They laughed at them.
11The Lord who rules over all will terrify Moab and Ammon.
He will destroy all the gods on earth.
Then distant nations will bow down to him.
All of them will serve him in their own lands.
A Message About Cush
12The Lord says, “People of Cush,
you too will die by my sword.”
A Message About Assyria
13The Lord will reach out his powerful hand against the north.
He will destroy Assyria.
He’ll leave Nineveh totally empty.
It will be as dry as a desert.
14Flocks and herds will lie down there.
So will creatures of every kind.
Desert owls and screech owls
will rest on its pillars.
The sound of their hooting will echo through the windows.
The doorways will be full of trash.
The cedar beams will be showing.
15Nineveh was a carefree city.
It lived in safety.
It said to itself,
“I am the one!
No one is greater than I am.”
But it has been destroyed.
Wild animals make their home there.
All those who pass by laugh
and shake their fists at it.
