2:1 Bunch yourselves together like straw, ¹  you undesirable ²  nation,

2:2 before God’s decree becomes reality ³  and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, ⁴ 

before the Lord’s raging anger ⁵  overtakes ⁶  you –

before the day of the Lord’s angry judgment overtakes you!

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ⁷  all you humble people ⁸  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ⁹ 

Strive to do what is right! ¹⁰  Strive to be humble! ¹¹ 

Maybe you will be protected ¹²  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

2:4 Indeed, ¹³  Gaza will be deserted ¹⁴ 

and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. ¹⁵ 

Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, ¹⁶ 

and Ekron will be overthrown. ¹⁷ 

2:5 Those who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete, ¹⁸  are as good as dead. ¹⁹ 

The Lord has decreed your downfall, ²⁰  Canaan, land of the Philistines:

“I will destroy everyone who lives there!” ²¹ 

2:6 The seacoast ²²  will be used as pasture lands ²³  by the shepherds

and as pens for their flocks.

2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah ²⁴  will take possession of it. ²⁵ 

By the sea ²⁶  they ²⁷  will graze,

in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening,

for the Lord their God will intervene for them ²⁸  and restore their prosperity. ²⁹ 

2:8 “I have heard Moab’s taunts

and the Ammonites’ insults.

They ³⁰  taunted my people

and verbally harassed those living in Judah. ³¹ 

2:9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” says the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel,

“be certain that Moab will become like Sodom

and the Ammonites like Gomorrah.

They will be overrun by weeds, ³² 

filled with salt pits, ³³ 

and permanently desolate.

Those of my people who are left ³⁴  will plunder their belongings; ³⁵ 

those who are left in Judah ³⁶  will take possession of their land.”

2:10 This is how they will be repaid for their arrogance, ³⁷ 

for they taunted and verbally harassed ³⁸  the people of the Lord who commands armies.

2:11 The Lord will terrify them, ³⁹ 

for ⁴⁰  he will weaken ⁴¹  all the gods of the earth.

All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. ⁴² 

2:12 “You ⁴³  Ethiopians ⁴⁴  will also die by my sword!” ⁴⁵ 

2:13 The Lord ⁴⁶  will attack the north ⁴⁷ 

and destroy Assyria.

He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins;

it will be as barren ⁴⁸  as the desert.

2:14 Flocks and herds ⁴⁹  will lie down in the middle of it,

as well as every kind of wild animal. ⁵⁰ 

Owls ⁵¹  will sleep in the tops of its support pillars;

they will hoot through the windows. ⁵² 

Rubble will cover the thresholds; ⁵³ 

even the cedar work ⁵⁴  will be exposed to the elements. ⁵⁵ 

2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up ⁵⁶  –

the city that was so secure. ⁵⁷ 

She thought to herself, ⁵⁸  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ⁵⁹ 

What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live!

Everyone who passes by her taunts her ⁶⁰  and shakes his fist. ⁶¹