65 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
65 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 2
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1 Gather together—yes, gather together,
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you shameless nation.
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2 Gather before judgment begins,
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before your time to repent is blown away like chaff.
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Act now, before the fierce fury of the Lord falls
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and the terrible day of the Lord’s anger begins.
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3 Seek the Lord, all who are humble,
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and follow his commands.
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Seek to do what is right
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and to live humbly.
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Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you—
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protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
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4 Gaza and Ashkelon will be abandoned,
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Ashdod and Ekron torn down.
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5 And what sorrow awaits you Philistines
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who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan,
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for this judgment is against you, too!
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The Lord will destroy you
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until not one of you is left.
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6 The Philistine coast will become a wilderness pasture,
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a place of shepherd camps
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and enclosures for sheep and goats.
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7 The remnant of the tribe of Judah will pasture there.
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They will rest at night in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon.
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For the Lord their God will visit his people in kindness
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and restore their prosperity again.
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8 “I have heard the taunts of the Moabites
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and the insults of the Ammonites,
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mocking my people
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and invading their borders.
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9 Now, as surely as I live,”
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says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,
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“Moab and Ammon will be destroyed—
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destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Their land will become a place of stinging nettles,
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salt pits, and eternal desolation.
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The remnant of my people will plunder them
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and take their land.”
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10 They will receive the wages of their pride,
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for they have scoffed at the people of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
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11 The Lord will terrify them
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as he destroys all the gods in the land.
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Then nations around the world will worship the Lord,
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each in their own land.
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12 “You Ethiopians will also be slaughtered
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by my sword,” says the Lord.
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13 And the Lord will strike the lands of the north with his fist,
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destroying the land of Assyria.
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He will make its great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland,
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parched like a desert.
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14 The proud city will become a pasture for flocks and herds,
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and all sorts of wild animals will settle there.
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The desert owl and screech owl will roost on its ruined columns,
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their calls echoing through the gaping windows.
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Rubble will block all the doorways,
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and the cedar paneling will be exposed to the weather.
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15 This is the boisterous city,
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once so secure.
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“I am the greatest!” it boasted.
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“No other city can compare with me!”
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But now, look how it has become an utter ruin,
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a haven for wild animals.
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Everyone passing by will laugh in derision
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and shake a defiant fist. |