who trade with silver will be ruined.
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.'
13 Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. They will build houses but not live in them; they will plant vineyards but not drink the wine.
14 'The great day of the Lord is near- near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there.
15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.
17 I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord . Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord 's wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth.'
2 Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation,
2 before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day of the Lord 's wrath comes upon you.
3 Seek the Lord , all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord 's anger.
4 Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted.
5 Woe to you who live by the sea, O Kerethite people; the word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines. 'I will destroy you, and none will be left.'
6 The land by the sea, where the Kerethites dwell, will be a place for shepherds and sheep pens.
7 It will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The Lord their God will care for them; he will restore their fortunes.
8 'I have heard the insults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted my people and made threats against their land.
9 Therefore, as surely as I live,' declares the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, 'surely Moab will become like Sodom, the Ammonites like Gomorrah- a place of weeds and salt pits, a wasteland forever. The remnant of my people will plunder them; the survivors of my nation will inherit their land.'
10 This is what they will get in return for their pride, for insulting and mocking the people of the Lord Almighty.
11 The Lord will be awesome to them when he destroys all the gods of the land. The nations on every shore will worship him, every one in its own land.
12 'You too, O Cushites, will be slain by my sword.'
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, leaving Nineveh utterly desolate and dry as the desert.
14 Flocks and herds will lie down there, creatures of every kind. The desert owl and the screech owl will roost on her columns. Their calls will echo through the windows, rubble will be in the doorways, the beams of cedar will be exposed.
15 This is the carefree city that lived in safety. She said to herself, 'I am, and there is none besides me.' What a ruin she has become, a lair for wild beasts! All who pass by her scoff and shake their fists.
3 Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!
2 She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord , she does not draw near to her God.
3 Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning.
4 Her prophets are arrogant; they are treacherous men. Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law.
5 The Lord within her is righteous; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.
6 'I have cut off nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are destroyed; no one will be left-no one at all.
7 I said to the city, 'Surely you will fear me and accept correction!' Then her dwelling would not be cut off, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did.
8 Therefore wait for me,' declares the Lord , 'for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them- all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.
9 'Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
