⁷ Keep silent before Adonai Elohim,
for the Day of Adonai is near.
Adonai has prepared a sacrifice;
he has set apart those he invited.

⁸ When the time comes for Adonai’s sacrifice —
“I will punish the leaders
and the sons of the king,
also those who dress in foreign clothes.
⁹ On the same day I will also punish
all who jump over the threshold
to fill the house of their master
with violence and deceit.
¹⁰ Also on that day,” says Adonai,
“a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
wailing from the city’s Second Quarter
and a loud crash from the hills.
¹¹ Wail, you who live down in the hollow,
because all the merchants are destroyed,
all who trade with silver are ruined.
¹² When that time comes, I will search
Yerushalayim with lamps
and punish those who are [smug and thick,
like wine] left too long on its dregs,
who say to themselves, ‘Adonai will do nothing —
neither good nor bad.’
¹³ For this, their wealth will be plundered;
and their houses will be destroyed.
Yes, they will build houses but not live in them;
they will plant vineyards but not drink the wine.”
¹⁴ The great Day of Adonai is near,
near and coming very quickly;
Hear the sound of the Day of Adonai!
When it’s here, even a warrior will cry bitterly.
¹⁵ That Day is a Day of fury,
a Day of trouble and distress,
a Day of waste and desolation,
a Day of darkness and gloom,
a Day of clouds and thick fog,
¹⁶ a Day of the shofar and battle-cry
against the fortified cities
and against the high towers [on the city walls].

¹⁷ “I will bring such distress on people
that they will grope their way like the blind,
because they have sinned against Adonai.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their bowels like dung.
¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them.
On the day of Adonai’s fury,
the whole land will be destroyed
in the fire of his jealousy.
For he will make an end, a horrible end,
of all those living in the land.”

2 Gather together, gather yourselves,
nation devoid of shame;
² before the decree takes effect,
and the day comes when one passes like chaff;
before Adonai’s fierce anger
comes on you,
before the day of Adonai’s anger
comes on you.
³ Seek Adonai, all you humble in the land,
you who exercise his justice;
seek righteousness, seek humility —
you might be hidden
on the day of Adonai’s anger.

⁴ For ‘Azah will be abandoned,
Ashkelon will be desolate,
they will evacuate Ashdod at noon,
and ‘Ekron will be uprooted.
⁵ Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
the nation of the K’reti!
The word of Adonai is against you,
Kena‘an, land of the P’lishtim:
“I will destroy you; no one will be left.”
⁶ The seacoast will be reduced to pastures,
meadows for shepherds, pens for sheep;
⁷ and the coast will belong to the remnant
of the house of Y’hudah.
They will pasture their flocks there
and in the evening lie down
in the houses of Ashkelon.
For Adonai their God will remember them
and restore their fortunes.

⁸ “I have heard the insults of Mo’av
and the taunts of the people of ‘Amon,
how they reviled my people
and boasted of expanding their territory.
⁹ Therefore, as I live,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
the God of Isra’el,
“Mo’av will become like S’dom
and the people of ‘Amon like ‘Amora,
a land covered with nettles and salt pits,
desolate forever.
The remnant of my people will plunder them,
the survivors in my nation will inherit them.”
¹⁰ This is what they will earn for their pride,
for having reviled and boasted against
the people of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
¹¹ Adonai will be fearsome against them,
for he will make all the earth’s gods waste away.
Then all the coasts and islands of the nations
will worship him, each from its place.

¹² “You too, Ethiopians,
will be put to death by my sword.”

¹³ He will stretch out his hand against the north;
he will destroy Ashur;
he will make Ninveh desolate,
as dry as the desert.
¹⁴ Herds will lie down in it,
and all kinds of wild animals too —
jackdaws and owls will roost on her columns,
voices screeching in the windows,
desolation on the doorsteps,
for its cedarwork is stripped bare.
¹⁵ This is the city, once so joyful,
whose people felt themselves secure,
who used to say to herself,
“I am [the greatest]! I have no rival.”
What a ruin she has become —
a place for wild animals to lie down!
Everyone passing by her
hisses and shakes his fist!

3 Woe to her who is filthy, defiled;
woe to the tyrant city!
² She wouldn’t listen to the voice,
wouldn’t receive correction;
she didn’t trust in Adonai,
didn’t draw close to her God.
³ Her leaders there with her are roaring lions,
her judges desert wolves,
who don’t leave even a bone for tomorrow.
⁴ Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men;
her cohanim profane the holy
and do violence to Torah.
⁵ Adonai, who is righteous, is there among them;
he never does anything wrong.
Every morning he renders his judgment,
every morning, without fail;
yet the wrongdoer knows no shame.

⁶ “I have cut off nations,
their battlements are ruined;
I have made their streets ruins,
no one walks in them.
Their cities are destroyed,
abandoned, unpeopled.
⁷ I said, ‘Surely now you will fear me,
you will receive correction’;
so that her place will not be cut off
by all the punishments I brought on her.
But no, they only grew all the more eager
to be corrupt in all that they do.
⁸ Therefore, wait for me,” says Adonai,
“for the day when I rise to witness against you,
when I decide to assemble nations,
to gather kingdoms together,
to pour on them my indignation,
all my furious anger;
for all the earth will be consumed
in the fire of my passion.
⁹ For then I will change the peoples,
so that they will have pure lips,
to call on the name of Adonai, all of them,
and serve him with one accord.
¹⁰ Even from beyond Ethiopia’s rivers
they will bring those who petition me,
the daughter of my dispersed as my offering.
¹¹ When that day comes, you will not be ashamed
of everything you have done,
committing wrongs against me;
for then I will remove from among you
those of you who take joy in arrogance;
you will no longer be full of pride
on my holy mountain.
¹² I will leave among you
a poor and afflicted people,
who will find their refuge
in the name of Adonai.”

¹³ The remnant of Isra’el will not do wrong,
nor will they speak lies,
nor will there be found in their mouths
a tongue given over to deceit;
for they will be able to graze and lie down,
with no one to disturb them.
¹⁴ Sing, daughter of Tziyon!
Shout, Isra’el!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
daughter of Yerushalayim!
¹⁵ Adonai has removed the judgments against you,
he has expelled your enemy;
the king of Isra’el, Adonai,
is right there with you.
You no longer need to fear
that anything bad will happen.
¹⁶ On that day, it will be said
to Yerushalayim,
“Do not fear, Tziyon!
don’t let your hands droop down.
¹⁷ Adonai your God is right there with you,
as a mighty savior.
He will rejoice over you and be glad,
he will be silent in his love,
he will shout over you with joy.”

¹⁸ “I will gather those of yours
who grieve over the appointed feasts
and bear the burden of reproach
[because they cannot keep them].
¹⁹ When that time comes, I will deal
with all those who oppress you.
I will save her who is lame,
gather her who was driven away,
and make them whose shame spread over the earth
the object of praise and renown.
²⁰ When that time comes, I will bring you in;
when that time comes, I will gather you
and make you the object of fame and praise
among all the peoples of the earth —
when I restore your fortunes
before your very eyes,” says Adonai.