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2:1  Gather together, gather, you ·unwanted [shameful; undesirable] people.
2:2  Do it before ·it’s too late [L the decree takes effect], before ·you are blown away like chaff [or the day passes like chaff], before the Lord’s ·terrible [fierce; burning] anger reaches you, before the day of the Lord’s anger comes to you.
2:3  ·Come to [Seek] the Lord, all you who are ·not proud [humble; meek], who obey his ·laws [commands]. ·Do what is right [Seek righteousness]. ·Learn [Seek] to be humble. Maybe you will ·escape [be protected; L be hidden] on the day the Lord shows his anger.
2:4  ·No one will be left in the city of Gaza [L Gaza will be abandoned; C Gaza sounds like Hebrew for “abandoned”; all four of these were cities in Philistia], and the city of Ashkelon will be ·destroyed [desolated; a heap of ruins]. Ashdod will be empty by noon, and the people of Ekron will be ·chased away [L uprooted; C Ekron sounds like Hebrew for “uprooted”].
2:5  ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] you who live by the ·Mediterranean Sea [L sea], you ·Philistines [L nation of Cerethites; C either another name for the Philistines or a neighboring people group; the name suggests they came from the island of Crete; 2 Sam. 8:18; Ezek. 25:16]! The word of the Lord is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines. “I will destroy you so that no ·one [inhabitant] will be left.”
2:6  The land by the ·Mediterranean Sea, in which you live [L sea], will become pastures, ·fields [or shelters; or having wells] for shepherds, and pens for ·sheep [flocks].
2:7  It will ·belong to [L be for] the ·descendants of Judah who are left alive [L remnant of the house of Judah]. There they will ·let their sheep eat grass [graze; find pasture]. At night they will ·sleep [lay down] in the houses of Ashkelon. The Lord their God will ·pay attention to [care for] them and will ·make their life good again [restore their fortunes; or return their exiles].
2:8  “I have heard the ·insults [taunts] of Moab[C the country] and the ·threats [insults; reproach] of the ·people [L sons/descendants] of Ammon. They have ·insulted [taunted] my people and ·have taken [or harrassed; threatened; or boasted about] their ·land [borders].”
2:9  So the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], the God of Israel, says, “As surely as I live, Moab will ·be destroyed [L become] like Sodom, and ·Ammon [L the sons/descendant of Ammon] will ·be destroyed [become] like Gomorrah [C two cities destroyed for their great wickedness; Gen. 19]— a heap of weeds, a pit of salt, and a ·ruin [wasteland] forever. ·Those of my people who are left alive [The remnant of my people] will ·take whatever they want from [plunder] them; ·those who are left from my nation [the survivors] will ·take their land [L inherit/possess them].”
2:10  This is what Moab and Ammon get for being proud, because they ·insulted [taunted] and ·made fun of [boasted against] the people of the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
2:11  The Lord will ·frighten [terrify; be awesome against] them, because he will ·destroy [or weaken; or starve] all the gods of the earth. Then everyone in ·faraway places [or the coastlands of the nations] will ·worship [bow down to] him wherever they are.
2:12  “You ·Cushites [Ethiopians] also will be ·killed [slain] by my sword.”
2:13  Then the Lord will ·turn [L stretch out his hand] against the north and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh a ·ruin [desolation] as dry as a desert.
2:14  Flocks and herds will lie down there, and all ·wild animals [kinds of beasts]. The ·owls [horned owls; or pelicans] and ·crows [or screech owls; or hedgehogs] will sit on ·the stone pillars [her columns/capitals]. The owl will hoot through the windows, ·trash [rubble; devastation] will be in the ·doorways [thresholds], and the ·wooden boards [cedar work] of the buildings will be ·gone [or exposed].
2:15  This is the ·happy [boisterous; exultant] and ·safe [secure] city that ·thinks [L said in her heart] ·there is no one else as strong as it is [L “I am it, and there is no one besides me”]. But what a ruin it will be, a place where wild animals live. All those who pass by will ·make fun [scoff; L hiss] and shake their fists.