Be silent before the Lord God, for the Lord's day of judgment is almost here. The Lord has prepared a sacrificial meal; he has ritually purified his guests.

On that day," says the Lord, "a loud cry will go up from the Fish Gate, wailing from the city's newer district, and a loud crash from the hills.

That day will be a day of God's anger, a day of distress and hardship, a day of devastation and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dark skies,

before God's decree becomes reality and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, before the Lord's raging anger overtakes you -- before the day of the Lord's angry judgment overtakes you!

Those who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete, are as good as dead. The Lord has decreed your downfall, Canaan, land of the Philistines: "I will destroy everyone who lives there!"

Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah will take possession of it. By the sea they will graze, in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening, for the Lord their God will intervene for them and restore their prosperity.

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, filled with salt pits, and permanently desolate. Those of my people who are left will plunder their belongings; those who are left in Judah will take possession of their land."

The filthy, stained city is as good as dead; the city filled with oppressors is finished!

She is disobedient; she refuses correction. She does not trust the Lord; she does not seek the advice of her God.

Her prophets are proud; they are deceitful men. Her priests defile what is holy; they break God's laws.

The Lord your God is in your midst; he is a warrior who can deliver. He takes great delight in you; he renews you by his love; he shouts for joy over you."