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14 Like a hunted gazelle,
    or a flock that no one gathers,
They shall turn each to their own people
    and flee each to their own land.(A)

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I will stretch out my hand against Judah,
    and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
I will eliminate from this place
    the last vestige of Baal,
    the name of the idolatrous priests.
And those who bow down on the roofs
    to the host of heaven,[a]
And those who bow down to the Lord
    but swear by Milcom;(A)
And those who have turned away from the Lord,
    and those who have not sought the Lord,
    who have not inquired of him.

Silence in the presence of the Lord God!
    for near is the day of the Lord,
Yes, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
    he has consecrated his guests.[b](B)
    On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials and the king’s sons,
    and all who dress in foreign apparel.
I will punish, on that day,
    all who leap over the threshold,[c]
Who fill the house of their master
    with violence and deceit.
10     On that day—oracle of the Lord
A cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
    a wail from the Second Quarter,[d]
    loud crashing from the hills.
11 Wail, O inhabitants of Maktesh!
    for all the merchants are destroyed,
    all who weigh out silver, done away with.

12     At that time,
I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
    I will punish the people
    who settle like dregs in wine,[e]
Who say in their hearts,
    “The Lord will not do good,
    nor will he do harm.”
13 Their wealth shall be given to plunder
    and their houses to devastation;
They will build houses,
    but not dwell in them;
They will plant vineyards,
    but not drink their wine.(C)
14 Near is the great day of the Lord,
    near and very swiftly coming.
The sound of the day of the Lord! Piercing—
    there a warrior shrieks!
15 A day of wrath is that day,
    a day of distress and anguish,
    a day of ruin and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
    a day of thick black clouds,(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 1:5 The host of heaven: the sun, moon, planets, and stars, the worship of which became widespread in Judah under Assyrian influence. Milcom: the god of the Ammonites; cf. 1 Kgs 11:5, 7, 33; 2 Kgs 23:13.
  2. 1:7 He has consecrated his guests: God has consecrated the troops, presumably foreign, who have been invited to share in the spoil on the day of slaughter.
  3. 1:9 Leap over the threshold: the reference may be to a religious ritual like that practiced by the priests of the Philistine deity Dagon (1 Sm 5:5).
  4. 1:10–11 The Second Quarter…Maktesh: sections of Jerusalem (cf. 2 Kgs 22:14).
  5. 1:12 Settle like dregs in wine: those who are overconfident because, like the sediment that settles to the bottom of a bottle of wine, they have remained at peace and undisturbed for a long time.