1Gather yourselves together, yes, gather,
         O nation without shame,

2Before the decree takes effect—
         The day passes like the chaff—
         Before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you,
         Before the day of the LORD’S anger comes upon you.

3Seek the LORD,
         All you humble of the earth
         Who have carried out His ordinances;
         Seek righteousness, seek humility.
         Perhaps you will be hidden
         In the day of the LORD’S anger.

4For Gaza will be abandoned
         And Ashkelon a desolation;
         Ashdod will be driven out at noon
         And Ekron will be uprooted.

5Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
         The nation of the Cherethites!
         The word of the LORD is against you,
         O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
         And I will destroy you
         So that there will be no inhabitant.

6So the seacoast will be pastures,
         With caves for shepherds and folds for flocks.

7And the coast will be
         For the remnant of the house of Judah,
         They will pasture on it.
         In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;
         For the LORD their God will care for them
         And restore their fortune.

8“I have heard the taunting of Moab
         And the revilings of the sons of Ammon,
         With which they have taunted My people
         And become arrogant against their territory.

9“Therefore, as I live,” declares the LORD of hosts,
         The God of Israel,
         “Surely Moab will be like Sodom
         And the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah—
         A place possessed by nettles and salt pits,
         And a perpetual desolation.
         The remnant of My people will plunder them
         And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”

10This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the LORD of hosts. 11The LORD will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.

12“You also, O Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”

13And He will stretch out His hand against the north
         And destroy Assyria,
         And He will make Nineveh a desolation,
         Parched like the wilderness.

14Flocks will lie down in her midst,
         All beasts which range in herds;
         Both the pelican and the hedgehog
         Will lodge in the tops of her pillars;
         Birds will sing in the window,
         Desolation will be on the threshold;
         For He has laid bare the cedar work.

15This is the exultant city
         Which dwells securely,
         Who says in her heart,
         “I am, and there is no one besides me.”
         How she has become a desolation,
         A resting place for beasts!
         Everyone who passes by her will hiss
         And wave his hand in contempt.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame,

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Gather yourselves together! Yes, gather together, you shameless nation,

King James Bible
Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Assemble yourselves together, be gathered together, O nation not worthy to be loved:

Darby Bible Translation
Collect yourselves and gather together, O nation without shame,

English Revised Version
Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no shame;

Webster's Bible Translation
Assemble yourselves, yes, assemble, O nation not desired;

World English Bible
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, you nation that has no shame,

Young's Literal Translation
Bend yourselves, yea, bend ye, O nation not desired,

Cross References

2 Chronicles 20:4 So Judah gathered together to seek help from the LORD; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the LORD.

Jeremiah 3:3 "Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a harlot's forehead; You refused to be ashamed.

Jeremiah 6:15 "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down," says the LORD.

Joel 1:14 Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD.

Zephaniah 3:5 The LORD is righteous within her; He will do no injustice. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He does not fail. But the unjust knows no shame.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Chapter 2

In this chapter we have, I. An earnest exhortation to the nation of the Jews to repent and make their peace with God, and so to prevent the judgments threatened before it was too late (v. 1-3), and this inferred from the revelation of God's wrath against them in the foregoing chapter. II. A denunciation of the judgments of God against several of the neighbouring nations that had assisted, or rejoiced in, the calamity of Israel. 1. The Philistines (v. 4-7). 2. The Moabites and Ammonites (v. 8-11). 3. The Ethiopians and Assyrians (v. 12-15). All these shall drink of the same cup of trembling that is put into the hands of God's people, as was also foretold by other prophets before and after.

Verses 1-3

Here we see what the prophet meant in that terrible description of the approaching judgments which we had in the foregoing chapter. From first to last his design was, not to drive the people to despair, but to drive them to God and to their duty-not to frighten them out of their wits, but to frighten them out of their sins. In pursuance of that he here calls them to repentance, national repentance, as the only way to prevent national ruin. Observe,

I. The summons given them to a national assembly (v. 1): Gather yourselves together. He had told them, in the last words of the foregoing chapter, that God would make a speedy riddance of all that dwelt in the land, upon which, one would think, it should follow, "Disperse yourselves, and flee for shelter where you can find a place." When the decree had absolutely gone forth for the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, that was the advice given (Mt. 24:16), Then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains; but here it is otherwise. God warns, that he may not wound, threatens, that he may not strike, and therefore calls to the people to use means for the turning away of his wrath. The summons is given to a nation not desired. The word signifies either, 1. Not desiring, that has not any desires towards God or the remembrance of his name, is not desirous of his favour or grace, but very indifferent to it, has no mind to repent and reform. "Yet come together, and see if you can stir up desires in one another." Thus God is often found of those that sought him not, nor asked for him, Isa. 65:1. Or, 2. Not desirable, no ways lovely, nor having any thing in them amiable, or which might recommend them to God. The land of Israel had been a pleasant land, a land of delight (Dan. 11:41); but now it is unlovely, it is a nation not desired, to which God might justly say, Depart from me; but he says, "Gather together to me, and let us see if any expedient can be found out for the preventing of the ruin. Gather together, that you may in a body humble yourselves before God, may fast, and pray, and seek his face. Gather together, to consult among yourselves what is to be done in this critical juncture, that every one may consider of it, may give and take advice, and speak his mind, and that what is done may be done by consent and so may be a national act." Some read it, "Enquire into yourselves, yea, enquire into yourselves; examine your consciences; look into your hearts; search and try your ways; enquire into yourselves, that you may find out the sin by which God has been provoked to this displeasure against you, and may find out the way of returning to him." Note, When God is contending with us it concerns us to enquire into ourselves.

II. Arguments urged to press them to the utmost seriousness and expedition herein (v. 2): "Do it in earnest; do it with all speed before it is too late, before the decree bring forth, before the day pass." The manner of speaking here is very lively and awakening, designed to make them apprehensive, as all sinners are concerned to be, 1. That their danger is very great, that their all lies at stake, that it is a matter of life and death, which therefore well requires and well deserves the closest application of mind that can be. It is not a trifle, and therefore is not a thing to be trifled about. It is the fierce anger of the Lord that is kindled against them, and is just ready to kindle upon them, that devouring fire which none can dwell with, which none can make head against or hold up their head under. "It is the day of the Lord's anger, the day set for the pouring out of the full vials of it, that you are threatened with, that great day of the Lord" spoken of, ch. 1:14. "Are you not concerned to prepare for that day?" 2. That it is very imminent: "Bestir yourselves now quickly, before the decree bring forth, and then it will be too late, the opportunity will be lost and never retrieved. The decree is as it were big with child, and it will bring forth the day, the terrible day, which shall pass as chaff, which shall hurry you away into captivity as chaff before the wind." We know not what a day may bring forth (Prov. 27:1), but we do know what the decree will bring forth against impenitent sinners, whom therefore it highly concerns to repent in time, in the accepted time. Note, It is the wisdom of those whom God has a controversy with to agree with him quickly, while they are in the way, before his fierce anger comes upon them, not to be turned away. In a case of this nature delays are highly dangerous and may be fatal; they will be so if by them the heart is hardened. How solicitous should we all be to make our peace with God before the Spirit withdraw from us, or cease to strive with us, before the day of grace be over or the day of life, before our everlasting state shall be determined on the other side of the great gulf fixed!

III. Directions prescribed for the doing of this effectually. It is not enough to gather together in a consternation, but they must seriously and calmly apply to the duty of the day (v. 3): Seek you the Lord. That they might find mercy with God, they are here put upon seeking; for so is the rule-Seek, and you shall find. A general call was given to the whole nation to gather together, but little good is to be expected from the far greater part of them; if the land be saved, it must be by the interest and intercession of the pious few, and therefore to them the exhortation here is particularly directed. And observe, 1. How they are described-they are the meek of the earth, or of the land. It is the distinguishing character of the people of God that they are the meek ones of the earth; this is their badge; it is their livery. They are modest, and humble, and low in their own eyes; they are mild, and gentle, and yielding to others, not soon angry, not very angry, not long angry; they are the quiet in the land, Ps. 35:20. And they are subject and submissive to their God, to all his precepts and all his providences. Actuated by this principle and disposition, they have wrought his judgments, that is, have obeyed his laws, observed his institutions, have made conscience of their duty to him, and have laid out themselves for the advancement of his honour and interest in the world. 2. What they are required to do; they must seek, which denotes both a careful enquiry and a constant endeavour, that they may know and do their duty. (1.) They must seek the Lord, seek his favour and grace, address him upon all occasions, ask of him what they need, seek him early, seek him diligently, and continue seeking him. (2.) They must seek righteousness. "Seek to God for the performance of his promises to you, and see to it that you abound yet more in duty to him; seek for the righteousness of Christ to be imputed to you, for the graces of God's Spirit to be implanted in you; hunger and thirst after them." (3.) They must seek meekness. This is a grace they were so eminent for that they were denominated the meek of the land, and yet this they must seek. Note, Those that are ever so good must still strive to be better, those that have ever so much grace must be still praying and labouring for more. Nay, those that excel in any particular grace must still seek to excel yet more in that, because in that most assaults will be made upon them by their enemies, in that most is expected from them by their friends, and in that they are most apt to be themselves secure. Si dixisti, Sufficit, periisti-Say but, I am all that I ought to be, and you are undone. In the difficult trying times approaching, the meek will find exercise for all the meekness they have, and all little enough, and therefore should seek it earnestly, and pray that when God in his providence gives them occasion for it he would by his grace enable them to exercise it, to show all meekness to all men, in all instances, that, as the day is, so may the strength be.

IV. Encouragements given to take these directions: It may be, you shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. 1. "You particularly that are the meek of the earth. Though the day of the Lord's anger do come upon the land, yet you shall be safe, you shall be taken under special protection. Verily it shall be well with thy remnant, Jer. 15:11. Thy life will I give unto thee for a prey, Jer. 45:5. I will deliver thee in that day, Jer. 39:17. It may be, you shall be hid; if any be hid, you shall." Good men cannot be sure of temporal preservation, for all things come alike to all, but they are most likely to be hid, and stand fairest for a distinguishing care of Providence. It is expressed thus doubtfully to try if they will trust the goodness of God's nature, though they have but the it may be of a promise, and to keep up in them a holy fear and watchfulness lest they should seem to come short, and should do any thing to throw themselves out of the divine protection. Note, those that hold fast their integrity, in times of common iniquity, have reason to hope that God will find out a hiding-place for them, where they shall be safe and easy, in times of common calamity. They shall be hid (as Luther says) aut in coelo, aut sub coelo-either in heaven or under heaven, either in the possession of heaven or under the protection of heaven. Or, 2. "You of this nation, though it be a nation not desired, yet, in the day of the Lord's anger with the neighbouring nations, when his judgments are abroad, you shall be hid; your land shall be preserved for the sake of those few meek ones that stand in the gap to turn away the wrath of God." It concerns us all to make it sure to ourselves that we shall be hid in the great day of God's wrath; and, if we hide ourselves in the chambers of duty, God will hide us in chambers of safety, Isa. 26:20. If we prepare an ark, that shall be our hiding-place, Gen. 7:1.

Calvin's Commentary

1. Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;

1. Colligite vos, et colligite gens non amabilis;

2. Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you.

2. Antequam pariat decretum, sicut stipula transibit die, antequam veniat super eos furor irae Iehovae, antequam veniat super eos dies irae Iehovae.

The Prophet, after having spoken of God's wrath, and shown how terrible it would be, and also how near, now exhorts the Jews to repentance, and thus mitigates the severity of his former doctrine, provided their minds were teachable. We hence learn that God fulminates in his word against men, that he may withhold his hand from them. The more severe, then, God is, when he chastises us and makes known our sins, and sets before us his wrath, the more clearly he testifies how precious and dear to him is our salvation; for when he sees us rushing headlong, as it were, into ruin, he calls us back by threatening and chastisements. Whenever, then, God condemns us by his word, let us know that he will be propitious to us, if, touched with true repentance, we flee to his mercy; for to effect this is the design of all his reproofs and threatening.

There follows then a seasonable exhortation, after the Prophet had spoken of the dreadfulness of God's vengeance. Gather yourselves, he says, gather, ye nation not worthy of being loved. Others read--Search among yourselves, search; and interpreters differ as to the root of the verb; some derive it from qss, koshesh, and others from qvs, kush; while some deduce the verb from the noun qs kosh, which signifies chaff or stubble. But however this may be, I consider the real meaning of the Prophet to be--Gather yourselves, gather; for this is what grammatical construction requires. I do not see why they who read search yourselves, depart from the commonly received meaning, except they think that the verb gather does not suit the context; but it suits it exceedingly well. Others with more refinement read thus--Gather the chaff, gather the chaff, as though the Prophet ridiculed the empty confidence of the people. But as I have already said, he no doubt shows here the remedy, by which they might have anticipated God's judgment, with which he had threatened them. He indeed compares them to stubble, as we find in the next verse, but he shows that still time is given them to repent, so that they might gather themselves, and not be dissipated; as though he said--The day of your scattering is at hand; ye shall then vanish away like chaff, for ye shall not be able to stand at the breath of the Lord's wrath. But now while God withholds himself, and does not put forth his hand to destroy you, gather yourselves, that ye may not be like the chaff. There are then two parts in this passage; the first is, that if the Jews abused, as usual, the forbearance of God, they would become like the chaff, for God's wrath would in a moment scatter them; but the Prophet in the meantime reminds them that a seasonable time for repentance was still given them; for if they willingly gathered themselves, God would spare them. Before then the day of Jehovah's wrath shall come; gather, he says, yourselves [90]

But the way of gathering is, when men do not vanish away in their foolish confidences, or when they do not indulge their own lusts; for whenever men give loose reins to wicked licentiousness, and thus go astray in gratifying their corrupt lusts, or when they seek here and there vain confidences, they expose themselves to a scattering. Hence the Prophet exhorts them to examine themselves, to gather themselves, and as it were to draw themselves together, that they might not be like the chaff. Hence he says,--gather yourselves, yea, gather, ye nation not loved

Some take the participle nksph, necasaph, in an active sense, as though the Prophet had said that the Jews were void of every feeling, and had become wholly hardened in their stupidity. But I know not whether this can be grammatically allowed. I therefore follow what has been more approved. The nation is called not worthy of love, because it did not deserve mercy; and God thus amplifies and renders illustrious his own grace, because he was still solicitous about the salvation of those who had willfully destroyed themselves, and rejected his favor. Though then the Jews had by their depravity so alienated themselves from God, that there was no reason why he should save them, he yet still continued to call them back to himself. It is therefore a remarkable proof of the unfailing grace of God, when he shows love to a nation wholly worthy of being hated, and is concerned for its safety. [91]

He then adds, Before the decree brings forth. Here the Prophet asserts his own authority, and that of God's other servants: for the Jews thought that all threatening would come to nothing, as it is the case with most men at this day who deride every true doctrine, as though it were nothing but an empty sound. Hence the Prophet ascribes birth to his doctrine. It is indeed true, that the word decree has a wider meaning; but the Prophet does not speak here of the hidden counsel of God. He therefore calls that a decree, which God had already declared by his servants: and the meaning is, that it is not beating the air when God denounces his vengeance on sinners by his Prophets, but that it is a fixed and unchangeable decree, which shall at length be effected. But the similitude of birth is most apposite; for as the embryo lies hid in the womb, and then emerges in due time into light; so God's vengeance, though hid for a time, will yet in due season be accomplished, when God sees that men's wickedness is past a remedy. We now understand why the Prophet says, that the time was near when the decree should bring forth.

Then he says, Pass away shall the chaff in a day. Some read, Before the day comes, when the stubble (or chaff) shall pass away. But I take yvm, ium, in another sense, as meaning that the Jews shall quickly pass away as the chaff; the like expression we have also met in Hosea. He says then that the Jews would perish in a day, in a short time, and as it were in a moment; though they thought that they would not be for a long time conquered. Pass away, he says, shall they like chaff [92]

Then he adds, Before it comes, the fury of Jehovah's wrath; the day of Jehovah's wrath, gather ye yourselves. He says first, before it comes upon you, the fury of wrath, and then, the day of wrath. He repeats the same thing; but some of the words are changed, for instead of the fury of wrath, he puts in the second clause, the day of wrath; as though he had said, that they were greatly deceived if they thought that they could escape, because the Lord deferred his vengeance. How so? For the day, which was nigh, though not yet arrived, would at length come. As when one trusting in the darkness of the night, and thinking himself safe from the danger of being taken, is mistaken, for suddenly the sun rises and discovers his hiding-place; so the Prophet intimates, that though God was now still, it would yet be no advantage to the Jews: for he knew the suitable time. Though then he restrained for a time his wrath, he yet poured it forth suddenly, when the day came and the iniquity of men had become ripe.

Footnotes:

[90] The verb, found only in five other places--Exodus 5:7,12; Numbers 15:32,33; and 1 Kings 17:10,12, means to collect, to gather, and not "to search," as said by Kimchi, and adopted by Marckius; nor "to bind," as rendered by Henderson. The import of the passage is considered by all to be an invitation to repentance, though the words are differently rendered. It is difficult to see the meaning when it is said--"Gather yourselves, yea, gather," etc, except such an assembly is meant as is recommended by Joel 1:14; the kind of gathering being well understood, it is not mentioned. "Gather yourselves," that is, to offer prayers, says Grotius. "Be ye assembled-- sunachthete," is the rendering of the Septuagint.--Ed.

[91] [ksph] is found as a verb in four other places, Genesis 31:30; Job 14:15; Psalm 17:12; and Psalm 84:3. It means to be or to grow pale, either through love, as in Genesis and Job, or through hunger, as in the first Psalm referred to, or through longing for God's house, as in the last, or through shame, as some--such as Grotius, Dathius, and Gesenius, suppose to be the case here; and they therefore give this rendering--"O nation without shame;" or, "not ashamed." This idea is favored by the Septuagint--"unteachable--apaideuton." In no instance is it found in a passive sense as to the feeling through which the paleness is occasioned, and therefore "worthy of love," or "desired," cannot be its proper rendering. Buxtorf give its meaning in Niphal--"desiderio affici--to be touched with or to feel a desire." Hence the person spoken of is the subject, not the object, of the desire. According, then, to the use of the verb, the rendering here is to be--"Ye nation that feels no desire," that is, for God and his law, or, "that feels no shame," that is, for its sins. The paraphrase of the Targum is--"not willing to be converted to the law," which corresponds with the idea which has been stated. Marckius considers that the nation is here described as having "no desire," that is for that which was good, and that its torpidity and indifference as to religion is what is set forth. And such is the view of Cocceius; it had no thirst for righteousness, no desire for the kingdom of God--the mark of an unregenerated mind.--Ed.

[92] It is difficult to make the words bear this sense. Hardly a sentence has been more variously rendered. The most satisfactory solution perhaps is to regard it parenthetic, and to consider "the day" as that allowed for repentance: it was to pass away quickly, like the chaff carried away by the wind-- As the chaff passing away will be the day: Both Marckius and Henderson regard this as the meaning. Then the whole verse might be thus translated-- 2. Before the bringing forth of the decree, (As the chaff passing away will be the day,) Before it shall come upon you, The burning of Jehovah's anger; Before it shall come upon you, The day of the anger of Jehovah. Literally it is, "Before it shall not come," etc., or, "During the time when it shall not come," etc. [vtrm] may be rendered "while;" then the version would be-- While it shall not come upon you, The burning of Jehovah's anger; While it shall not come upon you, The day of the anger of Jehovah. There are several MSS. which omit the two first lines; but evidently without reason. They are retained in the Septuagint. Possibly the second line may refer to the speedy execution of "the decree," that its day would pass quickly. Its birth, or its bringing forth was its commencement; and the second line may express its speedy execution: it would be carried into effect with the quickness by which the chaff is carried away by the wind-- As the chaff passing away will be its day. The word [vr] is, in either case, a participle, and the auxiliary verb is understood, as often is the case in Hebrew, and must partake of the tense of the context.--Ed. Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as we continue in various ways to provoke thy wrath, we may at length be awakened by the blasting of that trumpet which sounds in our ears, when thou proclaimest that thou wilt be the judge of the world, and testifies also the same so plainly in the gospel, so that we may, with our minds raised up to thee, learn to renounce all the depraved lusts of the world, and that having shaken off our torpidity, we may so hasten to repent, that we may anticipate thy judgment, and so find that we are reconciled to thee, as to enjoy thy goodness, and ever to retain the taste of it, in order that we may be enabled to renounce all the allurements and pleasures of this world, until we shall at length come to that blessed rest, where we shall be filled with that unspeakable joy, which thou hast promised to us, and which we hope for in Christ our Lord. Amen.

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