Zephaniah 2

Judgment on Judah’s Enemies

1  Gather together, yes, gather,
O a shameless nation,
 2  b before the decree takes effect ▼
▼ Hebrew gives birth

—before the day passes away d like chaff—
e before there comes upon you
the burning anger of the  Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the  Lord.
 3  f Seek the  Lord g all you humble of the land,
who do his just commands; ▼
▼ Or  who carry out his judgment

i seek righteousness; seek humility;
j perhaps k you may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the  Lord.
 4  l For Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
 5  Woe to m you inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of n the Cherethites!
o The word of the  Lord is against you,
p O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you q until no inhabitant is left.
 6  r And you, O seacoast s shall be pastures,
with meadows ▼
▼ Or caves
 for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
 7  u The seacoast shall become the possession
of v the remnant of the house of Judah,
w on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the  Lord their God x will be mindful of them
and y restore their fortunes.
 8  “I have heard z the taunts of Moab
and aa the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts ab against their territory.
 9 Therefore ac as I live,” declares the  Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become ad like Sodom,
and the Ammonites ae like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
 10 This shall be their lot in return af for their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the  Lord of hosts.
 11 The  Lord will be awesome against them;
ag for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and ah to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all ai the lands of the nations.
 12  aj You also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
 13  And he will stretch out his hand against the north
ak and destroy Assyria,
and he al will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
 14  am Herds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts; ▼
▼ Hebrew beasts of every nation

ao even the owl and the hedgehog ▼
▼ The identity of the animals rendered  owl and  hedgehog is uncertain

shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for aq her cedar work will be laid bare.
 15 This is the exultant city
ar that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
as a lair for wild beasts!
at Everyone who passes by her
hisses and au shakes his fist.
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