Zephaniah 2:1-3:7

New King James Version

A Call to Repentance

2 Gather^(A) yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O ^[a]undesirable nation,
²Before the decree is issued,
Or the day passes like chaff,
Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!
³^(B)Seek the Lord, ^(C)all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
^(D)It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the Lord’s anger.

Judgment on Nations

⁴For ^(E)Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon desolate;
They shall drive out Ashdod ^(F)at noonday,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
⁵Woe to the inhabitants of ^(G)the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O ^(H)Canaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you;
So there shall be no inhabitant.”

⁶The seacoast shall be pastures,
With ^[b]shelters for shepherds ^(I)and folds for flocks.
⁷The coast shall be for ^(J)the remnant of the house of Judah;
They shall feed their flocks there;
In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will ^(K)intervene^[c] for them,
And ^(L)return their captives.

⁸“I^(M) have heard the reproach of Moab,
And ^(N)the insults of the people of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people,
And ^(O)made arrogant threats against their borders.
⁹Therefore, as I live,”
Says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Surely ^(P)Moab shall be like Sodom,
And ^(Q)the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—
^(R)Overrun^[d] with weeds and saltpits,
And a ^[e]perpetual desolation.
The residue of My people shall plunder them,
And the remnant of My people shall possess them.”

¹⁰This they shall have ^(S)for their pride,
Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats
Against the people of the Lord of hosts.
¹¹The Lord will be awesome to them,
For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
^(T)People shall worship Him,
Each one from his place,
Indeed all ^(U)the shores of the nations.

¹²“You^(V) Ethiopians also,
You shall be slain by ^(W)My sword.”

¹³And He will stretch out His hand against the north,
^(X)Destroy Assyria,
And make Nineveh a desolation,
As dry as the wilderness.
¹⁴The herds shall lie down in her midst,
^(Y)Every beast of the nation.
Both the ^(Z)pelican and the bittern
Shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars;
Their voice shall sing in the windows;
Desolation shall be at the threshold;
For He will lay bare the ^(AA)cedar work.
¹⁵This is the rejoicing city
^(AB)That dwelt securely,
^(AC)That said in her heart,
“I am it, and there is none besides me.”
How has she become a desolation,
A place for beasts to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
^(AD)Shall hiss and ^(AE)shake his fist.

The Wickedness of Jerusalem

3 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
²She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the Lord,
She has not drawn near to her God.

³^(AF)Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are ^(AG)evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
⁴Her ^(AH)prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have ^[f]polluted the sanctuary,
They have done ^(AI)violence to the law.
⁵The Lord is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
^[g]Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails,
But ^(AJ)the unjust knows no shame.

⁶“I have cut off nations,
Their fortresses are devastated;
I have made their streets desolate,
With none passing by.
Their cities are destroyed;
There is no one, no inhabitant.
⁷^(AK)I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,
You will receive instruction’—
So that her dwelling would not be cut off,
Despite everything for which I punished her.
But ^[h]they rose early and ^(AL)corrupted all their deeds.