Zephaniah 2
Legacy Standard Bible
Seek Yahweh Before His Day of Anger
2 Gather yourselves together, indeed, (A)gather,
O nation (B)without [a]shame,
2 Before the decree [b]takes effect—
The day passes (C)like the chaff—
Before the (D)burning anger of Yahweh comes upon you,
Before the (E)day of Yahweh’s anger comes upon you.
3 (F)Seek Yahweh,
All you (G)humble of the [c]earth
Who have worked His justice;
(H)Seek righteousness, seek humility.
Perhaps you will be (I)hidden
In the day of Yahweh’s anger.
4 For (J)Gaza will be [d]forsaken
And Ashkelon a desolation;
(K)Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
And (L)Ekron will be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the [e](M)Cherethites!
The word of Yahweh is (N)against you,
O (O)Canaan, land of the Philistines;
And I will (P)make you perish
So that there will be (Q)no inhabitant.
6 So the seacoast will be (R)pastures,
With [f]caves for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7 And the coast will be
For the (S)remnant of the house of Judah;
They will (T)feed upon it.
In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;
For Yahweh their God will (U)care for them
And (V)restore their fortune.
8 “I have heard the (W)reproach of Moab
And the (X)revilings of the sons of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people
And (Y)magnified themselves against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares Yahweh of hosts,
The God of Israel,
“Surely (Z)Moab will be like (AA)Sodom
And the sons of (AB)Ammon like (AC)Gomorrah—
A place possessed by nettles and salt pits,
And a perpetual desolation.
The remnant of My people will (AD)plunder them,
And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”
10 This they will have in return for their (AE)pride because they have (AF)reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of hosts. 11 Yahweh will be (AG)fearsome to them, for He will [g]starve (AH)all the gods of the earth; and all the (AI)coastlands of the nations will (AJ)bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.
12 “You also, O (AK)Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”
13 And He will (AL)stretch out His hand against the north
And cause (AM)Assyria to perish,
And He will make (AN)Nineveh a desolation,
Parched like the wilderness.
14 Flocks will lie down in her midst,
All the beasts of the nation;
Both the [h](AO)pelican and the hedgehog
Will lodge in [i]the tops of her pillars;
Their voice will sing in the window,
Ruin will be on the threshold;
For He has laid bare the cedar work.
15 This is the (AP)exultant city
Which (AQ)inhabits securely,
Who says in her heart,
“(AR)I am, and there is no one besides me.”
How she has become an object of (AS)horror,
A resting place for beasts!
(AT)Everyone who passes by her will hiss
And wave his hand in contempt.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 2:1 Or longing
- Zephaniah 2:2 Lit is born
- Zephaniah 2:3 Or land
- Zephaniah 2:4 Heb Azabah, sounds like Gaza
- Zephaniah 2:5 A segment of the Philistines with roots in Crete
- Zephaniah 2:6 Or meadows, wells
- Zephaniah 2:11 Lit make lean
- Zephaniah 2:14 Or owl, jackdaw
- Zephaniah 2:14 Lit her capitals
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