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Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, you nation that has no shame, before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes on you. Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the land, who have kept his ordinances. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh’s anger. For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up. Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! Yahweh’s word is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you until there is no inhabitant. The sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks. The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will find pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will lie down in the evening, for Yahweh, their God,[a] will visit them and restore them. I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore, as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them. 10 This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies. 11 Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations.

12 You Cushites also, you will be killed by my sword.

13 He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness. 14 Herds will lie down in the middle of her, all kinds of animals. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams. 15 This is the joyous city that lived carelessly, that said in her heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” How she has become a desolation, a place for animals to lie down in! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and shake their fists.

Footnotes

  1. 2:7 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).

Chapter 2

[a]Gather, gather yourselves together,
    O nation without shame!
Before you are driven away,
    like chaff that disappears;
Before there comes upon you
    the blazing anger of the Lord;
Before there comes upon you
    the day of the Lord’s anger.
Seek the Lord,
    all you humble of the land,
    who have observed his law;
Seek justice,
    seek humility;
Perhaps you will be sheltered
    on the day of the Lord’s anger.(A)

Judgment on the Nations

For Gaza shall be forsaken,
    and Ashkelon shall be a waste,
Ashdod they shall drive out at midday,
    and Ekron[b] shall be uprooted.(B)
Ah! You who dwell by the seacoast,
    the nation of Cherethites,[c]
    the word of the Lord is against you!
O Canaan, land of the Philistines,
    I will leave you to perish without an inhabitant!
You shall become fields for shepherds,
    and folds for flocks.
The seacoast shall belong
    to the remnant of the house of Judah;
    by the sea they shall pasture.
In the houses of Ashkelon
    they shall lie down in the evening.
For the Lord their God will take care of them,
    and bring about their restoration.

I have heard the taunts uttered by Moab,
    and the insults of the Ammonites,[d]
When they taunted my people
    and made boasts against their territory.(C)
Therefore, as I live—
    oracle of the Lord of hosts—
    the God of Israel,
Moab shall become like Sodom,
    the Ammonites like Gomorrah:
A field of weeds,
    a salt pit,
    a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
    the survivors of my nation dispossess them.
10 This will be the recompense for their pride,
    because they taunted and boasted against
    the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord shall inspire them with terror
    when he makes all the gods of earth waste away;
Then the distant shores of the nations,
    each from its own place,
    shall bow down to him.

12 You too, O Cushites,[e]
    shall be slain by the sword of the Lord.(D)
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north,
    to destroy Assyria;
He will make Nineveh a waste,
    dry as the desert.(E)
14 In her midst flocks shall lie down,
    all the wild life of the hollows;
The screech owl and the desert owl
    shall roost in her columns;
The owl shall hoot from the window,
    the raven croak from the doorway.(F)
15 Is this the exultant city[f]
    that dwelt secure,
That told itself,
    “I and there is no one else”?
How it has become a waste,
    a lair for wild animals!
Those who pass by it
    hiss, and shake their fists!

Footnotes

  1. 2:1–3 This oracle is a classic description of the day of the Lord as an overwhelming disaster, concluding with a call for repentance and reform. Nation without shame: Judah.
  2. 2:4 Gaza…Ashkelon…Ashdod…Ekron: cities of the Philistine confederation.
  3. 2:5 Cherethites: a synonym for, or subgroup of, the Philistines, which may be associated with Crete, a part of the larger Aegean area from which the Philistines came.
  4. 2:8 Moab…Ammonites: Judah’s neighbors to the East across the Jordan.
  5. 2:12 Cushites: the Ethiopians, who had ruled Egypt a generation before Zephaniah’s career.
  6. 2:15 The exultant city: Nineveh. Hiss, and shake their fists: gestures of derision.