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Zephaniah 2:10-3
New King James Version
Zephaniah 2:10-3
New King James Version
10 This they shall have (A)for their pride,
Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats
Against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome to them,
For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
(B)People shall worship Him,
Each one from his place,
Indeed all (C)the shores of the nations.
13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north,
(F)Destroy Assyria,
And make Nineveh a desolation,
As dry as the wilderness.
14 The herds shall lie down in her midst,
(G)Every beast of the nation.
Both the (H)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 (I)cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city
(J)That dwelt securely,
(K)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
(L)Shall hiss and (M)shake his fist.
The Wickedness of Jerusalem
3 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
2 She 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 (N)Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are (O)evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
4 Her (P)prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have [a]polluted the sanctuary,
They have done (Q)violence to the law.
5 The Lord is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
[b]Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails,
But (R)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 (S)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 [c]they rose early and (T)corrupted all their deeds.
A Faithful Remnant(U)
8 “Therefore (V)wait for Me,” says the Lord,
“Until the day I rise up [d]for plunder;
My determination is to (W)gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth (X)shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.
9 “For then I will restore to the peoples (Y)a pure [e]language,
That they all may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him with one accord.
10 (Z)From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers,
The daughter of My dispersed ones,
Shall bring My offering.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 3:4 Or profaned
- Zephaniah 3:5 Lit. Morning by morning
- Zephaniah 3:7 They were eager
- Zephaniah 3:8 LXX, Syr. for witness; Tg. for the day of My revelation for judgment; Vg. for the day of My resurrection that is to come
- Zephaniah 3:9 Lit. lip
Zephaniah 2:10-3
New International Version
Zephaniah 2:10-3
New International Version
10 This is what they will get in return for their pride,(A)
for insulting(B) and mocking
the people of the Lord Almighty.(C)
11 The Lord will be awesome(D) to them
when he destroys all the gods(E) of the earth.(F)
Distant nations will bow down to him,(G)
all of them in their own lands.
Cush
Assyria
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,(J)
leaving Nineveh(K) utterly desolate
and dry as the desert.(L)
14 Flocks and herds(M) will lie down there,
creatures of every kind.
The desert owl(N) and the screech owl(O)
will roost on her columns.
Their hooting will echo through the windows,
rubble will fill the doorways,
the beams of cedar will be exposed.
15 This is the city of revelry(P)
that lived in safety.(Q)
She said to herself,
“I am the one! And there is none besides me.”(R)
What a ruin she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!(S)
All who pass by her scoff(T)
and shake their fists.(U)
Jerusalem
3 Woe to the city of oppressors,(V)
rebellious(W) and defiled!(X)
2 She obeys(Y) no one,
she accepts no correction.(Z)
She does not trust(AA) in the Lord,
she does not draw near(AB) to her God.
3 Her officials within her
are roaring lions;(AC)
her rulers are evening wolves,(AD)
who leave nothing for the morning.(AE)
4 Her prophets are unprincipled;
they are treacherous people.(AF)
Her priests profane the sanctuary
and do violence to the law.(AG)
5 The Lord within her is righteous;(AH)
he does no wrong.(AI)
Morning by morning(AJ) he dispenses his justice,
and every new day he does not fail,(AK)
yet the unrighteous know no shame.(AL)
Jerusalem Remains Unrepentant
6 “I have destroyed nations;
their strongholds are demolished.
I have left their streets deserted,
with no one passing through.
Their cities are laid waste;(AM)
they are deserted and empty.
7 Of Jerusalem I thought,
‘Surely you will fear me
and accept correction!’(AN)
Then her place of refuge[b] would not be destroyed,
nor all my punishments come upon[c] her.
But they were still eager
to act corruptly(AO) in all they did.
8 Therefore wait(AP) for me,”
declares the Lord,
“for the day I will stand up to testify.[d]
I have decided to assemble(AQ) the nations,(AR)
to gather the kingdoms
and to pour out my wrath(AS) on them—
all my fierce anger.(AT)
The whole world will be consumed(AU)
by the fire of my jealous anger.
Restoration of Israel’s Remnant
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 2:12 That is, people from the upper Nile region
- Zephaniah 3:7 Or her sanctuary
- Zephaniah 3:7 Or all those I appointed over
- Zephaniah 3:8 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew will rise up to plunder
- Zephaniah 3:10 That is, the upper Nile region
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.