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Zephaniah 2:4-3:8
New International Version
Zephaniah 2:4-3:8
New International Version
Philistia
4 Gaza(A) will be abandoned
and Ashkelon(B) left in ruins.
At midday Ashdod will be emptied
and Ekron uprooted.
5 Woe to you who live by the sea,
you Kerethite(C) people;
the word of the Lord is against you,(D)
Canaan, land of the Philistines.
He says, “I will destroy you,
and none will be left.”(E)
6 The land by the sea will become pastures
having wells for shepherds
and pens for flocks.(F)
7 That land will belong
to the remnant(G) of the people of Judah;
there they will find pasture.
In the evening they will lie down
in the houses of Ashkelon.
The Lord their God will care for them;
he will restore their fortunes.[a](H)
Moab and Ammon
8 “I have heard the insults(I) of Moab(J)
and the taunts of the Ammonites,(K)
who insulted(L) my people
and made threats against their land.(M)
9 Therefore, as surely as I live,”
declares the Lord Almighty,
the God of Israel,
“surely Moab(N) will become like Sodom,(O)
the Ammonites(P) like Gomorrah—
a place of weeds and salt pits,
a wasteland forever.
The remnant of my people will plunder(Q) them;
the survivors(R) of my nation will inherit their land.(S)”
10 This is what they will get in return for their pride,(T)
for insulting(U) and mocking
the people of the Lord Almighty.(V)
11 The Lord will be awesome(W) to them
when he destroys all the gods(X) of the earth.(Y)
Distant nations will bow down to him,(Z)
all of them in their own lands.
Cush
Assyria
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,(AC)
leaving Nineveh(AD) utterly desolate
and dry as the desert.(AE)
14 Flocks and herds(AF) will lie down there,
creatures of every kind.
The desert owl(AG) and the screech owl(AH)
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(AI)
that lived in safety.(AJ)
She said to herself,
“I am the one! And there is none besides me.”(AK)
What a ruin she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!(AL)
All who pass by her scoff(AM)
and shake their fists.(AN)
Jerusalem
3 Woe to the city of oppressors,(AO)
rebellious(AP) and defiled!(AQ)
2 She obeys(AR) no one,
she accepts no correction.(AS)
She does not trust(AT) in the Lord,
she does not draw near(AU) to her God.
3 Her officials within her
are roaring lions;(AV)
her rulers are evening wolves,(AW)
who leave nothing for the morning.(AX)
4 Her prophets are unprincipled;
they are treacherous people.(AY)
Her priests profane the sanctuary
and do violence to the law.(AZ)
5 The Lord within her is righteous;(BA)
he does no wrong.(BB)
Morning by morning(BC) he dispenses his justice,
and every new day he does not fail,(BD)
yet the unrighteous know no shame.(BE)
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;(BF)
they are deserted and empty.
7 Of Jerusalem I thought,
‘Surely you will fear me
and accept correction!’(BG)
Then her place of refuge[c] would not be destroyed,
nor all my punishments come upon[d] her.
But they were still eager
to act corruptly(BH) in all they did.
8 Therefore wait(BI) for me,”
declares the Lord,
“for the day I will stand up to testify.[e]
I have decided to assemble(BJ) the nations,(BK)
to gather the kingdoms
and to pour out my wrath(BL) on them—
all my fierce anger.(BM)
The whole world will be consumed(BN)
by the fire of my jealous anger.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 2:7 Or will bring back their captives
- 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 2:4-3:8
King James Version
Zephaniah 2:4-3:8
King James Version
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the Lord is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.
8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
9 Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.
12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he shall uncover the cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.
3 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God.
3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
5 The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.
6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.
8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
New International Version (NIV) 
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