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Zephaniah 2:4-3:13
English Standard Version
Zephaniah 2:4-3:13
English Standard Version
4 (A)For Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to (B)you inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of (C)the Cherethites!
(D)The word of the Lord is against you,
(E)O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you (F)until no inhabitant is left.
6 (G)And you, O seacoast, (H)shall be pastures,
with meadows[a] for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 (I)The seacoast shall become the possession
of (J)the remnant of the house of Judah,
(K)on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God (L)will be mindful of them
and (M)restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard (N)the taunts of Moab
and (O)the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts (P)against their territory.
9 Therefore, (Q)as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become (R)like Sodom,
and the Ammonites (S)like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return (T)for their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them;
(U)for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and (V)to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all (W)the lands of the nations.
12 (X)You also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
(Y)and destroy Assyria,
and he (Z)will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14 (AA)Herds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;[b]
(AB)even the owl and the hedgehog[c]
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for (AC)her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city
(AD)that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
(AE)a lair for wild beasts!
(AF)Everyone who passes by her
hisses and (AG)shakes his fist.
Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
3 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,
(AH)the oppressing city!
2 She listens to no voice;
(AI)she accepts no correction.
(AJ)She does not trust in the Lord;
she does not draw near to her God.
3 (AK)Her officials within her
are roaring lions;
her judges are (AL)evening wolves
that leave nothing till the morning.
4 (AM)Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men;
(AN)her priests (AO)profane what is holy;
they do violence to the law.
5 The Lord within her (AP)is righteous;
he does no injustice;
every morning he shows forth his justice;
each dawn he does not fail;
but (AQ)the unjust knows no shame.
6 (AR)“I have cut off nations;
their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
(AS)so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
without a man, without an inhabitant.
7 (AT)I said, ‘Surely you will fear me;
(AU)you will accept correction.
Then your[d] dwelling would not be cut off
according to all that I have appointed against you.’[e]
But (AV)all the more they were eager
to make all their deeds corrupt.
8 “Therefore (AW)wait for me,” declares the Lord,
“for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.
For my decision is (AX)to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
all my burning anger;
for in the fire of my jealousy
(AY)all the earth shall be consumed.
The Conversion of the Nations
9 “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples
to (AZ)a pure speech,
that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord.
10 (BA)From beyond the rivers (BB)of Cush
my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,
shall bring my offering.
11 (BC)“On that day (BD)you shall not be put to shame
because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then (BE)I will remove from your midst
your proudly exultant ones,
and (BF)you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.
12 But I will leave in your midst
a people (BG)humble and lowly.
(BH)They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,
13 (BI)those who are left in Israel;
they (BJ)shall do no injustice
and speak no lies,
(BK)nor shall there be found in their mouth
a deceitful tongue.
(BL)For they shall graze and lie down,
and none shall make them afraid.”
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 2:6 Or caves
- Zephaniah 2:14 Hebrew beasts of every nation
- Zephaniah 2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl and hedgehog is uncertain
- Zephaniah 3:7 Hebrew her
- Zephaniah 3:7 Hebrew her
Zephaniah 2:4-3:13
New International Version
Zephaniah 2:4-3:13
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.
Restoration of Israel’s Remnant
9 “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples,
that all of them may call(BO) on the name of the Lord(BP)
and serve(BQ) him shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush[f](BR)
my worshipers, my scattered people,
will bring me offerings.(BS)
11 On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame(BT)
for all the wrongs you have done to me,(BU)
because I will remove from you
your arrogant boasters.(BV)
Never again will you be haughty
on my holy hill.(BW)
12 But I will leave within you
the meek(BX) and humble.
The remnant of Israel
will trust(BY) in the name of the Lord.
13 They(BZ) will do no wrong;(CA)
they will tell no lies.(CB)
A deceitful tongue
will not be found in their mouths.(CC)
They will eat and lie down(CD)
and no one will make them afraid.(CE)”
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 3:10 That is, the upper Nile region
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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.