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Zephaniah 2:4-6
Easy-to-Read Version
Zephaniah 2:4-6
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord Will Punish Israel’s Neighbors
4 No one will be left in Gaza. Ashkelon will be destroyed. By noon, the people will be forced to leave Ashdod. Ekron[a] will be empty.[b] 5 You Cretans[c] living by the sea, this message from the Lord is about you. Canaan, land of the Philistines, you will be destroyed—no one will live there! 6 Your land by the sea will become empty fields for shepherds and their sheep.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Zephaniah 2:4 Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron Philistine cities. In Hebrew, Zephaniah is making wordplays on the names of these cities.
- Zephaniah 2:4 empty In Hebrew this word is like the word meaning “Philistines.” Also in verse 6.
- Zephaniah 2:5 Cretans People from Crete. The Philistines came from that island.
Zephaniah 2:4-6
New International Version
Zephaniah 2:4-6
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)
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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