Zephaniah 2

Contemporary English Version

Turn to the Lord

2 You disgraceful nation,
gather around,
²    before it's too late.
The Lord has set a time
    when his fierce anger
will strike like a storm
    and sweep you away.
³If you humbly obey the Lord,
    then come and worship him.
If you do right and are humble,
    perhaps you will be safe
on that day when the Lord
    turns loose his anger.

Judgment on Philistia

⁴^(A) Gaza and Ashkelon
will be deserted
    and left in ruins.
Ashdod will be emptied
in broad daylight,
    and Ekron^[a] uprooted.
⁵To you people of Philistia^[b]
who live along the coast,
    the Lord has this to say:
“I am now your enemy,
    and I'll wipe you out!”

⁶Your seacoast will be changed
into pastureland
    and sheep pens.^[c]
⁷The Lord God hasn't forgotten
those survivors in Judah,
    and he will help them—
his people will take your land
    to use for pasture.
And when evening comes,
they will rest
    in houses at Ashkelon.^[d]

Judgment on Moab and Ammon

* ⁸^(B) The Lord All-Powerful,
    the God of Israel, said:
I've heard Moab and Ammon
insult my people
    and threaten their nation.^[e]
⁹^(C) And so, I swear by my very life
that Moab and Ammon will end up
    like Sodom and Gomorrah—
covered with thornbushes
    and salt pits forever.
Then my people who survive
    will take their land.
¹⁰This is how Moab and Ammon
will at last be repaid
    for their pride—
and for sneering at the nation
that belongs to me,
    the Lord All-Powerful.
¹¹I will fiercely attack.
Then every god on this earth
    will shrink to nothing,
and everyone of every nation
will bow down to me,
    right where they are.

Judgment on Ethiopia

¹²^(D) People of Ethiopia,^[f]
the sword of the Lord
will slaughter you!

Judgment on Assyria

¹³^(E) The Lord will reach to the north
to crush Assyria
    and overthrow Nineveh.^[g]
¹⁴Herds of wild animals
    will live in its rubble;
all kinds of desert owls
will perch on its stones
    and hoot in the windows.
Noisy ravens will be heard
inside its buildings,
    stripped bare of cedar.^[h]
¹⁵This is the glorious city
that felt secure and said,
    “I am the only one!”
Now it's merely ruins,
    a home for wild animals.
Every passerby simply sneers
    and makes vulgar signs.

Footnotes

2.4 Gaza … Ekron: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath (not mentioned because it was already destroyed) were the five major Philistine towns.
2.5 people of Philistia: The Hebrew text also mentions “Canaan” and “Cherethites,” which are other ways of referring to the Philistines.
2.6 pens: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 6.
2.7 Ashkelon: A Philistine town; see the note at 2.4.
2.8 threaten their nation: Or “boast about their own nation.”
2.12 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has “Cush,” which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.
2.13 Nineveh: The capital of Assyria; Nineveh was protected by a moat filled with water from the nearby Tigris River.
2.14 stripped … cedar: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.