Zephaniah 2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
A Call to Repentance
2 Gather yourselves together;
gather together, undesirable[a] nation,
2 before the decree(A) takes effect
and the day passes like chaff,
before the burning of the Lord’s anger overtakes you,
before the day of the Lord’s anger overtakes you.
3 Seek the Lord,(B) all you humble(C) of the earth,
who carry out what He commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be concealed(D)
on the day of the Lord’s anger.
Judgment against the Nations
4 For Gaza will be abandoned,
and Ashkelon will become a ruin.
Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
and Ekron will be uprooted.(E)
5 Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,
nation of the Cherethites
The word of the Lord is against you,
Canaan, land of the Philistines:
I will destroy you until there is no one left.
6 The seacoast will become pasturelands
with caves for shepherds and folds for sheep.
7 The coastland will belong
to the remnant of the house of Judah;
they will find pasture there.
They will lie down in the evening
among the houses of Ashkelon,
for the Lord their God will return to them
and restore their fortunes.
8 I have heard the taunting of Moab
and the insults of the Ammonites,(G)
who have taunted My people
and threatened their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live—
this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel—
Moab will be like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah(H)—
a place overgrown with weeds,
a salt pit, and a perpetual wasteland.
The remnant of My people will plunder them;
the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.
10 This is what they get for their pride,
because they have taunted and acted arrogantly(I)
against the people of the Lord of Hosts.
11 The Lord will be terrifying to them
when He starves all the gods of the earth.
Then all the distant coastlands of the nations
will bow in worship to Him,
each in its own place.
12 You Cushites will also be slain by My sword.(J)
13 He will also stretch out His hand against the north
and destroy Assyria;
He will make Nineveh a desolate ruin,(K)
dry as the desert.
14 Herds will lie down in the middle of it,
every kind of wild animal.[c]
Both the desert owl[d] and the screech owl[e]
will roost in the capitals of its pillars.
Their calls will sound[f] from the window,
but devastation[g] will be on the threshold,
for He will expose the cedar work.[h]
15 This is the self-assured(L) city
that lives in security,
that thinks to herself:
I exist, and there is no one else.
What a desolation she has become,
a place for wild animals to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
jeers[i] and shakes his fist.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 2:1 Or shameless
- Zephaniah 2:5 = Sea Peoples
- Zephaniah 2:14 Lit every wild animal of a nation
- Zephaniah 2:14 Or the pelican
- Zephaniah 2:14 Or the hedgehog
- Zephaniah 2:14 Lit sing
- Zephaniah 2:14 LXX, Vg read ravens
- Zephaniah 2:14 Hb obscure
- Zephaniah 2:15 Or hisses
Zephaniah 2
New Living Translation
A Call to Repentance
2 Gather together—yes, gather together,
you shameless nation.
2 Gather before judgment begins,
before your time to repent is blown away like chaff.
Act now, before the fierce fury of the Lord falls
and the terrible day of the Lord’s anger begins.
3 Seek the Lord, all who are humble,
and follow his commands.
Seek to do what is right
and to live humbly.
Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you—
protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
Judgment against Philistia
4 Gaza and Ashkelon will be abandoned,
Ashdod and Ekron torn down.
5 And what sorrow awaits you Philistines[a]
who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan,
for this judgment is against you, too!
The Lord will destroy you
until not one of you is left.
6 The Philistine coast will become a wilderness pasture,
a place of shepherd camps
and enclosures for sheep and goats.
7 The remnant of the tribe of Judah will pasture there.
They will rest at night in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon.
For the Lord their God will visit his people in kindness
and restore their prosperity again.
Judgment against Moab and Ammon
8 “I have heard the taunts of the Moabites
and the insults of the Ammonites,
mocking my people
and invading their borders.
9 Now, as surely as I live,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,
“Moab and Ammon will be destroyed—
destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah.
Their land will become a place of stinging nettles,
salt pits, and eternal desolation.
The remnant of my people will plunder them
and take their land.”
10 They will receive the wages of their pride,
for they have scoffed at the people of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
11 The Lord will terrify them
as he destroys all the gods in the land.
Then nations around the world will worship the Lord,
each in their own land.
Judgment against Ethiopia and Assyria
12 “You Ethiopians[b] will also be slaughtered
by my sword,” says the Lord.
13 And the Lord will strike the lands of the north with his fist,
destroying the land of Assyria.
He will make its great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland,
parched like a desert.
14 The proud city will become a pasture for flocks and herds,
and all sorts of wild animals will settle there.
The desert owl and screech owl will roost on its ruined columns,
their calls echoing through the gaping windows.
Rubble will block all the doorways,
and the cedar paneling will be exposed to the weather.
15 This is the boisterous city,
once so secure.
“I am the greatest!” it boasted.
“No other city can compare with me!”
But now, look how it has become an utter ruin,
a haven for wild animals.
Everyone passing by will laugh in derision
and shake a defiant fist.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
