Zephaniah 2:13-15

New International Reader's Version

¹³ The Lord will reach out his powerful hand against the north.
    He will destroy Assyria.
He’ll leave Nineveh totally empty.
    It will be as dry as a desert.
¹⁴ Flocks and herds will lie down there.
    So will creatures of every kind.
Desert owls and screech owls
    will rest on its pillars.
The sound of their hooting will echo through the windows.
    The doorways will be full of trash.
    The cedar beams will be showing.
¹⁵ Nineveh was a carefree city.
    It lived in safety.
It said to itself,
    “I am the one!
    No one is greater than I am.”
But it has been destroyed.
    Wild animals make their home there.
All those who pass by laugh
    and shake their fists at it.