Judgment on Nations

For (A)Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon desolate;
They shall drive out Ashdod (B)at noonday,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
Woe to the inhabitants of (C)the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O (D)Canaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you;
So there shall be no inhabitant.”

The seacoast shall be pastures,
With [a]shelters for shepherds (E)and folds for flocks.
The coast shall be for (F)the remnant of the house of Judah;
They shall feed their flocks there;
In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will (G)intervene[b] for them,
And (H)return their captives.

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Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 2:6 Underground huts or cisterns, lit. excavations
  2. Zephaniah 2:7 Lit. visit them

For Gaza will be abandoned,
    and Ashkelon as a desolation.
As for Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away,
    and Ekron shall be uprooted.
Woe to you, inhabitants of the region of the sea,
    people of the Kerethites!
The word of Yahweh is against you,
    O Canaan, land of the Philistines.
I will destroy you until there is no inhabitant.[a]
And you, O region of the sea, shall become
    pastures and meadows for shepherds
    and sheep pens for the flocks.
And it shall become a region
    for the remnant of the house of Judah;
    upon them they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
    they shall lie down in the evening.
For Yahweh their God shall be mindful of them,
    and he will restore their fortunes.

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Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 2:5 Literally “from there is not an inhabitant”