Zephaniah 2

Judah and Jerusalem Judged Along With the Nations

Judah Summoned to Repent

2Gather together,^v gather yourselves together,

you shameful^w nation,

²before the decree takes effect

and that day passes like windblown chaff,^x

before the Lord’s fierce anger^y

comes upon you,

before the day of the Lord’s wrath^z

comes upon you.

³Seek^a the Lord, all you humble of the land,

you who do what he commands.

Seek righteousness,^b seek humility;^c

perhaps you will be sheltered^d

on the day of the Lord’s anger.

Philistia

⁴Gaza^e will be abandoned

and Ashkelon^f left in ruins.

At midday Ashdod will be emptied

and Ekron uprooted.

⁵Woe to you who live by the sea,

you Kerethite^g people;

the word of the Lord is against you,^h

Canaan, land of the Philistines.

He says, “I will destroy you,

and none will be left.”ⁱ

⁶The land by the sea will become pastures

having wells for shepherds

and pens for flocks.^j

⁷That land will belong

to the remnant^k of the people of Judah;

there they will find pasture.

In the evening they will lie down

in the houses of Ashkelon.

The Lord their God will care for them;

he will restore their fortunes.^al

Moab and Ammon

⁸“I have heard the insults^m of Moabⁿ

and the taunts of the Ammonites,^o

who insulted^p my people

and made threats against their land.^q

⁹Therefore, as surely as I live,”

declares the Lord Almighty,

the God of Israel,

“surely Moab^r will become like Sodom,^s

the Ammonites^t like Gomorrah—

a place of weeds and salt pits,

a wasteland forever.

The remnant of my people will plunder^u them;

the survivors^v of my nation will inherit their land.^w”

¹⁰This is what they will get in return for their pride,^x

for insulting^y and mocking

the people of the Lord Almighty.^z

¹¹The Lord will be awesome^a to them

when he destroys all the gods^b of the earth.^c

Distant nations will bow down to him,^d

all of them in their own lands.

Cush

¹²“You Cushites,^be too,

will be slain by my sword.^f”

Assyria

¹³He will stretch out his hand against the north

and destroy Assyria,^g

leaving Nineveh^h utterly desolate

and dry as the desert.ⁱ

¹⁴Flocks and herds^j will lie down there,

creatures of every kind.

The desert owl^k and the screech owl^l

will roost on her columns.

Their hooting will echo through the windows,

rubble will fill the doorways,

the beams of cedar will be exposed.

¹⁵This is the city of revelry^m

that lived in safety.ⁿ

She said to herself,

“I am the one! And there is none besides me.”^o

What a ruin she has become,

a lair for wild beasts!^p

All who pass by her scoff^q

and shake their fists.^r