Zephaniah 2:4–15

Judgment on Nations

⁴For ^eGaza shall be forsaken,

And Ashkelon desolate;

They shall drive out Ashdod ^fat noonday,

And Ekron shall be uprooted.

⁵Woe to the inhabitants of ^gthe seacoast,

The nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the Lord is against you,

O ^hCanaan, land of the Philistines:

“I will destroy you;

So there shall be no inhabitant.”

⁶The seacoast shall be pastures,

With ²shelters for shepherds ⁱand folds for flocks.

⁷The coast shall be for ^jthe 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 ^kintervene ³for them,

And ^lreturn their captives.

⁸“I ^mhave heard the reproach of Moab,

And ⁿthe insults of the people of Ammon,

With which they have reproached My people,

And ^omade arrogant threats against their borders.

⁹Therefore, as I live,”

Says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,

“Surely ^pMoab shall be like Sodom,

And ^qthe people of Ammon like Gomorrah—

^rOverrun ⁴with weeds and saltpits,

And a ⁵perpetual desolation.

The residue of My people shall plunder them,

And the remnant of My people shall possess them.”

¹⁰This they shall have ^sfor their pride,

Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats

Against the people of the Lord of hosts.

¹¹The Lord will be awesome to them,

For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;

^tPeople shall worship Him,

Each one from his place,

Indeed all ^uthe shores of the nations.

¹²“You ^vEthiopians also,

You shall be slain by ^wMy sword.”

¹³And He will stretch out His hand against the north,

^xDestroy Assyria,

And make Nineveh a desolation,

As dry as the wilderness.

¹⁴The herds shall lie down in her midst,

^yEvery beast of the nation.

Both the ^zpelican and the bittern

Shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars;

Their voice shall sing in the windows;

Desolation shall be at the threshold;

For He will lay bare the ^acedar work.

¹⁵This is the rejoicing city

^bThat dwelt securely,

^cThat said in her heart,

“I am it, and there is none besides me.”

How has she become a desolation,

A place for beasts to lie down!

Everyone who passes by her

^dShall hiss and ^eshake his fist.