Zephaniah 2
2
A Call to Repentance
1Gather together—yes, gather together,
you shameless nation.
2Gather 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.
3Seek 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
4Gaza and Ashkelon will be abandoned,
Ashdod and Ekron torn down.
5And what sorrow awaits you Philistines#2:5 Hebrew Kerethites.
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.
6The Philistine coast will become a wilderness pasture,
a place of shepherd camps
and enclosures for sheep and goats.
7The 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.
9Now, 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.”
10They will receive the wages of their pride,
for they have scoffed at the people of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
11The 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#2:12 Hebrew Cushites. will also be slaughtered
by my sword,” says the Lord.
13And 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.
14The 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.
15This 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.
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Zephaniah 2: NLT
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Zephaniah 2
2
The Lord Asks People to Change
1Gather together, gather,
you unwanted people.
2Do it before it’s too late,
before you are blown away like chaff,
before the Lord’s terrible anger reaches you,
before the day of the Lord’s anger comes to you.
3Come to the Lord, all you who are not proud,
who obey his laws.
Do what is right. Learn to be humble.
Maybe you will escape
on the day the Lord shows his anger.
Philistia Will Be Punished
4No one will be left in the city of Gaza,
and the city of Ashkelon will be destroyed.
Ashdod will be empty by noon,
and the people of Ekron will be chased away.
5How terrible it will be for you who live by the Mediterranean Sea,
you Philistines!
The word of the Lord is against you,
Canaan, land of the Philistines.
“I will destroy you
so that no one will be left.”
6The land by the Mediterranean Sea, in which you live,
will become pastures, fields for shepherds, and pens for sheep.
7It will belong to the descendants of Judah who are left alive.
There they will let their sheep eat grass.
At night they will sleep
in the houses of Ashkelon.
The Lord their God will pay attention to them
and will make their life good again.
Moab and Ammon Will Be Punished
8“I have heard the insults of the country of Moab
and the threats of the people of Ammon.
They have insulted my people
and have taken their land.”
9So the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says,
“As surely as I live,
Moab will be destroyed like Sodom,
and Ammon will be destroyed like Gomorrah—
a heap of weeds, a pit of salt,
and a ruin forever.
Those of my people who are left alive will take whatever they want from them;
those who are left from my nation will take their land.”
10This is what Moab and Ammon get for being proud,
because they insulted and made fun of the people of the Lord All-Powerful.
11The Lord will frighten them,
because he will destroy all the gods of the earth.
Then everyone in faraway places
will worship him wherever they are.
Cush and Assyria Will Be Destroyed
12“You Cushites also
will be killed by my sword.”
13Then the Lord will turn against the north
and destroy Assyria.
He will make Nineveh
a ruin as dry as a desert.
14Flocks and herds will lie down there,
and all wild animals.
The owls and crows will sit
on the stone pillars.
The owl will hoot through the windows,
trash will be in the doorways,
and the wooden boards of the buildings will be gone.
15This is the happy and safe city
that thinks there is no one else as strong as it is.
But what a ruin it will be,
a place where wild animals live.
All those who pass by will make fun
and shake their fists.
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