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.
Currently Selected:
Zephaniah 2: NLT
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT:
Zephaniah 2
2
Judgment on Judah’s Enemies
1Gather together, yes, gather,
O #Jer. 6:15shameless nation,
2 # [ch. 3:8] before the decree takes effect#2:2 Hebrew gives birth
—before the day passes away #Ps. 1:4 like chaff—
# [2 Kgs. 23:26] before there comes upon you
the burning anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 # See Amos 5:6 Seek the Lord, #Ps. 76:9; Isa. 11:4 all you humble of the land,
who do his just commands;#2:3 Or who carry out his judgment
# [Amos 5:14, 15] seek righteousness; seek humility;
# [Amos 5:14, 15] perhaps #[Isa. 2:10; 26:20, 21]you may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the Lord.
4 #
Zech. 9:5, 6; [Jer. 47:5]; See Amos 1:6-8 For Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5Woe to #Jer. 47:7; Ezek. 25:16 you inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of #See 1 Sam. 30:14 the Cherethites!
# [Nah. 2:13] The word of the Lord is against you,
# [Josh. 13:3] O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you #ch. 3:6until no inhabitant is left.
6 # ver. 7 And you, O seacoast, #Isa. 65:10shall be pastures,
with meadows#2:6 Or caves for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 # [Josh. 19:29] The seacoast shall become the possession
of #[ch. 3:13; Obad. 19] the remnant of the house of Judah,
# [See ver. 6 above] on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God #Zech. 10:3; Luke 1:68 will be mindful of them
and #ch. 3:20restore their fortunes.
8“I have heard #[Jer. 48:27] the taunts of Moab
and #Ezek. 25:3, 6 the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts #[Jer. 49:1]against their territory.
9Therefore, #Isa. 49:18; See Ezek. 16:48 as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become #Deut. 29:23; See Isa. 13:19like Sodom,
and the Ammonites #Deut. 29:23; See Isa. 13:19like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10This shall be their lot in return #Isa. 16:6for their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11The Lord will be awesome against them;
# [Isa. 17:4] for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and #Ps. 22:27 to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all #See Gen. 10:5the lands of the nations.
12 # [ch. 3:10] You also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
13And he will stretch out his hand against the north
# [Isa. 10:12] and destroy Assyria,
and he #Nah. 3:7will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14 #
Isa. 13:21, 22; 34:14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;#2:14 Hebrew beasts of every nation
#
Isa. 34:11 even the owl and the hedgehog#2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl and hedgehog is uncertain
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for #[Jer. 22:14, 15]her cedar work will be laid bare.
15This is the exultant city
#
Isa. 47:8 that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
# [Ezek. 25:5] a lair for wild beasts!
#
Jer. 19:8 Everyone who passes by her
hisses and #[Nah. 3:19]shakes his fist.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Sign up to receive news and updates about the ESV: