Zephaniah 2
2
A Call to Repentance
1Gather yourselves together;
gather together, undesirable#2:1 Or shameless nation,
2before the decree#Jb 23:14; Ps 2:7; 148:6 takes effect
and the day passes like chaff,
before the burning of the Lord’s anger#Nm 25:4; 32:14; Jr 4:8; 12:13; 25:37; 30:24; 51:45 overtakes you,
before the day of the Lord’s anger overtakes you.#Lm 2:22
3Seek the Lord,#1Ch 22:19; 2Ch 12:14; 14:4; 15:12–13; 16:12; Ps 34:10; Is 9:13; 51:1; Hs 10:12; Am 5:14; Zph 1:6; Zch 8:21–22 all you humble#Nm 12:3; Ps 25:9; 37:11; 76:9; Am 8:4 of the earth,
who carry out what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be concealed#Gn 4:14; Ex 3:6; Ps 17:8
on the day of the Lord’s anger.
Judgment against the Nations
4For Gaza will be abandoned,
and Ashkelon will become a ruin.
Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
and Ekron will be uprooted.#Jr 25:20; Am 1:6–8; Zch 9:5–7
5Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,
nation of the Cherethites!#2:5 = Sea Peoples#Ezk 25:16
The word of the Lord is against you,#Is 37:22; Jr 16:10; 42:19; Am 3:1
Canaan, land of the Philistines:
I will destroy you until there is no one left.#Is 5:9; 6:11; Jr 4:7; 26:9; 33:10; 34:22; 44:22; 46:19; 48:9; Zph 3:6
6The seacoast will become pasturelands
with caves for shepherds and pens for sheep.
7The coastland will belong
to the remnant of the house of Judah;
they will find pasture there.
They will lie down in the evening
among the houses of Ashkelon,
for the Lord their God will return to them
and restore their fortunes.#Ps 85:1; Jr 30:18; 48:47; Lm 2:14
8I have heard the taunting#Ps 42:10; 102:8; 119:42; Mt 27:44; Heb 10:33 of Moab
and the insults of the Ammonites,#Am 1:13
who have taunted my people
and threatened their territory.
9Therefore, as I live —
this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel —
Moab will be like Sodom#Is 1:9; 3:9; 13:19; Jr 23:14; Rm 9:29
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah:#Gn 19:24–25
a place overgrown with weeds,
a salt pit, and a perpetual wasteland.
The remnant of my people will plunder them;
the remainder of my nation will dispossess them.
10This is what they get for their pride,
because they have taunted and acted arrogantly#Jr 48:42
against the people of the Lord of Armies.
11The Lord will be terrifying to them
when he starves all the gods of the earth.
Then all the distant coasts and islands of the nations
will bow in worship to him,
each in its own place.
12You Cushites will also be slain by my sword.#Is 18:1–7
13He will also stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria;
he will make Nineveh a desolate ruin,#Nah 2:8; 3:7
dry as the desert.
14Herds will lie down in the middle of it,
every kind of wild animal.#2:14 Lit every wild animal of a nation
Both eagle owls#2:14 Or the pelicans and herons#2:14 Or the hedgehogs
will roost in the capitals of its pillars.
Their calls will sound#2:14 Lit sing from the window,
but devastation#2:14 LXX, Vg read ravens will be on the threshold,
for he will expose the cedar work.#2:14 Hb obscure
15This is the jubilant#Is 13:3; 22:2; 23:7; 24:8; 32:13; Zph 3:11 city
that lives in security,
that says to herself:
I exist, and there is no one else.
What a desolation she has become,
a place for wild animals to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
scoffs#2:15 Or hisses and shakes his fist.
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Zephaniah 2: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Zephaniah 2
2
1Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no shame; 2before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah’s anger come upon you. 3Seek ye Jehovah, all ye meek of the earth, that have kept his ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of Jehovah’s anger.
4For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up. 5Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. 6And the sea-coast shall be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks. 7And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed their flocks thereupon; in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening; for Jehovah their God will visit them, and bring back their captivity.
8I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, wherewith they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. 9Therefore as I live, saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall make a prey of them, and the remnant of my nation shall inherit them. 10This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah of hosts. 11Jehovah will be terrible unto them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the nations.
12Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword. 13And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness. 14And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the capitals thereof; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he hath laid bare the cedar-work. 15This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.
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