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
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.
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