Zephaniah 2
2
A Call to Repentance
1Gather yourselves together;
gather together, undesirable # 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! # = 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 folds 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 Hosts,
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 Hosts.
11The Lord will be terrifying to them
when He starves all the gods of the earth.
Then all the distant coastlands 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. # Lit every wild animal of a nation
Both the desert owl # Or the pelican and the screech owl # Or the hedgehog
will roost in the capitals of its pillars.
Their calls will sound # Lit sing from the window,
but devastation # LXX, Vg read ravens will be on the threshold,
for He will expose the cedar work. # Hb obscure
15This is the self-assured # Is 13:3; 22:2; 23:7; 24:8; 32:13; Zph 3:11 city
that lives in security,
that thinks 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
jeers # Or hisses and shakes his fist.
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Tz'fanyah (Zep) 2
2
1Gather together, gather yourselves,
nation devoid of shame;
2before the decree takes effect,
and the day comes when one passes like chaff;
before Adonai’s fierce anger
comes on you,
before the day of Adonai’s anger
comes on you.
3Seek Adonai, all you humble in the land,
you who exercise his justice;
seek righteousness, seek humility —
you might be hidden
on the day of Adonai’s anger.
4For ‘Azah will be abandoned,
Ashkelon will be desolate,
they will evacuate Ashdod at noon,
and ‘Ekron will be uprooted.
5Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
the nation of the K’reti!
The word of Adonai is against you,
Kena‘an, land of the P’lishtim:
“I will destroy you; no one will be left.”
6The seacoast will be reduced to pastures,
meadows for shepherds, pens for sheep;
7and the coast will belong to the remnant
of the house of Y’hudah.
They will pasture their flocks there
and in the evening lie down
in the houses of Ashkelon.
For Adonai their God will remember them
and restore their fortunes.
8“I have heard the insults of Mo’av
and the taunts of the people of ‘Amon,
how they reviled my people
and boasted of expanding their territory.
9Therefore, as I live,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
the God of Isra’el,
“Mo’av will become like S’dom
and the people of ‘Amon like ‘Amora,
a land covered with nettles and salt pits,
desolate forever.
The remnant of my people will plunder them,
the survivors in my nation will inherit them.”
10This is what they will earn for their pride,
for having reviled and boasted against
the people of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
11Adonai will be fearsome against them,
for he will make all the earth’s gods waste away.
Then all the coasts and islands of the nations
will worship him, each from its place.
12“You too, Ethiopians,
will be put to death by my sword.”
13He will stretch out his hand against the north;
he will destroy Ashur;
he will make Ninveh desolate,
as dry as the desert.
14Herds will lie down in it,
and all kinds of wild animals too —
jackdaws and owls will roost on her columns,
voices screeching in the windows,
desolation on the doorsteps,
for its cedarwork is stripped bare.
15This is the city, once so joyful,
whose people felt themselves secure,
who used to say to herself,
“I am [the greatest]! I have no rival.”
What a ruin she has become —
a place for wild animals to lie down!
Everyone passing by her
hisses and shakes his fist!
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