Zephaniah 2
1 Gather yourselves, gather together, O shameful nation,
Collect your thoughts, aye collect them, —O nation, depressed!
2 before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the Day of the LORD’s anger comes upon you.
Ere yet the decree, have given birth, like chaff, the day, have vanished, —ere yet shall come upon you, the glow of the anger of Yahweh, ere yet shall come upon you, the day of the anger of Yahweh.
3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
Seek Yahweh—all ye lowly of the land, who have wrought, what he appointed, —seek righteousness, seek humility, peradventure, ye shall be concealed, in the day of the anger of Yahweh?
4 For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.
For, Gaza, forsaken, shall be, and, Ashkelon, a desolation, —Ashdod! at high noon, shall they drive her forth, and, Ekron, be uprooted:
5 Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you, and no one will be left.”
Alas! for the inhabitants of the line of the sea, the nation of Kerethim, —The word of Yahweh, is against you, O Canaan of the land of the Philistines, therefore will I destroy thee, to the last inhabitant.
6 So the seacoast will become a land of pastures, with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep.
So shall the line of the sea become a meadow, the wells of shepherds, and the folds of flocks;
7 The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for the LORD their God will attend to them and restore their captives.
And the line shall belong to the remnant of the house of Judah, Thereon, shall they feed their flocks, —In the houses of Ashkelon, shall they, at eventide, lie down, for Yahweh their God will visit them, and bring their captives back.
8 “I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders.
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the sons of Ammon, —who have reproached my people, and have magnified themselves up to their bounds.
9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah— a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”
Wherefore, as I live, declareth Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, Surely, Moab, like Sodom, shall become, and, the sons of Ammon, like Gomorrah, a possession for the thorn, and a pit of salt, Yea a desolation, unto times age-abiding: The remnant of my people, shall make of them a prey, and, the residue of my nation, shall inherit them.
10 This they shall have in return for their pride, for taunting and mocking the people of the LORD of Hosts.
This, shall they have, instead of their pride, —because they reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of hosts.
11 The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then the nations of every shore will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place.
Terrible will Yahweh be against them, for he hath caused to waste away all the gods of the earth, that men may bow down to him, every one from his place, all the coastlands of the nations:
12 “You too, O Cushites, will be slain by My sword.”
Even ye Ethiopians, the slain of my sword were they!
13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert.
And may he stretch out his hand against the North, and destroy Assyria, —and may he make of Nineveh a desolation, dry as the desert!
14 Herds will lie down in her midst, creatures of every kind. Both the desert owl and screech owl will roost atop her pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but desolation will lie on the threshold, for He will expose the beams of cedar.
So shall lie down in her midst—flocks, each living thing of a nation, both pelican and bittern, in her capitals, shall roost, —a voice, shall resound in the window, the bustard, on the sill, for he hath destroyed, hath laid bare.
15 This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.
This, is the city exultant, that sat secure, that said in her heart, I, [am]! and no one besides! How hath she become a desolation! a lair of beasts, every one passing, by her doth hiss, shaketh his hand.
