Zephaniah 2

1 Assemble yourselves together, be gathered together, O nation not worthy to be loved:

Collect your thoughts, aye collect them, —O nation, depressed!

2 Before the decree bring forth the day as dust passing away, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s indignation come 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 ye meek of the earth, you that have wrought his judgment: seek the just, seek the meek: if by any means you may be hid in the day of the Lord’s indignation.

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 shall be destroyed, and Ascalon shall be a desert, they shall cast out Azotus at noonday, and Accaron shall be rooted up.

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 you that inhabit the sea coast, O nation of reprobates: the word of the Lord upon you, O Chanaan, the land of the Philistines, and I will destroy thee, so that there shall not be an inhabitant.

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 And the sea coast shall be the resting place of shepherds, and folds for cattle:

So shall the line of the sea become a meadow, the wells of shepherds, and the folds of flocks;

7 And it shall be the portion of him that shall remain of the house of Juda, there they shall feed: in the houses of Ascalon they shall rest in the evening: because the Lord their God will visit them, and bring back their captivity.

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 blasphemies of the children of Ammon, with which they reproached my people, and have magnified themselves upon 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 I live, saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrha, the dryness of thorns, and heaps of salt, and a desert even for ever: the remnant of my people shall make a spoil of them, and the residue of my nation shall possess 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 shall befall them for their pride: because they have blasphemed, and have been magnified against 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 shall be terrible upon them, and shall consume all the gods of the earth: and they shall adore him every man from his own place, all the islands of the Gentiles.

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 Ethiopians, also shall be slain with my sword.

Even ye Ethiopians, the slain of my sword were they!

13 And he will stretch out his hand upon the north, and will destroy Assyria: and he will make the beautiful city a wilderness, and as a place not passable, and 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 And flocks shall lie down in the midst thereof, all the beasts of the nations: and the bittern and the urchin shall lodge in the threshold thereof: the voice of the singing bird in the window, the raven on the upper post, for I will consume her strength.

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 is the glorious city that dwelt in security: that said in her heart: I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desert, a place for beasts to lie down in? every one that passeth by her, shall hiss, and wag his hand.

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.