Zephaniah 2
1 Gather your selues, euen gather you, O nation not worthie to be loued,
Be you gathered and closely joined together, O unchastened nation;
2 Before the decree come foorth, and ye be as chaffe that passeth in a day, and before the fierce wrath of the Lord come vpon you, and before the day of the Lords anger come vpon you.
before you become as the flower that passes away, before the anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the wrath of the Lord come upon you.
3 Seeke yee the Lord all the meeke of the earth, which haue wrought his iudgement: seeke righteousnesse, seeke lowlinesse, if so bee that ye may be hid in the day of the Lords wrath.
Seek you the Lord, all you meek of the earth; do judgement, and seek justice, and answer accordingly; that you may be hid in the day of the wrath of the Lord.
4 For Azzah shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon desolate: they shall driue out Ashdod at the noone day, and Ekron shalbe rooted vp.
For Gaza shall be utterly spoiled, and Ascalon shall be destroyed; and Azotus shall be cast forth at noon-day, and Accaron shall be rooted up.
5 Wo vnto the inhabitants of the sea coast. the nation of the Cherethims, the worde of the Lord is against you: O Canaan, the lande of the Philistims, I will euen destroye thee without an inhabitant.
Woe to them that dwell on the border of the sea, neighbours of the Cretans! the word of the Lord is against you, O Chanaan, land of the Philistines, and I will destroy you out of [your] dwelling-place.
6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cotages for shepheardes and sheepefoldes.
And Crete shall be a pasture of flocks, and a fold of sheep.
7 And that coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Iudah, to feede thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lodge toward night: for the Lord their God shall visite them, and turne away their captiuitie.
And the sea cost shall be for the remnant of the house of Juda; they shall pasture upon them in the houses of Ascalon; they shall rest in the evening because of the children of Juda; for the Lord their God has visited them, and he will turn away their captivity.
8 I haue heard the reproch of Moab, and the rebukes of the children of Ammon, whereby they vpbraided my people, and magnified themselues against their borders.
I have heard the revilings of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, wherewith they have reviled my people, and magnified themselves against my coasts.
9 Therefore, as I liue, saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall bee as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorah, euen the breeding of nettels and salt pittes, and a perpetuall desolation: the residue of my folke shall spoyle them, and the remnant of my people shall possesse them.
Therefore, [as] I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall be as Sodoma, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrha; and Damascus [shall be] left as a heap of the threshing floor, and desolate for ever: and the remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the remnant of my nations shall inherit them.
10 This shall they haue for their pride, because they haue reproched and magnified themselues against the Lord of hostes people.
This is their punishment in return for their haughtiness, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the Lord Almighty.
11 The Lord will be terrible vnto them: for he wil consume all the gods of the earth, and euery man shall worship him from his place, euen all the yles of the heathen.
The Lord shall appear against them, and shall utterly destroy all the gods of the nations of the earth; and they shall worship him every one from his place, [even] all the islands of the nations.
12 Ye Morians also shalbe slaine by my sword with them.
You Ethiopians also are the slain of my sword.
13 And he wil stretch out his hand against the North, and destroy Asshur, and will make Nineueh desolate, and waste like a wildernesse.
And he shall stretch forth his hand against the north and destroy the Assyrian, and make Nineve a dry wilderness, [even] as a desert.
14 And flockes shall lie in the middes of her, and all the beastes of the nations, and the pelicane, and the owle shall abide in the vpper postes of it: the voyce of birdes shall sing in the windowes, and desolations shalbe vpon the postes: for the cedars are vncouered.
And flocks, and all the wild beasts of the land, and chameleons shall feed in the midst thereof: and hedgehogs shall lodge in the ceilings thereof; and wild beasts shall cry in the breaches thereof, and ravens in her porches, whereas her loftiness was [as] as cedar.
15 This is the reioycing citie that dwelt carelesse, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me: how is she made waste, and the lodging of the beastes! euery one that passeth by her, shall hisse and wagge his hand.
