Zephaniah 2
1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation without desire [for repentance];
Be you gathered and closely joined together, O unchastened nation;
2 Before the decree is brought forth—like the chaff the day passeth away—before yet there be come over you the fierce anger of the Lord, before yet there be come over you the day of the anger of the Lord.
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 Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, who have fulfilled his ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: perhaps ye will be protected on the day of the Lord's anger.
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 Gazzah shall become forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolate place: Ashdod shall they drive out at the noon of day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
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 Woe unto the inhabitants of the district by the sea, the nation of the Kerethites! the word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that no inhabitant shall remain.
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 district by the sea shall become places for pens of shepherds, and folds for flocks.
And Crete shall be a pasture of flocks, and a fold of sheep.
7 And this district shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; thereupon shall they feed their flocks: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening; for the Lord their God will think of them, and bring back their captivity.
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 have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of 'Ammon, wherewith they have reproached my people, and made themselves great against their border.
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 live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall become like Sodom, and the children of 'Ammon like Gomorrah, overgrown with nettles, and [filled with] salt-pits, and a desolation to eternity; the residue of my people shall plunder them, and the remnant of my nation shall possess 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 have in recompense for their pride; because they have reproached and made themselves great against the people of the Lord of hosts.
This is their punishment in return for their haughtiness, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the Lord Almighty.
11 Terrible will the Lord [appear] over them; for he will cause to vanish all the gods of the earth; and then shall prostrate themselves before him, every one from its place, all the isles of the nations.
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 Also ye Ethiopians shall be those slain by my sword.
You Ethiopians also are the slain of my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and he will make Nineveh a desolate place, dry, like the wilderness.
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 there shall lie down in the midst of her flocks, all the beasts of the nations; both the pelican and the hedgehog shall lodge in the capitals of her columns; singing-birds shall sing in the windows; ruin shall be on the thresholds; for the cedar wainscoting shall be torn away.
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 joyful city that dwelt in security, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none else beside me: how is she become desolate, a resting-place for beasts! every one that passeth by her will hiss, and shake his hand.
