Zephaniah 2
1 to assemble and to assemble [the] nation not to long
You people [of Judah] who ought to be ashamed, gather together [DOU].
2 in/on/with before to beget statute: decree like/as chaff to pass day in/on/with before not to come (in): come upon you burning anger face: anger LORD in/on/with before not to come (in): come upon you day face: anger LORD
Yahweh is extremely angry with you, [so gather together now], before it is time for him to punish [MTY] you and blow you away like [SIM] [the wind blows away] chaff.
3 to seek [obj] LORD all poor [the] land: country/planet which justice his to work to seek righteousness to seek humility perhaps to hide in/on/with day face: anger LORD
All you people in Judah who are humble, worship Yahweh, and obey what he has commanded. Try to do what is right and to be humble. [If you do that], perhaps Yahweh will protect/spare you on the day when he punishes [MTY] people.
4 for Gaza to leave: forsake to be and Ashkelon to/for devastation Ashdod in/on/with midday to drive out: drive out her and Ekron to uproot
[When Yahweh punishes Philistia], Gaza and Ashkelon [cities] will be deserted/abandoned. Ashdod [city] will be attacked and the people expelled at noon [when people are resting]; the [people of Ekron city] will [also] be driven out.
5 woe! to dwell cord [the] sea nation Cherethite word LORD upon you Canaan land: country/planet Philistine and to perish you from nothing to dwell
And terrible things will happen to you people of Philistia who live near the sea, because Yahweh has decided [MTY] that he will punish [MTY] you, [also]. He will get rid of all of you; not one person will (survive/remain alive).
6 and to be cord [the] sea pasture hollow to pasture and wall flock
The land [of Philistia] near the sea will become a pasture, a place for shepherds and their sheep pens.
7 and to be cord to/for remnant house: household Judah upon them to pasture [emph?] in/on/with house: home Ashkelon in/on/with evening to stretch [emph?] for to reckon: visit them LORD God their and to return: rescue (captivity their *Q(k)*)
The people of Judah who (survive/are still alive) will possess that land. At night they will sleep in the [deserted] houses in Ashkelon. Yahweh will take care of them; he will enable them to prosper again.
8 to hear: hear reproach Moab and reviling son: descendant/people Ammon which to taunt [obj] people my and to magnify upon border: area their
The Commander of the armies of angels, the God to whom [we] Israeli people [belong], says [this]: “I have heard the people of Moab and Ammon when they insulted [DOU] my people, and when they said that they would conquer my people’s country.
9 to/for so alive I utterance LORD Hosts God Israel for Moab like/as Sodom to be and son: descendant/people Ammon like/as Gomorrah possession nettle and pit salt and devastation till forever: enduring remnant people my to plunder them and remainder (nation my *Q(K)*) to inherit them
So now, [as surely] as I live, [I will destroy] Moab and Ammon like [SIM] [I destroyed] Gomorrah [city]. Their land will be a place were there are nettles and salt pits; it will be ruined forever. My Israeli people who survive will take away all their valuable possessions and [also] occupy their land.”
10 this to/for them underneath: instead pride their for to taunt and to magnify upon people LORD Hosts
The people of Moab and Ammon will get what they deserve for being proud, because they made fun of the people who belong to the Commander of the armies of angels.
11 to fear: revere LORD upon them for to starve [obj] all God [the] land: country/planet and to bow to/for him man: anyone from place his all coastland [the] nation
Yahweh will cause them to be terrified [when] he destroys all the gods of their countries. Then [even the people who live on] islands throughout the world will worship Yahweh, each in their own countries.
12 also you(m. p.) Ethiopian slain: killed sword my they(masc.)
[Yahweh says that] he will also slaughter the people of Ethiopia.
13 and to stretch hand his upon north and to perish [obj] Assyria and to set: make [obj] Nineveh to/for devastation dryness like/as wilderness
Yahweh will punish [IDM] and destroy Assyria, [that land] northeast of us. He will cause [its capital] Nineveh to become ruined and deserted, a place that will be as dry as the desert.
14 and to stretch in/on/with midst her flock all living thing nation also pelican also porcupine in/on/with capital her to lodge voice to sing in/on/with window desolation in/on/with threshold for cedar to uncover
[Flocks of sheep and] herds [of cattle] and many kinds of wild animals will lie down there. Owls and crows will sit on the columns/pillars [of the destroyed buildings], and they will (hoot/cry out) through the windows. There will be rubble in the doorways, and the [valuable] cedar boards will be taken [from the ruined houses].
15 this [the] city [the] jubilant [the] to dwell to/for security [the] to say in/on/with heart her I and end I still how? to be to/for horror: destroyed resting to/for living thing all to pass upon her to whistle to shake hand his
[The people of] Nineveh were [previously] happy and proud, thinking that they were very safe. They were [always] saying, “Our city is the greatest city; there is no city as great as ours!” But now it will become a ruins, a place where wild animals make their dens. And everyone who passes by there will hiss [and scorn/ridicule that city], and shake their fists [to show that they detest that city very much].
