צפניה 2

1 התקוששו וקושו--הגוי לא נכסף

You people [of Judah] who ought to be ashamed, gather together [DOU].

2 בטרם לדת חק כמץ עבר יום בטרם לא יבוא עליכם חרון אף יהוה--בטרם לא יבוא עליכם יום אף יהוה

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 בקשו את יהוה כל ענוי הארץ אשר משפטו פעלו בקשו צדק בקשו ענוה--אולי תסתרו ביום אף יהוה

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 כי עזה עזובה תהיה ואשקלון לשממה אשדוד בצהרים יגרשוה ועקרון תעקר

[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 הוי ישבי חבל הים--גוי כרתים דבר יהוה עליכם כנען ארץ פלשתים והאבדתיך מאין יושב

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 והיתה חבל הים נות כרת רעים--וגדרות צאן

The land [of Philistia] near the sea will become a pasture, a place for shepherds and their sheep pens.

7 והיה חבל לשארית בית יהודה--עליהם ירעון בבתי אשקלון בערב ירבצון--כי יפקדם יהוה אלהיהם ושב שבותם (שביתם)

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 שמעתי חרפת מואב וגדפי בני עמון--אשר חרפו את עמי ויגדילו על גבולם

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 לכן חי אני נאם יהוה צבאות אלהי ישראל כי מואב כסדם תהיה ובני עמון כעמרה ממשק חרול ומכרה מלח ושממה עד עולם שארית עמי יבזום ויתר גוי ינחלום

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 זאת להם תחת גאונם כי חרפו ויגדלו על עם יהוה צבאות

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 נורא יהוה עליהם כי רזה את כל אלהי הארץ וישתחוו לו איש ממקומו כל איי הגוים

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 גם אתם כושים חללי חרבי המה

[Yahweh says that] he will also slaughter the people of Ethiopia.

13 ויט ידו על צפון ויאבד את אשור וישם את נינוה לשממה ציה כמדבר

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 ורבצו בתוכה עדרים כל חיתו גוי--גם קאת גם קפד בכפתריה ילינו קול ישורר בחלון חרב בסף כי ארזה ערה

[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 זאת העיר העליזה היושבת לבטח האמרה בלבבה אני ואפסי עוד איך היתה לשמה מרבץ לחיה--כל עובר עליה ישרק יניע ידו

[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].