The Book of the Prophet Zephaniah 2 Threats Against Various Nations

 The Book of the Prophet Zephaniah 2

Threats Against Various Nations

1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather yourselves together, O nation that has no desire,

2 Before the decree goes forth, and the day passes like chaff; before the anger of the Lord comes upon you; yes, before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you.

3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who have carried out his judgments; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be hidden on the day of the Lord’s anger.

4 For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon laid waste; Ashdod will be driven out at midday, and Ekron uprooted.

5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the people of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines, and I will destroy you, until there is no inhabitant.

6 The seashore will become pastureland, with huts for shepherds and folds for flocks.

7 The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah, and they will graze there. In the evening they will sit in the houses of Ashkelon, for the Lord their God will visit them and restore their fortunes.

8 I have heard the scorn of Moab and the reviling words of the Ammonites, with which they have mocked my people and exalted themselves against their border.

9 Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, Moab will become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of nettles and salt pits, a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the rest of my people will possess them.

10 This is what they will receive as a reward for their pride, because they mocked and exalted themselves against the people of the Lord Almighty.

11 The Lord will be terrible to them, for he will destroy all the gods of the earth; and all will come to worship him, each from his own place; all the islands of the nations.

12 You also, O Ethiopians, will be slain by my sword.

13 He will also stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria; and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry land like the desert.

14 And flocks will lie down in the midst of it, all the animals of the peoples; and the pelican and the hedgehog will lie down in its capitals; the sound of their singing will resound in the windows, desolation will be on the threshold, when it has uncovered its cedar work.

15 This is the joyful and careless city, which said in her heart, “I am, and there is no other besides me”; how she has become a desolation, a haunt of wild animals! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and shake his hand.