Zephaniah 2New King James Version
A Call to Repentance
2 Gather(A)yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O[a]undesirable nation,
2 Before the decree is issued,
Orthe day passes like chaff,
Before theLord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of theLord’s anger comes upon you!
3 (B)Seek theLord,(C)all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
(D)It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of theLord’s anger.
Judgment on Nations
4 For(E)Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon desolate;
They shall drive out Ashdod(F)at noonday,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of(G)the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of theLordisagainst you,
O(H)Canaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you;
So there shall be no inhabitant.”
6 The seacoast shall be pastures,
With[b]shelters for shepherds(I)and folds for flocks.
7 The coast shall be for(J)the remnant of the house of Judah;
They shall feedtheirflocks there;
In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.
For theLordtheir God will(K)intervene[c]for them,
And(L)return their captives.
8 “I(M)have heard the reproach of Moab,
And(N)the insults of the people of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people,
And(O)made arrogant threats against their borders.
9 Therefore, as I live,”
Says theLordof hosts, the God of Israel,
“Surely(P)Moab shall be like Sodom,
And(Q)the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—
(R)Overrun[d]with weeds and saltpits,
And a[e]perpetual desolation.
The residue of My people shall plunder them,
And the remnant of My people shall possess them.”
10 This they shall have(S)for their pride,
Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats
Against the people of theLordof hosts.
11 TheLordwill beawesome to them,
For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
(T)Peopleshall worship Him,
Each one from his place,
Indeed all(U)the shores of the nations.
13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north,
(X)Destroy Assyria,
And make Nineveh a desolation,
As dry as the wilderness.
14 The herds shall lie down in her midst,
(Y)Every beast of the nation.
Both the(Z)pelican and the bittern
Shall lodge on the capitalsofherpillars;
Their voice shall sing in the windows;
Desolationshall beat the threshold;
For He will lay bare the(AA)cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city
(AB)That dwelt securely,
(AC)That said in her heart,
“Iam it,andthere isnone besides me.”
How has she become a desolation,
A place for beasts to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
(AD)Shall hiss and(AE)shake his fist.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 2:1Orshameless
- Zephaniah 2:6Underground huts or cisterns, lit.excavations
- Zephaniah 2:7Lit.visit them
- Zephaniah 2:9Lit.Possessed by nettles
- Zephaniah 2:9Orpermanent ruin
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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