Zephaniah 2

A Call to Repentance

1 Gather*2 Chr. 20:4; Joel 1:14; 2:16 yourselves together, yes, gather together,

O undesirable nation,

2 Before the decree is issued,

Or the day passes like chaff,

Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you,

Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!

3 *Ps. 105:4; Amos 5:6Seek the Lord, *Ps. 76:9all you meek of the earth,

Who have upheld His justice.

Seek righteousness, seek humility.

*Joel 2:14; Amos 5:14, 15It may be that you will be hidden

In the day of the Lord’s anger.

Judgment on Nations

4 For *Jer. 47:1, 5; Amos 1:7, 8; Zech. 9:5Gaza shall be forsaken,

And Ashkelon desolate;

They shall drive out Ashdod *Jer. 6:4at noonday,

And Ekron shall be uprooted.

5 Woe to the inhabitants of *Ezek. 25:15–17the seacoast,

The nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the Lordis against you,

O *Josh. 13:3Canaan, land of the Philistines:

"I will destroy you;

So there shall be no inhabitant."

6 The seacoast shall be pastures,

With shelters for shepherds *Is. 17:2and folds for flocks.

7 The coast shall be for *(Mic. 5:7, 8)the remnant of the house of Judah;

They shall feed their flocks there;

In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.

For the Lord their God will *Luke 1:68intervene for them,

And *Jer. 29:14return their captives.

8 "I*Jer. 48:27; Amos 2:1–3 have heard the reproach of Moab,

And *Ezek. 25:3; Amos 1:13the insults of the people of Ammon,

With which they have reproached My people,

And *Jer. 49:1made arrogant threats against their borders.

9 Therefore, as I live,"

Says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,

"Surely *Is. 15:1–9; Jer. 48:1–47Moab shall be like Sodom,

And *Amos 1:13the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—

*Deut. 29:23Overrun with weeds and saltpits,

And a perpetual desolation.

The residue of My people shall plunder them,

And the remnant of My people shall possess them."

10 This they shall have *Is. 16:6for their pride,

Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats

Against the people of the Lord of hosts.

11 The Lordwillbe awesome to them,

For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;

*Mal. 1:11People shall worship Him,

Each one from his place,

Indeed all *Gen. 10:5the shores of the nations.

12 "You*Is. 18:1–7; Ezek. 30:4, 5 Ethiopians also,

You shall be slain by *Ps. 17:13My sword."

13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north,

*Is. 10:5–27; 14:24–27; Mic. 5:5, 6Destroy Assyria,

And make Nineveh a desolation,

As dry as the wilderness.

14 The herds shall lie down in her midst,

*Is. 13:21Every beast of the nation.

Both the *Is. 14:23; 34:11pelican and the bittern

Shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars;

Their voice shall sing in the windows;

Desolation shallbe at the threshold;

For He will lay bare the *Jer. 22:14cedar work.

15 This is the rejoicing city

*Is. 47:8That dwelt securely,

*Rev. 18:7That said in her heart,

"I amit, and thereis none besides me."

How has she become a desolation,

A place for beasts to lie down!

Everyone who passes by her

*Lam. 2:15Shall hiss and *Nah. 3:19shake his fist.