Zephaniah 2

1 Gather yourselves, gather together, O shameful nation,

Assemble, be gathered together, O people not worthy to be loved.

2 before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the Day of the LORD’s anger comes upon you.

Until the decree settles accounts, the day like dust is passing away, before which the wrath of the fury of the Lord may overcome you, before which the day of the anger of the Lord may overcome you.

3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.

Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth; you who have been working are his judgment. Seek the just, seek the meek. So then, in some way, you might be hidden in the day of the fury of the Lord.

4 For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.

For Gaza will be destroyed, and Ashkelon will be in the desert; they will expel Ashdod at midday, and Ekron will be eradicated.

5 Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you, and no one will be left.”

Woe to you who inhabit the coast of the sea, you people of perdition. The word of the Lord is over you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines, and I will disperse you, so that not one inhabitant will be left.

6 So the seacoast will become a land of pastures, with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep.

And the coastline of the sea will be a resting place for shepherds and a fence line for cattle.

7 The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for the LORD their God will attend to them and restore their captives.

And it will be the line of him who will remain from the house of Judah. There they will pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will rest towards evening. For the Lord their God will visit them, and he will turn away their captivity.

8 “I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders.

I have heard about the disgrace of Moab and the blasphemies of the sons of Ammon, by which they have defamed my people and have been magnified beyond their borders.

9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah— a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”

Because of this, as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab will be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah, like the dryness of thorns, and piles of salt, and a desert, all the way to eternity. The remnant of my people will despoil them, and the residue of my nation will possess them.

10 This they shall have in return for their pride, for taunting and mocking the people of the LORD of Hosts.

This will come upon them for their arrogance, because they have blasphemed and have been magnified over the people of the Lord of hosts.

11 The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then the nations of every shore will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place.

The Lord will be a horror over them, and he will reduce all the gods of the earth. And they will adore him, each man from his own place, all the islands of the Gentiles.

12 “You too, O Cushites, will be slain by My sword.”

Even so, you Ethiopians, you will be executed by my sword.

13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert.

And he will extend his hand over the North, and he will destroy Assur. And he will set the Beautiful in the wilderness, and in an impassable place, and like a desert.

14 Herds will lie down in her midst, creatures of every kind. Both the desert owl and screech owl will roost atop her pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but desolation will lie on the threshold, for He will expose the beams of cedar.

And flocks will lie down in its midst, all the beasts of the Gentiles. And the pelican and the hedgehog will stay at its threshold; the voice of the singing bird will be at the window, with the crow above its threshold, for I will diminish her strength.

15 This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

This is the glorious city, dwelling in trust, which said in her heart, “I am and there is no one other than me.” How has she become a lair for beasts in the desert? All who pass through her will hiss and wag their hand.