Zephaniah 2

1 Assemble yourselves together, be gathered together, O nation not worthy to be loved:

Be you gathered and closely joined together, O unchastened nation;

2 Before the decree bring forth the day as dust passing away, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s indignation come upon you.

before you become as the flower that passes away, before the anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the wrath of the Lord come upon you.

3 Seek the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, you that have wrought his judgment: seek the just, seek the meek: if by any means you may be hid in the day of the Lord’s indignation.

Seek you the Lord, all you meek of the earth; do judgement, and seek justice, and answer accordingly; that you may be hid in the day of the wrath of the Lord.

4 For Gaza shall be destroyed, and Ascalon shall be a desert, they shall cast out Azotus at noonday, and Accaron shall be rooted up.

For Gaza shall be utterly spoiled, and Ascalon shall be destroyed; and Azotus shall be cast forth at noon-day, and Accaron shall be rooted up.

5 Woe to you that inhabit the sea coast, O nation of reprobates: the word of the Lord upon you, O Chanaan, the land of the Philistines, and I will destroy thee, so that there shall not be an inhabitant.

Woe to them that dwell on the border of the sea, neighbours of the Cretans! the word of the Lord is against you, O Chanaan, land of the Philistines, and I will destroy you out of [your] dwelling-place.

6 And the sea coast shall be the resting place of shepherds, and folds for cattle:

And Crete shall be a pasture of flocks, and a fold of sheep.

7 And it shall be the portion of him that shall remain of the house of Juda, there they shall feed: in the houses of Ascalon they shall rest in the evening: because the Lord their God will visit them, and bring back their captivity.

And the sea cost shall be for the remnant of the house of Juda; they shall pasture upon them in the houses of Ascalon; they shall rest in the evening because of the children of Juda; for the Lord their God has visited them, and he will turn away their captivity.

8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the blasphemies of the children of Ammon, with which they reproached my people, and have magnified themselves upon their borders.

I have heard the revilings of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, wherewith they have reviled my people, and magnified themselves against my coasts.

9 Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrha, the dryness of thorns, and heaps of salt, and a desert even for ever: the remnant of my people shall make a spoil of them, and the residue of my nation shall possess them.

Therefore, [as] I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall be as Sodoma, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrha; and Damascus [shall be] left as a heap of the threshing floor, and desolate for ever: and the remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the remnant of my nations shall inherit them.

10 This shall befall them for their pride: because they have blasphemed, and have been magnified against the people of the Lord of hosts.

This is their punishment in return for their haughtiness, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the Lord Almighty.

11 The Lord shall be terrible upon them, and shall consume all the gods of the earth: and they shall adore him every man from his own place, all the islands of the Gentiles.

The Lord shall appear against them, and shall utterly destroy all the gods of the nations of the earth; and they shall worship him every one from his place, [even] all the islands of the nations.

12 You Ethiopians, also shall be slain with my sword.

You Ethiopians also are the slain of my sword.

13 And he will stretch out his hand upon the north, and will destroy Assyria: and he will make the beautiful city a wilderness, and as a place not passable, and as a desert.

And he shall stretch forth his hand against the north and destroy the Assyrian, and make Nineve a dry wilderness, [even] as a desert.

14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst thereof, all the beasts of the nations: and the bittern and the urchin shall lodge in the threshold thereof: the voice of the singing bird in the window, the raven on the upper post, for I will consume her strength.

And flocks, and all the wild beasts of the land, and chameleons shall feed in the midst thereof: and hedgehogs shall lodge in the ceilings thereof; and wild beasts shall cry in the breaches thereof, and ravens in her porches, whereas her loftiness was [as] as cedar.

15 This is the glorious city that dwelt in security: that said in her heart: I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desert, a place for beasts to lie down in? every one that passeth by her, shall hiss, and wag his hand.