Zephaniah 2

Judgment on Judah’s Enemies

1 Gather together, yes, gather,
O ashameless nation,
2 bbefore the decree takes effect
Hebrew gives birth

—before the day passes away dlike chaff
ebefore there comes upon you
the burning anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 fSeek the Lord, gall you humble of the land,
who do his just commands;
Or  who carry out his judgment

iseek righteousness; seek humility;
jperhaps kyou may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the Lord.
4 lFor Gaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to myou inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of nthe Cherethites!
oThe word of the Lord is against you,
pO Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you quntil no inhabitant is left.
6 rAnd you, O seacoast, sshall be pastures,
with meadows
Or caves
for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 uThe seacoast shall become the possession
of vthe remnant of the house of Judah,
won which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God xwill be mindful of them
and yrestore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard zthe taunts of Moab
and aathe revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts abagainst their territory.
9Therefore, acas I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
Moab shall become adlike Sodom,
and the Ammonites aelike Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10This shall be their lot in return affor their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11The Lord will be awesome against them;
agfor he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and ahto him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all aithe lands of the nations.
12 ajYou also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
akand destroy Assyria,
and he alwill make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14 amHerds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;
Hebrew beasts of every nation

aoeven the owl and the hedgehog
The identity of the animals rendered  owl and  hedgehog is uncertain

shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for aqher cedar work will be laid bare.
15This is the exultant city
arthat lived securely,
that said in her heart,
I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
asa lair for wild beasts!
atEveryone who passes by her
hisses and aushakes his fist.
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