Zephaniah2
Judgment of Judah’s Enemies
1Gather yourselves together! Now gather together,O nation having no shame!2Before the birth of the decree,the day flies away like chaff;before the fierce anger of Yahweh overtakes you;before the day of the anger of Yahweh overtakes you.3Seek Yahweh, all you afflicted of the landwho have fulfilled his law;seek righteousness;seek humility.Perhaps you will be concealedon the day of the anger of Yahweh.4For Gaza will be abandoned,and Ashkelon as a desolation.As for Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away,and Ekron shall be uprooted.5Woe to you, inhabitants of the region of the sea,people of the Kerethites!The word of Yahweh is against you,O Canaan, land of the Philistines.I will destroy you ⸤until there is no inhabitant⸥. 6And you, O region of the sea, shall becomepastures and meadows for shepherdsand sheep pens for the flocks.7And it shall become a regionfor the remnant of the house of Judah;upon them they shall graze,and in the houses of Ashkelonthey shall lie down in the evening.For Yahweh their God shall be mindful of them,and he will restore their fortunes.8I have heard the reproaches of Moaband the scorning of the ⸤Ammonites⸥, with which they have taunted my nationand made boasts against their territory.9“Therefore, as I live”—a declaration of Yahweh of hosts,the God of Israel—“Moab shall be as Sodom,and the ⸤Ammonites⸥ like Gomorrah,a place of weeds and salt pitsand a desolation forever.The remnant of my people shall plunder them,and the remainder of my nation shall possess them.”10This shall be for them in place of their pridebecause they mocked and boastedagainst the people of Yahweh of hosts.11Yahweh will be awesome against them,for he will destroy all the gods of the earthand all the lands of the nations;each in its place will bow down to him.12You also, O Cushites,they shall be killed by my sword.13And he will stretch out his hand against the north,and he will destroy Assyriaand will make Nineveh a desolation,a dry wasteland like the desert.14Herds shall lie down in her midst,every wild animal of a nation;even the desert owl and the screech owlshall lodge on her capitals.A voice shall hoot in the window;rubble on the threshold;for the cedar is laid bare.15This is the city of rejoicingthat lived securely;the one saying in her heart,“⸤I am, and there is none besides me⸥.” How she has become a desolation,a lair for wild animals!Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.Logos Bible Software