Zephaniah Chapter 2

A Call for Repentance

¹ Get together,

      go ahead, assemble, shameless nation,

                  ²before the decree takes effect—

            before that day of repentance passes by like chaff—

            before Yahveh’s burning anger comes down on you.

³ Look to him,

      you humble in the land

      who’ve followed his commands.

Aspire to goodness and humility;

      maybe Yahveh will protect you when his anger comes.

Zeph 2:1-3

Judgment Against Philistia

⁴ Gaza will be abandoned;

            Ashkelon, desolate.

      Ashdod will be driven out at midday;

            Ekron, uprooted.

         ⁵Misfortune awaits people along the coast,

            nation of Cherethites!

      Yahveh’s message speaks against you,   

            Canaan, land of the Philistines;

      I’ll destroy you till there’s no one left.

⁶ The seacoast will be open range

            with camps for shepherds and folds for flocks.

         ⁷It will serve as pasture

            for the remnant from Judah.

      In the evening they’ll lie down in the houses in Ashkelon,

            because Yahveh will take care of them

            and restore their fortune.

Zeph 2:4-7

Judgment Against Moab and Ammon

⁸ “I’ve heard Moab taunting my people and Ammon insulting them;

      they’ve become arrogant about my people’s territory.

⁹ “So, as I live,” Yahveh of Hosts, the God of Israel says,

      “Moab will be like Sodom,

      the Ammonites like Gomorrah—

      a place full of nettles and salt pits,

      a permanent wasteland.

The remnant of my people will plunder them;

      the remainder of my nation will take their land.”

Zeph 2:8-9

¹⁰ That’s what they’ll get for their arrogance because they’ve taunted the people of Yahveh of Hosts. ¹¹ He’ll terrify them and starve all the gods everywhere. Nations the world over will bow to him, each in their own land.

Judgment Against Nubia and Assyria

¹² “I’ll slay the Nubians with my sword,” says Yahveh. 

¹³ “I’ll reach out to the north to destroy Assyria

      and make Nineveh a ruins, arid like a desert.

¹⁴ Herds of wild animals will lie down in it;

      buzzards and desert owls will roost on its columns.

      Birds will chirp in its vacant windows;

      rubble will block its doorways;

      its cedar paneling will be exposed to the elements—

¹⁵ the jubilant city that lived securely

      and said to itself, ‘Nobody compares with me.’

What a wasteland it will become,

      a haven for wild animals!

Anyone that goes by will gasp

      and gesture in contempt.”

Zeph 2:10-15