Zephaniah 2

Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;

1Come together. Gather now, all of you. You are a nation people look down on.

2Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’s anger come upon you.

2Do this before God's order comes true. That day will rush past like straw in the wind. Do it before the LORD's burning anger reaches you. Do it before the day of his anger comes.

3Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.

3Look for the LORD, all you humble people on earth. You are the ones who do what he says is fair. Try hard to do right. Try hard to stay humble. Maybe you will be kept safe on the day of the LORD's anger.

4For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

4The city of Gaza will be left empty. Ashkelon will be a pile of ruins. The people of Ashdod will be driven out in the middle of the day. Ekron will be pulled up like a weed.

5Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

5Trouble is coming to you who live by the sea. You are the people called Cherethites. The LORD has spoken against you, land of the Philistines. He says, "I will destroy you. No one will be left."

6And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

6The land by the sea will turn into open fields of grass. Shepherds will dig wells there. Sheep will rest inside their pens.

7And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.

7That land will belong to the few people of Judah who are left. They will feed their flocks there. At night they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The LORD their God will take care of them. He will bring their captured people home again.

8I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.

8God says, "I have heard Moab say mean things. I have heard the people of Ammon make fun of my people. They bragged and they threatened the land where my people live."

9Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.

9"So I promise, as surely as I live," says the LORD who leads heaven's armies, the God of Israel. "Moab will end up like Sodom. Ammon will end up like Gomorrah. Those were two cities God destroyed long ago. Their land will fill with stinging weeds and salt pits. It will stay empty forever. The few of my people who are left will take their things and their land."

10This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.

10All this will happen to them because they were proud. They made fun of the people who belong to the LORD, the one who leads heaven's armies.

11The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.

11The LORD will be frightening to them. He will starve all the gods of the earth. Then people in faraway lands across the sea will bow down and worship him. Each one will do this right where they live.

NoteIn 1611, "terrible" meant frightening, or filling people with fear. It did not mean bad or poorly made.

12Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.

12God says, "You people of Ethiopia will also be killed by my sword."

13And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

13God will reach out his hand against the lands to the north. He will destroy Assyria. He will leave the city of Nineveh empty and dry like a desert.

14And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.

14Herds of animals will lie down in the middle of the city. Wild creatures of every kind will live there. Owls will sleep on the tops of her broken pillars. Their calls will sound through the windows. The doorways will sit empty and broken. The cedar wood beams will be left bare.

NoteThe KJV names the cormorant and the bittern. These are wild birds that live in empty places. The Hebrew words most likely name two kinds of owl.

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

15This was the happy city that felt safe and worried about nothing. She said to herself, "I am the one. There is no one like me." Now look at her. She is a ruin, a place where wild animals lie down. Everyone who walks by hisses at her and shakes his fist.

NoteHissing and shaking your hand at a ruined city were ways people showed scorn back then.