Zephaniah 2
Names of God Bible
A Call for Judah to Turn Away from Sin
2 Gather yourselves together!
Yes, gather together, you shameless nation,
2 before the decree is carried out
and the day passes like windblown husks,
before Yahweh’s burning anger comes to you,
before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes to you.
3 Search for Yahweh, all you humble people in the land
who carry out his justice.
Search for what is right.
Search for humility.
Maybe you will find shelter on the day of Yahweh’s anger.
The Lord Will Judge His People’s Enemies
4 Gaza will be deserted,
and Ashkelon will be destroyed.
Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
and Ekron will be torn out by the roots.
5 How horrible it will be for those who live on the seacoast,
for the nation from Crete.
The word of Yahweh is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you so that no one will be living there.”
6 The seacoast will become pastureland
with meadows for shepherds
and fenced-off places for sheep.
7 The coast will belong to the faithful few from the nation of Judah.
There they will graze their sheep.
In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon.
Yahweh their Elohim will take care of them
and will restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the insults from Moab and the mockery from Ammon.
They insulted my people and bragged about their territory.
9 Therefore, I solemnly swear, as I live,”
declares Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel,
“Moab will become like Sodom, and Ammon will become like Gomorrah:
a place of weeds, salt pits, and ruins forever.
The faithful few of my people will loot them,
and those who are left in my nation will take possession of them.”
10 This is what they will get for their sinful pride,
because they insulted the people who belong to Yahweh Tsebaoth
and made themselves greater than them.
11 Yahweh will terrify them,
because he will make all the gods of the earth waste away.
So every person from every coast and nation will bow to him.
12 “Even you, the people from Sudan,
you will also die by my sword.”
13 Yahweh will use his power against the north and destroy Assyria.
He will turn Nineveh into a deserted ruin,
a dried up wasteland like the desert.
14 Flocks will lie down in it along with animals of every kind.
Even pelicans and herons will nest on top of its columns.
Listen! A bird will sing in a window.
The doorway will be in ruins,
because Yahweh will expose the cedar beams.
15 Is this the arrogant city?
Is this the city that used to live securely,
the city that used to think to itself,
“I’m the only one, and no one else exists but me”?
What a wasteland it is now, a resting place for wild animals!
All who pass by it will hiss and make an obscene gesture.
Zephaniah 2
English Standard Version
Judgment on Judah's Enemies
2 Gather together, yes, gather,
O (A)shameless nation,
2 (B)before the decree takes effect[a]
—before the day passes away (C)like chaff—
(D)before there comes upon you
the burning anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 (E)Seek the Lord, (F)all you humble of the land,
who do his just commands;[b]
(G)seek righteousness; seek humility;
(H)perhaps (I)you may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the Lord.
4 (J)For 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 (K)you inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of (L)the Cherethites!
(M)The word of the Lord is against you,
(N)O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you (O)until no inhabitant is left.
6 (P)And you, O seacoast, (Q)shall be pastures,
with meadows[c] for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 (R)The seacoast shall become the possession
of (S)the remnant of the house of Judah,
(T)on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God (U)will be mindful of them
and (V)restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard (W)the taunts of Moab
and (X)the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts (Y)against their territory.
9 Therefore, (Z)as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become (AA)like Sodom,
and the Ammonites (AB)like 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.”
10 This shall be their lot in return (AC)for their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them;
(AD)for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and (AE)to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all (AF)the lands of the nations.
12 (AG)You also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
(AH)and destroy Assyria,
and he (AI)will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14 (AJ)Herds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;[d]
(AK)even the owl and the hedgehog[e]
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for (AL)her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city
(AM)that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
(AN)a lair for wild beasts!
(AO)Everyone who passes by her
hisses and (AP)shakes his fist.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 2:2 Hebrew gives birth
- Zephaniah 2:3 Or who carry out his judgment
- Zephaniah 2:6 Or caves
- Zephaniah 2:14 Hebrew beasts of every nation
- Zephaniah 2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl and hedgehog is uncertain
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
