Zephaniah 2:1-3:8 NIV

Zephaniah 2:1-3:8

Judah and Jerusalem Judged Along With the Nations

Judah Summoned to Repent

Gather together, gather yourselves together,

you shameful nation,

before the decree takes effect

and that day passes like windblown chaff,

before the Lord’s fierce anger

comes upon you,

before the day of the Lord’s wrath

comes upon you.

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,

you who do what he commands.

Seek righteousness, seek humility;

perhaps you will be sheltered

on the day of the Lord’s anger.

Philistia

Gaza will be abandoned

and Ashkelon left in ruins.

At midday Ashdod will be emptied

and Ekron uprooted.

Woe to you who live by the sea,

you Kerethite people;

the word of the Lord is against you,

Canaan, land of the Philistines.

He says, “I will destroy you,

and none will be left.”

The land by the sea will become pastures

having wells for shepherds

and pens for flocks.

That land will belong

to the remnant of the people of Judah;

there they will find pasture.

In the evening they will lie down

in the houses of Ashkelon.

The Lord their God will care for them;

he will restore their fortunes.2:7 Or will bring back their captives

Moab and Ammon

“I have heard the insults of Moab

and the taunts of the Ammonites,

who insulted my people

and made threats against their land.

Therefore, as surely as I live,”

declares the Lord Almighty,

the God of Israel,

“surely Moab will become like Sodom,

the Ammonites like Gomorrah—

a place of weeds and salt pits,

a wasteland forever.

The remnant of my people will plunder them;

the survivors of my nation will inherit their land.”

This is what they will get in return for their pride,

for insulting and mocking

the people of the Lord Almighty.

The Lord will be awesome to them

when he destroys all the gods of the earth.

Distant nations will bow down to him,

all of them in their own lands.

Cush

“You Cushites,2:12 That is, people from the upper Nile region too,

will be slain by my sword.”

Assyria

He will stretch out his hand against the north

and destroy Assyria,

leaving Nineveh utterly desolate

and dry as the desert.

Flocks and herds will lie down there,

creatures of every kind.

The desert owl and the screech owl

will roost on her columns.

Their hooting will echo through the windows,

rubble will fill the doorways,

the beams of cedar will be exposed.

This is the city of revelry

that lived in safety.

She said to herself,

“I am the one! And there is none besides me.”

What a ruin she has become,

a lair for wild beasts!

All who pass by her scoff

and shake their fists.

Jerusalem

Woe to the city of oppressors,

rebellious and defiled!

She obeys no one,

she accepts no correction.

She does not trust in the Lord,

she does not draw near to her God.

Her officials within her

are roaring lions;

her rulers are evening wolves,

who leave nothing for the morning.

Her prophets are unprincipled;

they are treacherous people.

Her priests profane the sanctuary

and do violence to the law.

The Lord within her is righteous;

he does no wrong.

Morning by morning he dispenses his justice,

and every new day he does not fail,

yet the unrighteous know no shame.

Jerusalem Remains Unrepentant

“I have destroyed nations;

their strongholds are demolished.

I have left their streets deserted,

with no one passing through.

Their cities are laid waste;

they are deserted and empty.

Of Jerusalem I thought,

‘Surely you will fear me

and accept correction!’

Then her place of refuge3:7 Or her sanctuary would not be destroyed,

nor all my punishments come upon3:7 Or all those I appointed over her.

But they were still eager

to act corruptly in all they did.

Therefore wait for me,”

declares the Lord,

“for the day I will stand up to testify.3:8 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew will rise up to plunder

I have decided to assemble the nations,

to gather the kingdoms

and to pour out my wrath on them—

all my fierce anger.

The whole world will be consumed

by the fire of my jealous anger.

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