Zephaniah 2
1 Gather together, gather yourselves, O shameless nation,
2 before the decree is born—the day passes like chaff—before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the day of the LORD’s anger comes upon you.
3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do what he commands. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
4 For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon will become a ruin; Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines: I will destroy you until not one inhabitant remains.
6 The seacoast will become pastures, with wells for shepherds and sheepfolds.
7 The seacoast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will pasture their flocks. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon, for the LORD their God will care for them and restore their fortunes.
8 I have heard the insults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted my people and made themselves great against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live—declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel—Moab will become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah: a field of nettles, a salt pit, and a lasting desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and those left of my nation will inherit their land.
10 This will happen to them because of their pride, for they insulted the people of the LORD of Hosts and made themselves great against them.
11 The LORD will be fearsome against them, for he will make all the gods of the earth waste away. Everyone will bow down to him from their own place, all the islands of the nations.
12 You Cushites too will be slain by my sword.
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh a ruin, dry as the desert.
14 Flocks will lie down in its midst, animals of every kind. The pelican and the hedgehog will spend the night among its capitals. A voice will sing in the window; ruin will lie on the threshold, for the cedarwork has been stripped bare.
15 This is the joyful city that lived in security and said in its heart, “I alone, and no one else.” How it has become a ruin, a lair for animals! Everyone who passes by it whistles and shakes a hand.
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