Zephaniah 2
1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no shame;
2 before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass as the chaff, before the
fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah's anger come
upon you.
3 Seek ye Jehovah, all ye meek of the earth, that have kept his ordinances; seek
righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of Jehovah's
anger.
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation; they shall drive out
Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The
word of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will
destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
6 And the sea-coast shall be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for
flocks.
7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed
[their flocks] thereupon; in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the
evening; for Jehovah their God will visit them, and bring back their captivity.
8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon,
wherewith they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their
border.
9 Therefore as I live, saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab
shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of
nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people
shall make a prey of them, and the remnant of my nation shall inherit them.
10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and
magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah of hosts.
11 Jehovah 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 nations.
12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and
will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.
14 And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations:
both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the capitals thereof; [their]
voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he
hath laid bare the cedar-work.
15 This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am,
and there is none besides 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.