Zephaniah 2 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Before the decree takes effect [and the time for repentance is lost]—

The day passes like the chaff [whirled by the wind]—

Before the burning and fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you,

Before the day of the wrath of the LORD comes upon you.

Seek the LORD [search diligently for Him and regard Him as the foremost necessity of your life],

All you humble of the land

Who have practiced His ordinances and have kept His commandments;

Seek righteousness, seek humility [regard them as vital].

Perhaps you will be hidden [and pardoned and rescued]

In the day of the LORD’S anger.

For [this is the fate of the Philistines:] Gaza will be abandoned

And Ashkelon a desolation;

[The people of] Ashdod will be driven out at noon [in broad daylight]

And Ekron will be uprooted and destroyed.

Woe (judgment is coming) to the inhabitants of the seacoast,

The nation of the Cherethites [in Philistia]!

The word of the LORD is against you,

O Canaan, land of the Philistines;

I will destroy you

So that no inhabitant will be left.

So the [depopulated] seacoast shall be pastures,

With [deserted] meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks.

The [fn]seacoast will belong

To the remnant of the house of Judah;

They will pasture [their flocks] on it.

In the [deserted] houses of Ashkelon [in Philistia] they [of Judah] will lie down and rest in the evening,

For the LORD their God will care for them;

And restore their fortune [permitting them to occupy the land].

“I have heard the taunting of Moab

And the revilings of the sons of Ammon,

With which they have taunted My people

And become arrogant against their territory [by violating Israel’s boundary and trying to seize its land].

“Therefore, as I live,” declares the LORD of hosts,

The God of Israel,

“[fn]Moab will in fact become like Sodom

And the [fn]sons of Ammon like Gomorrah,

A land possessed by nettles and salt pits,

And a perpetual desolation.

The remnant of My people will plunder them

And what is left of My nation will inherit them [as their own].”

This they shall have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the LORD of hosts.

“You also, O Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”

And the LORD will stretch out His hand against the north

And destroy Assyria,

And He will make Nineveh a desolation [a wasteland],

Parched as the desert.

Flocks will lie down in her midst,

All the animals which range in herds;

Both the pelican and the short-eared owl

Will roost on the top of Nineveh’s pillars.

Birds will sing in the window,

Desolation will be on the threshold;

For He has uncovered the cedar paneling.

This is the joyous city

Which dwells carelessly [feeling so secure],

Who says in her heart,

“I am, and there is no one besides me.”

What a desolation she has become,

A lair for [wild] animals!

Everyone who passes by her will hiss [in scorn]

And wave his hand in contempt.