Zephaniah 2 :: New International Version (NIV)

Judah Summoned to Repent

Zep 2:1Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation,

Zep 2:2before 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.

Zep 2:3

Zep 2:3Seek 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

Zep 2:4

Zep 2:4Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted.

Zep 2:5

Zep 2:5Woe 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.”

Zep 2:6

Zep 2:6The land by the sea will become pastures having wells for shepherds and pens for flocks.

Zep 2:7

Zep 2:7That 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.[fn]

Moab and Ammon

Zep 2:8

Zep 2:8“I have heard the insults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted my people and made threats against their land.

Zep 2:9

Zep 2:9Therefore, 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.”

Zep 2:10

Zep 2:10This is what they will get in return for their pride, for insulting and mocking the people of the LORD Almighty.

Zep 2:11

Zep 2:11The 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

Zep 2:12

Zep 2:12“You Cushites,[fn] too, will be slain by my sword.”

Assyria

Zep 2:13

Zep 2:13He will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, leaving Nineveh utterly desolate and dry as the desert.

Zep 2:14

Zep 2:14Flocks 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.

Zep 2:15

Zep 2:15This 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.

See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NIV Footnotes

(2:7)

Or will bring back their captives

(2:12)

That is, people from the upper Nile region

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Zephaniah Chapter 2 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras