CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Zephaniah 2 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/zephaniah/2.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/zephaniah/2-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NIV</a> > Zephaniah 2</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../zephaniah/1.htm" title="Zephaniah 1">◄</a> Zephaniah 2 <a href="../zephaniah/3.htm" title="Zephaniah 3">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/zephaniah/2.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">Judah and Jerusalem Judged Along With the Nations</p><div class="minorsection"><p class="minorsectionhead">Judah Summoned to Repent</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Gather together, gather yourselves together,</p><p class="line2">you shameful nation,</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>before the decree takes effect</p><p class="line2">and that day passes like windblown chaff,</p><p class="line1">before the <span class="name">Lord</span>’s fierce anger</p><p class="line2">comes upon you,</p><p class="line1">before the day of the <span class="name">Lord</span>’s wrath</p><p class="line2">comes upon you.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Seek the <span class="name">Lord</span>, all you humble of the land,</p><p class="line2">you who do what he commands.</p><p class="line1">Seek righteousness, seek humility;</p><p class="line2">perhaps you will be sheltered</p><p class="line2">on the day of the <span class="name">Lord</span>’s anger.</p></div></div> <div class="minorsection"><p class="minorsectionhead">Philistia</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Gaza will be abandoned</p><p class="line2">and Ashkelon left in ruins.</p><p class="line1">At midday Ashdod will be emptied</p><p class="line2">and Ekron uprooted.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Woe to you who live by the sea,</p><p class="line2">you Kerethite people;</p><p class="line1">the word of the <span class="name">Lord</span> is against you,</p><p class="line2">Canaan, land of the Philistines.</p><p class="line1">He says, “I will destroy you,</p><p class="line2">and none will be left.”</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>The land by the sea will become pastures</p><p class="line2">having wells for shepherds</p><p class="line2">and pens for flocks.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>That land will belong</p><p class="line2">to the remnant of the people of Judah;</p><p class="line2">there they will find pasture.</p><p class="line1">In the evening they will lie down</p><p class="line2">in the houses of Ashkelon.</p><p class="line1">The <span class="name">Lord</span> their God will care for them;</p><p class="line2">he will restore their fortunes. <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or will bring back their captives">a</a></sup></span> </p></div></div> <div class="minorsection"><p class="minorsectionhead">Moab and Ammon</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>“I have heard the insults of Moab</p><p class="line2">and the taunts of the Ammonites,</p><p class="line1">who insulted my people</p><p class="line2">and made threats against their land.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Therefore, as surely as I live,”</p><p class="line2">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span> Almighty,</p><p class="line2">the God of Israel,</p><p class="line1">“surely Moab will become like Sodom,</p><p class="line2">the Ammonites like Gomorrah—</p><p class="line1">a place of weeds and salt pits,</p><p class="line2">a wasteland forever.</p><p class="line1">The remnant of my people will plunder them;</p><p class="line2">the survivors of my nation will inherit their land.”</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>This is what they will get in return for their pride,</p><p class="line2">for insulting and mocking</p><p class="line2">the people of the <span class="name">Lord</span> Almighty.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>The <span class="name">Lord</span> will be awesome to them</p><p class="line2">when he destroys all the gods of the earth.</p><p class="line1">Distant nations will bow down to him,</p><p class="line2">all of them in their own lands.</p></div></div> <div class="minorsection"><p class="minorsectionhead">Cush</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>“You Cushites, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="That is, people from the upper Nile region">b</a></sup></span> too,</p><p class="line2">will be slain by my sword.”</p></div></div> <div class="minorsection"><p class="minorsectionhead">Assyria</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>He will stretch out his hand against the north</p><p class="line2">and destroy Assyria,</p><p class="line1">leaving Nineveh utterly desolate</p><p class="line2">and dry as the desert.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Flocks and herds will lie down there,</p><p class="line2">creatures of every kind.</p><p class="line1">The desert owl and the screech owl</p><p class="line2">will roost on her columns.</p><p class="line1">Their hooting will echo through the windows,</p><p class="line2">rubble will fill the doorways,</p><p class="line2">the beams of cedar will be exposed.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>This is the city of revelry</p><p class="line2">that lived in safety.</p><p class="line1">She said to herself,</p><p class="line2">“I am the one! And there is none besides me.”</p><p class="line1">What a ruin she has become,</p><p class="line2">a lair for wild beasts!</p><p class="line1">All who pass by her scoff</p><p class="line2">and shake their fists.</p></div></div><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">7</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>will bring back their captives</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">12</span> <span class="footnotebot">That is, people from the upper Nile region</span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.</p><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../zephaniah/1.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Zephaniah 1"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Zephaniah 1" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../zephaniah/3.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Zephaniah 3"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Zephaniah 3" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/zephaniah/2-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenubib2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchapnoad.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>