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<!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 ESV</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> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><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" 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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">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/zephaniah/2.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap"><p class="heading">Judgment on Judah’s Enemies</p><span class="block-indent"><p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Gather together, yes, gather,</span><br /><span class="indent">O shameless nation,</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">before the decree takes effect<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew gives birth">a</a></sup></span></span><br /><span class="indent">—before the day passes away like chaff—</span><br /><span class="ln-group">before there comes upon you</span><br /><span class="indent">the burning anger of the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">before there comes upon you</span><br /><span class="indent">the day of the anger of the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Seek the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>, all you humble of the land,</span><br /><span class="indent">who do his just commands;<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or who carry out his judgment">b</a></sup></span></span><br /><span class="ln-group">seek righteousness; seek humility;</span><br /><span class="indent">perhaps you may be hidden</span><br /><span class="indent">on the day of the anger of the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span>.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">For Gaza shall be deserted,</span><br /><span class="indent">and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,</span><br /><span class="indent">and Ekron shall be uprooted.</span></p> <p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,</span><br /><span class="indent">you nation of the Cherethites!</span><br /><span class="ln-group">The word of the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> is against you,</span><br /><span class="indent">O Canaan, land of the Philistines;</span><br /><span class="indent">and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,</span><br /><span class="indent">with meadows<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or caves">c</a></sup></span> for shepherds</span><br /><span class="indent">and folds for flocks.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">The seacoast shall become the possession</span><br /><span class="indent">of the remnant of the house of Judah,</span><br /><span class="indent">on which they shall graze,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">and in the houses of Ashkelon</span><br /><span class="indent">they shall lie down at evening.</span><br /><span class="ln-group">For the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> their God will be mindful of them</span><br /><span class="indent">and restore their fortunes.</span></p> <p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">“I have heard the taunts of Moab</span><br /><span class="indent">and the revilings of the Ammonites,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">how they have taunted my people</span><br /><span class="indent">and made boasts against their territory.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Therefore, as I live,” declares the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> of hosts,</span><br /><span class="indent">the God of Israel,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">“Moab shall become like Sodom,</span><br /><span class="indent">and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,</span><br /><span class="indent">and a waste forever.</span><br /><span class="ln-group">The remnant of my people shall plunder them,</span><br /><span class="indent">and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">This shall be their lot in return for their pride,</span><br /><span class="indent">because they taunted and boasted</span><br /><span class="indent">against the people of the <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> of hosts.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">The <span class="divine-name">Lord</span> will be awesome against them;</span><br /><span class="indent">for he will famish all the gods of the earth,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">and to him shall bow down,</span><br /><span class="indent">each in its place,</span><br /><span class="indent">all the lands of the nations.</span></p> <p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">You also, O Cushites,</span><br /><span class="indent">shall be slain by my sword.</span></p> <p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">And he will stretch out his hand against the north</span><br /><span class="indent">and destroy Assyria,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">and he will make Nineveh a desolation,</span><br /><span class="indent">a dry waste like the desert.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">Herds shall lie down in her midst,</span><br /><span class="indent">all kinds of beasts;<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew beasts of every nation">d</a></sup></span></span><br /><span class="ln-group">even the owl and the hedgehog<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="The identity of the animals rendered owl and hedgehog is uncertain">e</a></sup></span></span><br /><span class="indent">shall lodge in her capitals;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">a voice shall hoot in the window;</span><br /><span class="indent">devastation will be on the threshold;</span><br /><span class="indent">for her cedar work will be laid bare.</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/zephaniah/2-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">This is the exultant city</span><br /><span class="indent">that lived securely,</span><br /><span class="ln-group">that said in her heart,</span><br /><span class="indent">“I am, and there is no one else.”</span><br /><span class="ln-group">What a desolation she has become,</span><br /><span class="indent">a lair for wild beasts!</span><br /><span class="ln-group">Everyone who passes by her</span><br /><span class="indent">hisses and shakes his fist.</span></p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="footnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">2</span> Hebrew <i>gives birth</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">3</span> Or <i><span class="catch-word">who</span> carry out his judgment</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">6</span> Or <i>caves</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">d</span> <span class="fnverse">14</span> Hebrew <i>beasts of every nation</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">e</span> <span class="fnverse">14</span> The identity of the animals rendered <i class="catch-word">owl</i> and <i class="catch-word">hedgehog</i> is uncertain<br /></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div 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The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 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