Zephaniah 2:1-9 ▼

1 Collect yourselves and gather together, O nation without shame,

2 before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass away as chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah's anger come upon you.

3 Seek Jehovah, all ye meek of the land, who have performed his ordinance; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of Jehovah's anger.

4 For Gazah shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon shall be 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, land of the Philistines: I will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant;

6 and the sea-coast shall be cave-dwellings for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for Jehovah their God shall visit them, and turn again 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, Moab shall certainly be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt-pits, and a perpetual desolation; the remnant of my people shall spoil them, and the residue of my nation shall possess them.