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Zephaniah 2
New King James Version

### A Call to Repentance

2 Gather(A) yourselves together, yes, gather together,
O [a]undesirable nation,
2 Before the decree is issued,
Or the day passes like chaff,
Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you,
Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you!
3 (B)Seek the Lord, (C)all you meek of the earth,
Who have upheld His justice.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
(D)It may be that you will be hidden
In the day of the Lord’s anger.

### Judgment on Nations

4 For (E)Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon desolate;
They shall drive out Ashdod (F)at noonday,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of (G)the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O (H)Canaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy you;
So there shall be no inhabitant.”

6 The seacoast shall be pastures,
With [b]shelters for shepherds (I)and folds for flocks.
7 The coast shall be for (J)the remnant of the house of Judah;
They shall feed their flocks there;
In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will (K)intervene[c] for them,
And (L)return their captives.

8 “I(M) have heard the reproach of Moab,
And (N)the insults of the people of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people,
And (O)made arrogant threats against their borders.
9 Therefore, as I live,”
Says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
“Surely (P)Moab shall be like Sodom,
And (Q)the people of Ammon like Gomorrah—
(R)Overrun[d] with weeds and saltpits,
And a [e]perpetual desolation.
The residue of My people shall plunder them,
And the remnant of My people shall possess them.”

10 This they shall have (S)for their pride,
Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats
Against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome to them,
For He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth;
(T)People shall worship Him,
Each one from his place,
Indeed all (U)the shores of the nations.

12 “You(V) Ethiopians also,
You shall be slain by (W)My sword.”

13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north,
(X)Destroy Assyria,
And make Nineveh a desolation,
As dry as the wilderness.
14 The herds shall lie down in her midst,
(Y)Every beast of the nation.
Both the (Z)pelican and the bittern
Shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars;
Their voice shall sing in the windows;
Desolation shall be at the threshold;
For He will lay bare the (AA)cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city
(AB)That dwelt securely,
(AC)That said in her heart,
“I am it, and there is none besides me.”
How has she become a desolation,
A place for beasts to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
(AD)Shall hiss and (AE)shake his fist.

#### Footnotes

1. Zephaniah 2:1 Or shameless
2. Zephaniah 2:6 Underground huts or cisterns, lit. excavations
3. Zephaniah 2:7 Lit. visit them
4. Zephaniah 2:9 Lit. Possessed by nettles
5. Zephaniah 2:9 Or permanent ruin

#### Cross references

1. Zephaniah 2:1 : 2 Chr. 20:4; Joel 1:14; 2:16
2. Zephaniah 2:3 : Ps. 105:4; Amos 5:6
3. Zephaniah 2:3 : Ps. 76:9
4. Zephaniah 2:3 : Joel 2:14; Amos 5:14, 15
5. Zephaniah 2:4 : Jer. 47:1, 5; Amos 1:7, 8; Zech. 9:5
6. Zephaniah 2:4 : Jer. 6:4
7. Zephaniah 2:5 : Ezek. 25:15–17
8. Zephaniah 2:5 : Josh. 13:3
9. Zephaniah 2:6 : Is. 17:2
10. Zephaniah 2:7 : [Mic. 5:7, 8]
11. Zephaniah 2:7 : Luke 1:68
12. Zephaniah 2:7 : Jer. 29:14
13. Zephaniah 2:8 : Jer. 48:27; Amos 2:1–3
14. Zephaniah 2:8 : Ezek. 25:3; Amos 1:13
15. Zephaniah 2:8 : Jer. 49:1
16. Zephaniah 2:9 : Is. 15:1–9; Jer. 48:1–47
17. Zephaniah 2:9 : Amos 1:13
18. Zephaniah 2:9 : Deut. 29:23
19. Zephaniah 2:10 : Is. 16:6
20. Zephaniah 2:11 : Mal. 1:11
21. Zephaniah 2:11 : Gen. 10:5
22. Zephaniah 2:12 : Is. 18:1–7; Ezek. 30:4, 5
23. Zephaniah 2:12 : Ps. 17:13
24. Zephaniah 2:13 : Is. 10:5–27; 14:24–27; Mic. 5:5, 6
25. Zephaniah 2:14 : Is. 13:21
26. Zephaniah 2:14 : Is. 14:23; 34:11
27. Zephaniah 2:14 : Jer. 22:14
28. Zephaniah 2:15 : Is. 47:8
29. Zephaniah 2:15 : Rev. 18:7
30. Zephaniah 2:15 : Lam. 2:15
31. Zephaniah 2:15 : Nah. 3:19

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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