Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together,
O nation not desired;
2 before the decree bring forth,
before the day pass as the chaff,
before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you,
before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.
3 Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth,
which have wrought his judgment;
seek righteousness, seek meekness:
it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken,
and Ashkelon a desolation:
they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day,
and Ekron shall be rooted up.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast,
the nation of the Cherethites!
the word of the Lord is against you;
O Canaan, the land of the Philistines,
I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah;
they shall feed thereupon:
in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening:
for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.8 I have heard the reproach of Moab,
and the revilings of the children of Ammon,
whereby they have reproached my people,
and magnified themselves against their border.
9 Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
Surely Moab shall be as Sodom,
and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah,
even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation:
the residue of my people shall spoil them,
and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
10 This shall they have for their pride,
because they have reproached and magnified themselves
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be terrible unto them:
for he will famish all the gods of the earth;
and men shall worship him, every one from his place,
even all the isles of the heathen.
12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north,
and destroy Assyria;
and will make Nineveh a desolation,
and dry like a wilderness.
14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her,
all the beasts of the nations:
both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it;
their voice shall sing in the windows;
desolation shall be in the thresholds:
for he shall uncover the cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly,
that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me:
how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in!
every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.
Zephaniah 2
Keep not thou silence, O God:
hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult:
and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people,
and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation;
that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent:
they are confederate against thee:
6 the tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites;
of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;
the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assur also is joined with them:
they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.
9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites;
as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:
10 which perished at Endor:
they became as dung for the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb:
yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:
12 who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
13 O my God, make them like a wheel;
as the stubble before the wind.
14 As the fire burneth a wood,
and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
15 so persecute them with thy tempest,
and make them afraid with thy storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame;
that they may seek thy name, O Lord.
17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever;
yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
18 that men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH,
art the most high over all the earth.