Zephaniah 2:4-14

4 For ¹Gaza will be abandoned And Ashkelon a desolation; ²Ashdod will be driven out at noon And ³Ekron will be uprooted.

5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, The nation of the ⁴Cherethites! The word of the LORD is ⁵against you, O ⁶Canaan, land of the Philistines; And I will ⁷destroy you So that there will be ⁸no inhabitant.

6 So the seacoast will be ⁹pastures, With caves for shepherds and folds for flocks.

7 And the coast will be For the ¹⁰remnant of the house of Judah, They will ¹¹pasture on it. In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening; For the LORD their God will ¹²care for them And ¹³restore their fortune.

8 "I have heard the ¹⁴taunting of Moab And the ¹⁵revilings of the sons of Ammon, With which they have taunted My people And ¹⁶become arrogant against their territory.

9 "Therefore, as I live," declares the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, "Surely ¹⁷Moab will be like ¹⁸Sodom And the sons of ¹⁹Ammon like ²⁰Gomorrah - A place possessed by nettles and salt pits, And a perpetual desolation. The remnant of My people will ²¹plunder them And the remainder of My nation will inherit them."

10 This they will have in return for their ²²pride, because they have ²³taunted and become arrogant against the people of the LORD of hosts.

11 The LORD will be ²⁴terrifying to them, for He will starve ²⁵all the gods of the earth; and all the ²⁶coastlands of the nations will ²⁷bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.

12 "You also, O ²⁸Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword."

13 And He will ²⁹stretch out His hand against the north And destroy ³⁰Assyria, And He will make ³¹Nineveh a desolation, Parched like the wilderness.

14 Flocks will lie down in her midst, All beasts which range in herds; Both the ³²pelican and the hedgehog Will lodge in the tops of her pillars; Birds will sing in the window, Desolation will be on the threshold; For He has laid bare the cedar work.

Zephaniah 2:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ZEPHANIAH 2

In this chapter the prophet exhorts the Jews to repentance; and foretells the destruction of several neighbouring nations. The body of the people of the Jews in general are first called upon to gather together and humble themselves, who were a people neither desirable, nor deserving of the favours of God, nor desirous of them, Zep 2:1 and to this they are pressed, from the consideration of God's decree of vengeance being ready to bring forth and break forth upon them, Zep 2:2 and then the few godly among them are exhorted to seek the Lord, and what is agreeable to him; since there was at least a probability of their being protected by him in a time of general calamity, Zep 2:3 and that the destruction of this people might appear the more certain, and that they might have no dependence on their neighbours, the prophet proceeds to predict the ruin of several of them, particularly the Philistines; several places belonging to them are by name mentioned, and the whole land threatened with desolation; the maritime part of it to be only inhabited by shepherds and their flocks; and afterwards the coast possessed by the Jews, on their return from their captivity, Zep 2:4-7. Next the Moabites and Ammonites are prophesied of; whose destruction should come upon them for their pride, and for their contempt and reviling of the people of God; and which should be like that of Sodom and Gomorrah; and would issue in the abolition of idolatry, and the setting up of the worship of God in their country, and elsewhere, Zep 2:8-11. As for the Ethiopians, they should be slain with the sword, Zep 2:12 and the whole monarchy of Assyria, with Nineveh the metropolis of it, should be utterly laid waste, and become a desolation, and a wilderness; and the habitation, not only of flocks, but of beasts and birds of prey, Zep 2:13-15.

Cross References

• 1. Amos 1:7, 8; Zechariah 9:5-7
• 2. Amos 1:7, 8; Zechariah 9:5-7
• 3. Amos 1:7, 8; Zechariah 9:5-7
• 4. Ezekiel 25:16
• 5. Amos 3:1
• 6. Zephaniah 1:11
• 7. Isaiah 14:29, 30
• 8. Zephaniah 3:6
• 9. Isaiah 5:17; Isaiah 7:25
• 10. Isaiah 11:16
• 11. Isaiah 32:14
• 12. Exodus 4:31; Psalms 80:14
• 13. Jeremiah 32:44; Zephaniah 3:20
• 14. Ezekiel 25:8
• 15. Ezekiel 25:3
• 16. Amos 1:13
• 17. Isaiah 15:1-9; Jeremiah 48:1-47; Amos 2:1-3
• 18. Genesis 19:24
• 19. Jeremiah 49:1-6; Ezekiel 25:1-10
• 20. Deuteronomy 29:23
• 21. Isaiah 11:14
• 22. Isaiah 16:6
• 23. Zephaniah 2:8
• 24. Joel 2:11
• 25. Zephaniah 1:4
• 26. Isaiah 24:15
• 27. Psalms 72:8-11; Zephaniah 3:9
• 28. Isaiah 18:1-7; Isaiah 20:4, 5; Ezekiel 30:4-9
• 29. Isaiah 14:26; Zephaniah 1:4
• 30. Isaiah 10:16; Micah 5:6
• 31. Nahum 3:7
• 32. Isaiah 14:23; Isaiah 34:11

Footnotes

• [a] I.e. a segment of the Philistines with roots in Crete
• [b] Or "meadows" or "wells"
• [c] Lit "reproach"
• [d] Lit "reproached"
• [e] Lit "made" themselves "great"
• [f] Lit "reproached"
• [g] Lit "made" themselves "great"
• [h] Lit "make lean"
• [i] Or "All" kinds of "beasts in crowds;" lit "Every" kind of "beast of a nation"
• [j] Or "owl" or "jackdaw"
• [k] Lit "her capitals"
• [l] Lit "A voice"