1 Assemble, be gathered together, O people not worthy to be loved. 2 Until the decree settles accounts, the day like dust is passing away, before which the wrath of the fury of the Lord may overcome you, before which the day of the anger of the Lord may overcome you. 3 Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth; you who have been working are his judgment. Seek the just, seek the meek. So then, in some way, you might be hidden in the day of the fury of the Lord. 4 For Gaza will be destroyed, and Ashkelon will be in the desert; they will expel Ashdod at midday, and Ekron will be eradicated. 5 Woe to you who inhabit the coast of the sea, you people of perdition. The word of the Lord is over you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines, and I will disperse you, so that not one inhabitant will be left. 6 And the coastline of the sea will be a resting place for shepherds and a fence line for cattle. 7 And it will be the line of him who will remain from the house of Judah. There they will pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will rest towards evening. For the Lord their God will visit them, and he will turn away their captivity. 8 I have heard about the disgrace of Moab and the blasphemies of the sons of Ammon, by which they have defamed my people and have been magnified beyond their borders. 9 Because of this, as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab will be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah, like the dryness of thorns, and piles of salt, and a desert, all the way to eternity. The remnant of my people will despoil them, and the residue of my nation will possess them. 10 This will come upon them for their arrogance, because they have blasphemed and have been magnified over the people of the Lord of hosts. 11 The Lord will be a horror over them, and he will reduce all the gods of the earth. And they will adore him, each man from his own place, all the islands of the Gentiles. 12 Even so, you Ethiopians, you will be executed by my sword. 13 And he will extend his hand over the North, and he will destroy Assur. And he will set the Beautiful in the wilderness, and in an impassable place, and like a desert. 14 And flocks will lie down in its midst, all the beasts of the Gentiles. And the pelican and the hedgehog will stay at its threshold; the voice of the singing bird will be at the window, with the crow above its threshold, for I will diminish her strength. 15 This is the glorious city, dwelling in trust, which said in her heart, “I am and there is no one other than me.” How has she become a lair for beasts in the desert? All who pass through her will hiss and wag their hand.
Zephaniah · Catholic Public Domain Version
Zephaniah 2 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
Cross references (15)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Joel 1:14; 2 Chronicles 20:4; Nehemiah 9:1; Nehemiah 8:1; Esther 4:16
- 2 Nahum 1:6; Lamentations 4:11; Hosea 13:3; Psalm 1:4; Isaiah 17:13
- 3 Amos 5:14–15; Isaiah 26:20–21; Psalm 76:9; Jeremiah 29:12–13; Psalm 22:26
- 4 Zechariah 9:5–7; Amos 1:6–8; Jeremiah 47:1–7; Jeremiah 25:20; Jeremiah 6:4
- 5 Ezekiel 25:16; Jeremiah 47:7; Joshua 13:3; Amos 3:1; Amos 5:1
- 6 Isaiah 5:17; Isaiah 17:2; Zephaniah 2:14–15; Ezekiel 25:5
- 7 Exodus 4:31; Zephaniah 3:20; Micah 5:3–8; Luke 1:68; Ezekiel 39:25
- 8 Psalm 83:4–7; Ezekiel 25:3–11; Amos 1:13; Jeremiah 48:27–29; Jeremiah 49:1
- 9 Isaiah 15:1–9; Isaiah 11:14; Deuteronomy 29:23; Isaiah 25:10; Isaiah 49:18
- 10 Isaiah 16:6; Jeremiah 48:29; Zephaniah 2:8; Exodus 9:17; Daniel 4:37
- 11 Micah 4:1–3; Zechariah 14:9–21; Zechariah 13:2; Zechariah 2:11; Isaiah 2:2–4
- 12 Ezekiel 30:4–9; Isaiah 18:1–7; Jeremiah 51:20–23; Jeremiah 46:9–10; Isaiah 13:5
- 13 Nahum 3:7; Nahum 3:18–19; Nahum 1:1; Isaiah 10:12; Isaiah 10:16
- 14 Amos 9:1; Isaiah 34:11–17; Jeremiah 22:14; Isaiah 13:19–22; Revelation 18:2
- 15 Ezekiel 28:2; Isaiah 47:7–8; Nahum 3:19; Ezekiel 28:9; Isaiah 22:2
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… assemble the nations, and gather together the kingdoms." And again he says, "The Lord will be terrible upon them, and will exterminate all the gods of the earth; and they shall worship Him every man from his place, even all the isles of the nations." And a little after he says, "Then will I turn to the people a tongue, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)