Zephaniah 2

¹Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no shame; ²before the decree bring forth, beforethe 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. ³Seek 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. ⁴For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up. ⁵Woe 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 destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. ⁶And the sea coast shall be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks. ⁷And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed their flocksthereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening; for the LORD their God shall visit them, and bring again their captivity. ⁸I 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. ⁹Therefore 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, a possession of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my nation shall inherit them. ¹⁰This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts. ¹¹The 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 nations. ¹²Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword. ¹³And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness. ¹⁴And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the chapiters thereof: theirvoice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he hath laid bare the cedar work. ¹⁵This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none else 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.