Zephaniah 2

You people of Judah who ought to be ashamed, gather together [DOU].

God is extremely angry with you, so gather together now, before it is time for him to punish [MTY] you and blow you away like [SIM] the wind blows away chaff.

All you people in Judah who are humble, worship God, and obey what he has commanded. Try to do what is right and to be humble. If you do that, perhaps God will protect/spare you on the day when he punishes [MTY] people.

When God punishes Philistia, Gaza and Ashkelon cities will be deserted/abandoned. Ashdod city will be attacked and the people expelled at noon when people are resting; the people of Ekron city will also be driven out.

And terrible things will happen to you people of Philistia who live near the sea, because God has decided [MTY] that he will punish [MTY] you, also. He will get rid of all of you; not one person will ◄survive/remain alive►.

The land of Philistia near the sea will become a pasture, a place for shepherds and their sheep pens.

The people of Judah who ◄survive/are still alive► will possess that land. At night they will sleep in the deserted houses in Ashkelon. God will take care of them; he will enable them to prosper again.

The Commander of the armies of angels, the God to whom we Israeli people belong, says this: “I have heard the people of Moab and Ammon when they insulted [DOU] my people, and when they said that they would conquer my people’s country.

So now, as surely as I live, I will destroy Moab and Ammon like [SIM] I destroyed Gomorrah city. Their land will be a place were there are nettles and salt pits; it will be ruined forever. My Israeli people who survive will take away all their valuable possessions and also occupy their land.”

The people of Moab and Ammon will get what they deserve for being proud, because they made fun of the people who belong to the Commander of the armies of angels.

God will cause them to be terrified when he destroys all the gods of their countries. Then even the people who live on islands throughout the world will worship God, each in their own countries.

God says that he will also slaughter the people of Ethiopia.

God will punish [IDM] and destroy Assyria, that land northeast of us. He will cause its capital Nineveh to become ruined and deserted, a place that will be as dry as the desert.

Flocks of sheep and herds of cattle and many kinds of wild animals will lie down there. Owls and crows will sit on the columns/pillars of the destroyed buildings, and they will ◄hoot/cry out► through the windows. There will be rubble in the doorways, and the valuable cedar boards will be taken from the ruined houses.

The people of Nineveh were previously happy and proud, thinking that they were very safe. They were always saying, “Our city is the greatest city; there is no city as great as ours!” But now it will become a ruins, a place where wild animals make their dens. And everyone who passes by there will hiss and scorn/ridicule that city, and shake their fists to show that they detest that city very much.