Zephaniah 2:1-15 CEB

[1] Gather together and assemble yourselves, shameless nation, [2] before the decision is made—the day vanishes like chaff—before the burning anger of the LORD comes against you, before the day of the LORD’s anger comes against you. [3] Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land who practice his justice; seek righteousness; seek humility. Maybe you will be hidden on the day of the LORD’s anger. [4] Gaza will certainly be abandoned; and Ashkelon destroyed. Ashdod will be driven out at noon; Ekron will be uprooted. [5] Doom, inhabitants of the seacoast, nation of Cretans. The LORD’s word is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines. I will exterminate you, leaving no inhabitant. [6] The seacoast will become pastureland, with wells for shepherds and pens for the flocks. [7] The coast will belong to the survivors from the house of Judah; they will pasture beside the sea; in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening. The LORD their God will visit them and restore their possessions. [8] I have heard the taunting of Moab and the defamation of the Ammonites; they taunted my people and enlarged their borders. [9] Therefore, as I live—says the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel—Moab will become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah: a plot of weeds, salt pits, and devastation forever. The few remaining from my people will plunder them; the rest of my nation will possess them. [10] This will happen on account of their pride, because they taunted and boasted over the people of the LORD of heavenly forces. [11] The LORD will terrify them; he will make all the gods of the earth disappear. All the coastlands of the nations will bow down to the LORD, each one in its own place. [12] Moreover, you too, Cushites, will be pierced by my sword. [13] He will stretch out his hand against the north and will cause Assyria to perish. Let him make Nineveh a desolation, a desolate place like the wilderness. [14] Flocks will lie down in its midst, every living thing of the nation. Moreover, the owl and the porcupine will spend the night on its columns. A bird’s call will resound from the window. Desolation will be on the sill, for the cedar will be stripped bare. [15] This is the jubilant city, the one dwelling securely, the one saying in her heart, I, and no one else, will endure forever. How she has become a desolation, a resting place for the wild animals. All those who pass through her hiss and shake their fist.