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Zephaniah 2-3
Easy-to-Read Version
Zephaniah 2-3
Easy-to-Read Version
God Asks People to Change Their Lives
2 Shameless people, change your lives 2 before you become like a dry and dying flower. In the heat of day, a flower will wilt and die. You will be like that when the Lord shows his terrible anger. So change your lives before the Lord shows his anger against you! 3 All you humble people, come to the Lord! Obey his laws. Learn to do good things. Learn to be humble. Maybe then you will be safe when the Lord shows his anger.
The Lord Will Punish Israel’s Neighbors
4 No one will be left in Gaza. Ashkelon will be destroyed. By noon, the people will be forced to leave Ashdod. Ekron[a] will be empty.[b] 5 You Cretans[c] living by the sea, this message from the Lord is about you. Canaan, land of the Philistines, you will be destroyed—no one will live there! 6 Your land by the sea will become empty fields for shepherds and their sheep. 7 Then the land will belong to the survivors from Judah. The Lord their God will remember the people from Judah and restore their fortunes. Then they will let their sheep eat the grass in those fields. In the evenings they will lie down in the empty houses of Ashkelon.
8 The Lord says, “I know what the people of Moab and Ammon did. They embarrassed my people. They took their land to make their own countries larger. 9 So, as surely as I am alive, Moab and the people of Ammon will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. I am the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, and I promise those countries will be destroyed completely forever. Their land will be overgrown with weeds. It will be like the land covered with salt by the Dead Sea. The survivors of my people will take that land and everything left in it.”
10 This will happen to the people of Moab and Ammon because they were so proud and cruel and humiliated the people of the Lord All-Powerful. 11 They will be afraid of the Lord, because he will destroy their gods. Then everyone in all the faraway lands will worship the Lord. 12 People of Ethiopia, this even means you! The Lord’s sword will kill your people. 13 Then the Lord will turn north and punish Assyria. He will destroy Nineveh—that city will be like an empty, dry desert. 14 Only sheep and wild animals will live in those ruins. Owls and crows will sit on the columns that are left standing. Their calls will be heard coming through the windows. Crows will sit on the doorsteps. Black birds[d] will make their homes in those empty houses. 15 Nineveh is so proud now. It is such a happy city. The people think they are safe. They think Nineveh is the greatest place in the world, but it will be destroyed! It will be an empty place where only wild animals go to rest. People who pass by will whistle and shake their heads when they see how badly the city was destroyed.
The Future of Jerusalem
3 Jerusalem, your people fought against God. They hurt other people, and you have been stained with sin. 2 They didn’t listen to me or accept my teachings. Jerusalem didn’t trust the Lord. Jerusalem didn’t go to her God. 3 Jerusalem’s leaders are like roaring lions. Her judges are like hungry wolves that come in the evening to attack the sheep—and in the morning nothing is left. 4 Her prophets are always making secret plans to get more and more. Her priests have treated holy things as if they were not holy. They have done bad things to God’s teachings. 5 But the Lord is still in that city, and he continues to be good. He does not do anything wrong. He continues to help his people. Morning after morning he makes good decisions for them. Not a day passes without his justice. He never gives a decision that is crooked or is something to be ashamed of.
6 The Lord says, “I have destroyed whole nations and their defense towers. I destroyed their streets and now no one goes there anymore. Their cities are empty—no one lives there anymore. 7 I tell you this so that you will learn a lesson. I want you to fear and respect me. If you do this, your home will not be destroyed, and I will not have to punish you the way I planned.” But those evil people only wanted to do more of the same evil things they had already done!
8 The Lord said, “So just wait! Wait for me to stand and judge you. I have the right to bring people from many nations and use them to punish you. I will use them to show my anger against you. I will use them to show how upset I am—and the whole country will be destroyed. 9 Then I will change people from other nations so that they can speak the language clearly and call out the name of the Lord. They will all worship me together, shoulder to shoulder, as one people. 10 People will come all the way from the other side of the river in Ethiopia. My scattered people will come to me. My worshipers will come and bring their gifts to me.
11 “Then, Jerusalem, you will no longer be ashamed of the wrong things your people do against me. That is because I will remove all the bad people from Jerusalem. I will take away all the proud people. There will not be any of them on my holy mountain.[e] 12 I will let only meek and humble people stay in my city, and they will trust the Lord’s name. 13 The survivors of Israel will not do bad things or tell lies. They will not try to trick people with lies. They will be like sheep that eat and lie down in peace—and no one will bother them.”
A Happy Song
14 Jerusalem, sing and be happy!
Israel, shout for joy!
Jerusalem, be happy and have fun!
15 The Lord stopped your punishment.
He destroyed your enemies’ strong towers.
King of Israel, the Lord is with you.
You don’t need to worry about anything bad happening.
16 At that time Jerusalem will be told,
“Be strong, don’t be afraid!
17 The Lord your God is with you.
He is like a powerful soldier.
He will save you.
He will show how much he loves you
and how happy he is with you.
He will laugh and be happy about you,
18 like people at a party.
I will take away your shame.
I will make them stop hurting you.[f]
19 At that time I will punish those who hurt you.
I will save my hurt people
and bring back those who were forced to leave.
I will give them praise and honor everywhere,
even in places where they suffered shame.
20 At that time I will lead you back home.
I will bring your people back together.
I will cause people everywhere to honor and praise you.
You will see me bring back all the blessings you once had.”
This is what the Lord said.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 2:4 Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron Philistine cities. In Hebrew, Zephaniah is making wordplays on the names of these cities.
- Zephaniah 2:4 empty In Hebrew this word is like the word meaning “Philistines.” Also in verse 6.
- Zephaniah 2:5 Cretans People from Crete. The Philistines came from that island.
- Zephaniah 2:14 Black birds Or “cedar beams.”
- Zephaniah 3:11 holy mountain Mount Zion, one of the mountains Jerusalem was built on.
- Zephaniah 3:18 The Hebrew text here is hard to understand.
Zephaniah 2-3
New International Version
Zephaniah 2-3
New International Version
Judah and Jerusalem Judged Along With the Nations
Judah Summoned to Repent
2 Gather together,(A) gather yourselves together,
you shameful(B) nation,
2 before the decree takes effect
and that day passes like windblown chaff,(C)
before the Lord’s fierce anger(D)
comes upon you,
before the day of the Lord’s wrath(E)
comes upon you.
3 Seek(F) the Lord, all you humble of the land,
you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness,(G) seek humility;(H)
perhaps you will be sheltered(I)
on the day of the Lord’s anger.
Philistia
4 Gaza(J) will be abandoned
and Ashkelon(K) left in ruins.
At midday Ashdod will be emptied
and Ekron uprooted.
5 Woe to you who live by the sea,
you Kerethite(L) people;
the word of the Lord is against you,(M)
Canaan, land of the Philistines.
He says, “I will destroy you,
and none will be left.”(N)
6 The land by the sea will become pastures
having wells for shepherds
and pens for flocks.(O)
7 That land will belong
to the remnant(P) of the people of Judah;
there they will find pasture.
In the evening they will lie down
in the houses of Ashkelon.
The Lord their God will care for them;
he will restore their fortunes.[a](Q)
Moab and Ammon
8 “I have heard the insults(R) of Moab(S)
and the taunts of the Ammonites,(T)
who insulted(U) my people
and made threats against their land.(V)
9 Therefore, as surely as I live,”
declares the Lord Almighty,
the God of Israel,
“surely Moab(W) will become like Sodom,(X)
the Ammonites(Y) like Gomorrah—
a place of weeds and salt pits,
a wasteland forever.
The remnant of my people will plunder(Z) them;
the survivors(AA) of my nation will inherit their land.(AB)”
10 This is what they will get in return for their pride,(AC)
for insulting(AD) and mocking
the people of the Lord Almighty.(AE)
11 The Lord will be awesome(AF) to them
when he destroys all the gods(AG) of the earth.(AH)
Distant nations will bow down to him,(AI)
all of them in their own lands.
Cush
Assyria
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,(AL)
leaving Nineveh(AM) utterly desolate
and dry as the desert.(AN)
14 Flocks and herds(AO) will lie down there,
creatures of every kind.
The desert owl(AP) and the screech owl(AQ)
will roost on her columns.
Their hooting will echo through the windows,
rubble will fill the doorways,
the beams of cedar will be exposed.
15 This is the city of revelry(AR)
that lived in safety.(AS)
She said to herself,
“I am the one! And there is none besides me.”(AT)
What a ruin she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!(AU)
All who pass by her scoff(AV)
and shake their fists.(AW)
Jerusalem
3 Woe to the city of oppressors,(AX)
rebellious(AY) and defiled!(AZ)
2 She obeys(BA) no one,
she accepts no correction.(BB)
She does not trust(BC) in the Lord,
she does not draw near(BD) to her God.
3 Her officials within her
are roaring lions;(BE)
her rulers are evening wolves,(BF)
who leave nothing for the morning.(BG)
4 Her prophets are unprincipled;
they are treacherous people.(BH)
Her priests profane the sanctuary
and do violence to the law.(BI)
5 The Lord within her is righteous;(BJ)
he does no wrong.(BK)
Morning by morning(BL) he dispenses his justice,
and every new day he does not fail,(BM)
yet the unrighteous know no shame.(BN)
Jerusalem Remains Unrepentant
6 “I have destroyed nations;
their strongholds are demolished.
I have left their streets deserted,
with no one passing through.
Their cities are laid waste;(BO)
they are deserted and empty.
7 Of Jerusalem I thought,
‘Surely you will fear me
and accept correction!’(BP)
Then her place of refuge[c] would not be destroyed,
nor all my punishments come upon[d] her.
But they were still eager
to act corruptly(BQ) in all they did.
8 Therefore wait(BR) for me,”
declares the Lord,
“for the day I will stand up to testify.[e]
I have decided to assemble(BS) the nations,(BT)
to gather the kingdoms
and to pour out my wrath(BU) on them—
all my fierce anger.(BV)
The whole world will be consumed(BW)
by the fire of my jealous anger.
Restoration of Israel’s Remnant
9 “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples,
that all of them may call(BX) on the name of the Lord(BY)
and serve(BZ) him shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush[f](CA)
my worshipers, my scattered people,
will bring me offerings.(CB)
11 On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame(CC)
for all the wrongs you have done to me,(CD)
because I will remove from you
your arrogant boasters.(CE)
Never again will you be haughty
on my holy hill.(CF)
12 But I will leave within you
the meek(CG) and humble.
The remnant of Israel
will trust(CH) in the name of the Lord.
13 They(CI) will do no wrong;(CJ)
they will tell no lies.(CK)
A deceitful tongue
will not be found in their mouths.(CL)
They will eat and lie down(CM)
and no one will make them afraid.(CN)”
14 Sing, Daughter Zion;(CO)
shout aloud,(CP) Israel!
Be glad and rejoice(CQ) with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;(CR)
never again will you fear(CS) any harm.(CT)
16 On that day
they will say to Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.(CU)
17 The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.(CV)
He will take great delight(CW) in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,(CX)
but will rejoice over you with singing.”(CY)
18 “I will remove from you
all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals,
which is a burden and reproach for you.
19 At that time I will deal
with all who oppressed(CZ) you.
I will rescue the lame;
I will gather the exiles.(DA)
I will give them praise(DB) and honor
in every land where they have suffered shame.
20 At that time I will gather you;
at that time I will bring(DC) you home.
I will give you honor(DD) and praise(DE)
among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes[g](DF)
before your very eyes,”
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 2:7 Or will bring back their captives
- Zephaniah 2:12 That is, people from the upper Nile region
- Zephaniah 3:7 Or her sanctuary
- Zephaniah 3:7 Or all those I appointed over
- Zephaniah 3:8 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew will rise up to plunder
- Zephaniah 3:10 That is, the upper Nile region
- Zephaniah 3:20 Or I bring back your captives
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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