Zephaniah 2BSB

In This Chapter 3 people 14 places 22 terms 1 resource

People

Places

Key Terms

Resources

A Call to Repentance

(Joel 1:13–20; Amos 5:4–15; Luke 13:1–5)

In light of the horrifying spectacle he has...

In light of the horrifying spectacle he has described, Zephaniah calls on his nation to repent and humble themselves before God.

1Gather yourselves, gather together,O shameful nation,2before the decree takes effectand the day passes like chaff,before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you,before the Day of the LORD’s anger comes upon you.3Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earthwho carry out His justice.Seek righteousness; seek humility.Perhaps you will be shelteredon the day of the LORD’s anger.

Judgment on the Philistines

(Jeremiah 47:1–7)

Zephaniah began his pronouncements with the Philistines, whose...

Zephaniah began his pronouncements with the Philistines, whose kingdom lay on Judah’s west (2:4–7). He moved on to Moab and Ammon in the east (2:8–11), and finally singled out Cush (Ethiopia) to the south (2:12) and Assyria to the north (2:13–15).

Zephaniah turns his attention to the judgment of...

Zephaniah turns his attention to the judgment of the foreign nations (2:4–15) before returning to the judgment of Judah and Jerusalem (3:1–8). He then outlines God’s plans for his purified and obedient people (3:9–20).

4For Gaza will be abandoned,and Ashkelon left in ruins.Ashdod will be driven out at noon,and Ekron will be uprooted.5Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast,O nation of the Cherethites!The word of the LORD is against you,O Canaan, land of the Philistines:“I will destroy you,and no one will be left.”6So the seacoast will become a land of pastures,with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep.7The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah;there they will find pasture.They will lie down in the eveningamong the houses of Ashkelon,for the LORD their God will attend to themand restore their captives.

Judgment on Moab and Ammon

(Isaiah 16:1–14; Jeremiah 48:1–47)

8“I have heard the reproach of Moaband the insults of the Ammonites,who have taunted My peopleand threatened their borders.9Therefore, as surely as I live,”declares the LORD of Hosts,the God of Israel,“surely Moab will be like Sodomand the Ammonites like Gomorraha place of weeds and salt pits,a perpetual wasteland.The remnant of My people will plunder them;the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”
10This they shall have in return for their pride,for taunting and mocking the peopleof the LORD of Hosts.11The LORD will be terrifying to themwhen He starves all the gods of the earth.Then the nations of every shorewill bow in worship to Him,each in its own place.

Judgment on Cush and Assyria

12“You too, O Cushites,will be slain by My sword.”
13And He will stretch out His hand against the northand destroy Assyria;He will make Nineveh a desolation,as dry as a desert.14Herds will lie down in her midst,creatures of every kind.Both the desert owl and screech owlwill roost atop her pillars.Their calls will sound from the window,but desolation will lie on the threshold,for He will expose the beams of cedar.
15This carefree citythat dwells securely,that thinks to herself:“I am it, and there is none besides me,”what a ruin she has become,a resting place for beasts.Everyone who passes by herhisses and shakes his fist.