The Book of ZEPHANIAH - Chapter Two

 

Judah summoned to repent

 1 

Gather together, gather yourselves together,

    you shameful nation,

2 

before the decree takes effect

    and that day passes like windblown chaff,

before the Lord’s fierce anger

    comes upon you,

before the day of the Lord’s wrath

    comes upon you.

3 

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,

    you who do what he commands.

Seek righteousness, seek humility;

    perhaps you will be sheltered

    on the day of the Lord’s anger.

Philistia

4 

Gaza will be abandoned

    and Ashkelon left in ruins.

At midday Ashdod will be emptied

    and Ekron uprooted.

5 

Woe to you who live by the sea,

    you Kerethite people;

the word of the Lord is against you,

    Canaan, land of the Philistines.

He says, ‘I will destroy you,

    and none will be left.’

6 

The land by the sea will become pastures

    having wells for shepherds

    and sheepfolds for flocks.

7 

That land will belong

    to the remnant 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.

 

Moab and Ammon

8 

‘I have heard the insults of Moab

    and the taunts of the Ammonites,

who insulted my people

    and made threats against their land.

9 

Therefore, as surely as I live,’

    declares the Lord Almighty,

    the God of Israel,

‘surely Moab will become like Sodom,

    the Ammonites like Gomorrah –

a place of weeds and salt pits,

    a wasteland for ever.

The remnant of my people will plunder them;

    the survivors of my nation will inherit their land.’

10 

This is what they will get in return for their pride,

    for insulting and mocking

    the people of the Lord Almighty.

11 

The Lord will be awesome to them

    when he destroys all the gods of the earth.

Distant nations will bow down to him,

    all of them in their own lands.

Cush

12 

‘You Cushites, too,

    will be slain by my sword.’

 

Assyria

13 

He will stretch out his hand against the north

    and destroy Assyria,

leaving Nineveh utterly desolate

    and dry as the desert.

14 

Flocks and herds will lie down there,

    creatures of every kind.

The desert owl and the screech owl

    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

    that lived in safety.

She said to herself,

    ‘I am the one! And there is none besides me.’

What a ruin she has become,

    a lair for wild beasts!

All who pass by her scoff

    and shake their fists.

 

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READINGS

The Book of ZEPHANIAH 

- Chapter Two -

Read by Sir David Suchet

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OVERVIEW 

The Book of ZEPHANIAH

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

-=-=-=-=-=-

STUDY - LINKS

The Book of ZEPHANIAH

David Pawson

Days Like Chaff - Zephaniah 2:1-2

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JULY 2026 - READING LIST

JUNE 2026 - READINGS

           From the New International Version (UK)

The Book of ZEPHANIAH - Chapter One

1   The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:

2 

‘I will sweep away everything

    from the face of the earth,’

declares the Lord.

3 

‘I will sweep away both man and beast;

    I will sweep away the birds in the sky

    and the fish in the sea –

    and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.’

‘When I destroy all mankind

    on the face of the earth,’

declares the Lord,

4 

‘I will stretch out my hand against Judah

    and against all who live in Jerusalem.

I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,

    the very names of the idolatrous priests –

5 

those who bow down on the roofs

    to worship the starry host,

those who bow down and swear by the Lord

    and who also swear by Molek,

6 

those who turn back from following the Lord

    and neither seek the Lord nor enquire of him.’

7 

Be silent before the Sovereign Lord,

    for the day of the Lord is near.

The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;

    he has consecrated those he has invited.

8 

‘On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice

    I will punish the officials

    and the king’s sons

and all those clad

    in foreign clothes.

9 

On that day I will punish

    all who avoid stepping on the threshold,

who fill the temple of their gods

    with violence and deceit.

10 

‘On that day,’

    declares the Lord,

‘a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,

    wailing from the New Quarter,

    and a loud crash from the hills.

11 

Wail, you who live in the market district;

    all your merchants will be wiped out,

    all who trade with silver will be destroyed.

12 

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps

    and punish those who are complacent,

    who are like wine left on its dregs,

who think, “The Lord will do nothing,

    either good or bad.”

13 

Their wealth will be plundered,

    their houses demolished.

Though they build houses,

    they will not live in them;

though they plant vineyards,

    they will not drink the wine.’

14 

The great day of the Lord is near –

    near and coming quickly.

The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;

    the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.

15 

That day will be a day of wrath –

    a day of distress and anguish,

        a day of trouble and ruin,

    a day of darkness and gloom,

        a day of clouds and blackness –

16 

    a day of trumpet and battle cry

against the fortified cities

    and against the corner towers.

17 

‘I will bring such distress on all people

    that they will grope about like those who are blind,

    because they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dust

    and their entrails like dung.

18 

Neither their silver nor their gold

    will be able to save them

    on the day of the Lord’s wrath.’

In the fire of his jealousy

    the whole earth will be consumed,

for he will make a sudden end

    of all who live on the earth.

-=-=-=-=-=-

READINGS

The Book of ZEPHANIAH 

- Chapter 1 -

Read by Sir David Suchet

-=-=-=-=-=-

OVERVIEW 

The Book of ZEPHANIAH

 - Overview -

The Bible Project 

-=-=-=-=-=-

STUDY - LINKS

The Book of ZEPHANIAH

David Pawson

The Search Lamps of God - Zephaniah 1:16

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