Zephaniah 2

1You people of Judah who ought to be ashamed, gather together [DOU]. 2Yahweh 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. 3All you people in Judah who are humble, Yahweh, and obey what he has commanded. to do what is right and to be humble. If you do that, perhaps Yahweh will protect/spare you on the day when he punishes [MTY] people. 4When Yahweh punishes Philistia, Gaza and Ashkelon cities will be deserted/abandoned. city will be attacked and the people expelled at noon when people are resting; the people of Ekron city will also be driven out. 5And terrible things will happen to you people of Philistia who live near the sea, because Yahweh 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►. 6The land of Philistia near the sea will become a pasture, a place for shepherds and their sheep pens. 7The people of Judah who ◄survive/are still alive► will possess that land. At night they will sleep in the deserted houses in Ashkelon. Yahweh will take care of them; he will enable them to prosper again. 8The 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. 9So 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.” 10The 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. 11Yahweh 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 Yahweh, each in their own countries. 12Yahweh says that he will also slaughter the people of Ethiopia. 13Yahweh 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. 14Flocks 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.