Zephaniah 2

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Gather, gather yourselves together, O nation without shame!	1 Assemble, be gathered together, O people not worthy to be loved.
2 Before you are driven away, like chaff that passes on; Before there comes upon you the blazing anger of the LORD: Before there comes upon you the day of the LORD'S anger.	2 Until the decree settles accounts, the day like dust is passing away, before which the wrath of the fury of the Lord may overcome you, before which the day of the anger of the Lord may overcome you.
3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; Seek justice, seek humility; perhaps you may be sheltered on the day of the LORD'S anger.	3 Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth; you who have been working are his judgment. Seek the just, seek the meek. So then, in some way, you might be hidden in the day of the fury of the Lord.
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon shall be a waste, Ashdod they shall drive out at midday, and Ekron shall be uprooted.	4 For Gaza will be destroyed, and Ashkelon will be in the desert; they will expel Ashdod at midday, and Ekron will be eradicated.
5 Woe to you who dwell by the seacoast, to the Cretan folk! The word of the LORD is against you, I will humble you, land of the Philistines, and leave you to perish without an inhabitant!	5 Woe to you who inhabit the coast of the sea, you people of perdition. The word of the Lord is over you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines, and I will disperse you, so that not one inhabitant will be left.
6 The coastland of the Cretans shall become fields for shepherds, and folds for flocks.	6 And the coastline of the sea will be a resting place for shepherds and a fence line for cattle.
7 The coast shall belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; by the sea they shall pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon at evening they shall couch their flocks, For the LORD their God shall visit them, and bring about their restoration.	7 And it will be the line of him who will remain from the house of Judah. There they will pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will rest towards evening. For the Lord their God will visit them, and he will turn away their captivity.
8 I have heard the revilings uttered by Moab, and the insults of the Ammonites, When they reviled my people and made boasts against their territory.	8 I have heard about the disgrace of Moab and the blasphemies of the sons of Ammon, by which they have defamed my people and have been magnified beyond their borders.
9 Therefore, as I live, says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become like Sodom, the land of Ammon like Gomorrah: A field of nettles and a salt pit and a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, the survivors of my nation dispossess them.	9 Because of this, as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab will be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah, like the dryness of thorns, and piles of salt, and a desert, all the way to eternity. The remnant of my people will despoil them, and the residue of my nation will possess them.
10 Such shall be the requital of their pride, because they reviled and boasted against the people of the LORD of hosts.	10 This will come upon them for their arrogance, because they have blasphemed and have been magnified over the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The LORD shall inspire them with fear when he makes all the gods of earth to waste away; Then, each from its own place, all the coastlands of the nations shall adore him.	11 The Lord will be a horror over them, and he will reduce all the gods of the earth. And they will adore him, each man from his own place, all the islands of the Gentiles.
12 You too, O Cushites, shall be slain by the sword of the LORD.	12 Even so, you Ethiopians, you will be executed by my sword.
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north, to destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a waste, dry as the desert.	13 And he will extend his hand over the North, and he will destroy Assur. And he will set the Beautiful in the wilderness, and in an impassable place, and like a desert.
14 In her midst shall settle in droves all the wild life of the hollows; The screech owl and the desert owl shall roost in her columns; Their call shall resound from the window, the raven's croak from the doorway.	14 And flocks will lie down in its midst, all the beasts of the Gentiles. And the pelican and the hedgehog will stay at its threshold; the voice of the singing bird will be at the window, with the crow above its threshold, for I will diminish her strength.
15 Is this the exultant city that dwelt secure; That told herself, "There is no other than I!" How has she become a waste, a lair for wild beasts? Whoever passes by her hisses, and shakes his fist!	15 This is the glorious city, dwelling in trust, which said in her heart, “I am and there is no one other than me.” How has she become a lair for beasts in the desert? All who pass through her will hiss and wag their hand.