Zephaniah 2

NEW JERUSALEM	Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
1 Gather together, gather together, nations without shame,	1 Come together and hold assembly, O shameless nation,
2 before you are dispersed like chaff which disappears in a day; before Yahweh's burning angerovertakes you (before the Day of Yahweh's anger overtakes you).	2 before you are driven away like the drifting chaff, before there comes upon you the fierce anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the wrath of the LORD.
3 Seek Yahweh, al you humble of the earth, who obey his commands. Seek uprightness, seek humility:you may perhaps find shelter on the Day of Yahweh's anger.	3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of the LORD.
4 For Gaza wil be abandoned and Ashkelon reduced to ruins; Ashdod wil be driven out in broad daylightand Ekron uprooted.	4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Disaster to the members of the coastal league, to the nation of the Cherethites! This is the word of Yahweh against you: I shal subdue you, land of the Philistines, I shal destroy you til there are no inhabitantsleft;	5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you till no inhabitant is left.
6 and the coastal league wil be reduced to pasture land, to grazing grounds for shepherds and folds forsheep;	6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7 and the league will belong to the remnant of the House of Judah; they will pasture their flocks there, atnight they wil rest in the houses of Ashkelon; for, when Yahweh their God has punished them, he wil restoretheir fortunes.	7 The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall pasture, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the LORD their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes.
8 I have heard the taunt of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, as they taunted my people andboasted of their own domains.	8 "I have heard the taunts of Moab and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boasts against their territory.
9 For this, as I live -- declares Yahweh Sabaoth, God of Israel -- Moab wil become like Sodom and theAmmonites like Gomorrah: a realm of nettles, a heap of salt, a desolation for ever. What is left of my people willplunder them, the survivors of my nation wil take their heritage.	9 Therefore, as I live," says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste for ever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them."
10 This will be the price of their pride for having taunted and boasted over the people of YahwehSabaoth.	10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they scoffed and boasted against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 Yahweh wil be fearsome to them, for he wil scatter al the gods of the earth, and they wil bow downto him, each from his own place -- al the islands of the nations.	11 The LORD will be terrible against them; yea, he will famish all the gods of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the lands of the nations.
12 You Ethiopians too wil be run through by my sword.	12 You also, O Ethiopians, shall be slain by my sword.
13 He will raise his hand against the north and bring Assyria down in ruins; he will make Nineveh a waste,as dry as a desert.	13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert.
14 Flocks will rest inside there, so will wild animals; pelican and porcupine wil nest round her cornices atnight; the owl wil hoot at the window and the raven croak on the doorstep -- for the cedar has been torn down.	14 Herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the field; the vulture and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals; the owl shall hoot in the window, the raven croak on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is what the city wil be like, once living happy and carefree and thinking to itself, 'I have no rival --not I!' And what will it be now? A ruin, a lair for wild beasts to rest in, and everyone who passes by wil whistleand throw up his hands.	15 This is the exultant city that dwelt secure, that said to herself, "I am and there is none else." What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts! Every one who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.