Zephaniah 2:8-15

God will punish Moab and Ammon

8 The Lord says,

‘I have heard the people of Moab and the people of Ammon.

They have insulted my people

and they have laughed at them.

They have boasted that they would attack my people's land

and take it for themselves.’

9 The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says,

‘I promise this, as surely as I live.

I will cause Moab and Ammon to become like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Weeds will cover the land.

People will dig salt out of the ground.

It will become a wilderness for ever.

My people who are still alive will take the land for themselves.

They will keep all the valuable things.’

10 God will punish the people of Moab and Ammon as they deserve.

They have been very proud people.

They have laughed at the people who belong to the Lord Almighty.

11 The Lord will cause them to be very afraid.

He will destroy the power of all the earth's false gods.

The people of all nations will worship the Lord.

They will worship him in the places where they live.

God will punish Ethiopia and Assyria

12 The Lord will also punish you people of Ethiopia.

He will cause you to die in battle.

13 The Lord will attack the people who live in the north.

He will destroy the nation of Assyria.

He will destroy its capital city, Nineveh.

It will become a heap of stones where nobody lives.

The land will be as dry as a desert.

14 Sheep, goats and cows will lie down there,

as well as many wild animals.

Hawks and owls will sleep on top of the pillars.

They will call through the windows.

Stones will lie on the ground in front of the buildings.

Cedar beams will lie outside.

15 All this will happen to that proud city,

the city where people were happy and safe.

They thought, ‘We live in the best city of all!

No other city is as great as our city!’

But now that city will become a heap of stones.

Only wild animals will have their homes there.

Everyone who sees that place will laugh at it.

They will shake their fists because it has lost its power.