Zep 2:4-15 | ESV | STEP | 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 .

4 ^aFor 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 Woe to ^byou inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of ^cthe Cherethites!
^dThe word of the Lord is against you,
^eO Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you ^funtil no inhabitant is left.
6 ^gAnd you, O seacoast, ^hshall be pastures,
with meadows ^{▼▼Or caves} for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 ^jThe seacoast shall become the possession
of ^kthe remnant of the house of Judah,
^lon which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God ^mwill be mindful of them
and ⁿrestore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard ^othe taunts of Moab
and ^pthe revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts ^qagainst their territory.
9 Therefore, ^ras I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become ^slike Sodom,
and the Ammonites ^tlike Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return ^ufor their pride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them;
^vfor he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and ^wto him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all ^xthe lands of the nations.
12 ^yYou also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
^zand destroy Assyria,
and he ^aawill make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14 ^abHerds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts; ^{▼▼Hebrew beasts of every nation}
^adeven the owl and the hedgehog ^{▼▼The identity of the animals rendered owl and hedgehog is uncertain}
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for ^afher cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city
^agthat lived securely,
that said in her heart,
“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
^aha lair for wild beasts!
^aiEveryone who passes by her
hisses and ^ajshakes his fist.