Moab’s Destruction (Zephaniah 2:8–11)
1 Brenton I will send as it were reptiles on the land: is not the mount of the daughter of Sion a desolate rock? BSB BSB: Send the tribute lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mount of Daughter Zion.
2 Brenton For thou shalt be as a young bird taken away from a bird that has flown: even thou shalt be so , daughter of Moab: and then do thou, O Arnon, BSB BSB: Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:
3 Brenton take farther counsel, and continually make thou a shelter from grief: they flee in darkness at mid-day; they are amazed; be not thou led captive. BSB BSB: “Give us counsel; render a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees.
4 Brenton The fugitives of Moab shall sojourn with thee; they shall be to you a shelter from the face of the pursuer: for thine alliance has been taken away, and the oppressing ruler has perished from off the earth. BSB BSB: Let my fugitives stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.” When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased, and the oppressors have vanished from the land,
5 Brenton And a throne shall be established with mercy; and one shall sit upon it with truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and earnestly seeking judgments, and hasting righteousness. BSB BSB: in loving devotion a throne will be established in the tent of David. A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousness will sit on it in faithfulness.
6 Brenton We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud. I have cut off his pride: thy prophecy shall not be thus, no not thus. BSB BSB: We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
7 Brenton Moab shall howl; for all shall howl in the land of Moab: but thou shalt care for them that dwell in Seth, and thou shalt not be ashamed. BSB BSB: Therefore let Moab wail; let them wail together for Moab. Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth, you who are utterly stricken.
8 Brenton The plains of Esebon shall mourn, the vine of Sebama: swallowing up the nations, trample ye her vines, even to Jazer: ye shall not come together; wander ye in the desert: they that were sent are deserted, for they have gone over to the sea. BSB BSB: For the fields of Heshbon have withered, along with the grapevines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choicest vines, which had reached as far as Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots had spread out and passed over the sea.
9 Brenton Therefore will I weep as with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sebama; Esebon and Eleale have cast down thy trees; for I will trample on thy harvest and on thy vintages, and all thy plants shall fall. BSB BSB: So I weep with Jazer for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest.
10 Brenton And gladness and rejoicing shall be taken away from the vineyards; and they shall not rejoice at all in thy vineyards; and they shall not at all tread wine into the vats; for the vintage has ceased. BSB BSB: Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards. No one tramples the grapes in the winepresses; I have put an end to the cheering.
11 Brenton Therefore my belly shall sound as a harp for Moab, and thou hast repaired my inward parts as a wall. BSB BSB: Therefore my heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir-heres.
12 Brenton And it shall be to thy shame, (for Moab is wearied at the altars,) that he shall go in to the idols thereof to pray, but they shall not be at all able to deliver him. BSB BSB: When Moab appears on the high place, when he wearies himself and enters his sanctuary to pray, it will do him no good.
13 Brenton This is the word which the Lord spoke against Moab, when he spoke. BSB BSB: This is the message that the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab.
14 Brenton And now I say, In three years, of the years of an hireling, the glory of Moab shall be dishonoured with all his great wealth; and he shall be left few in number, and not honoured. BSB BSB: And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.