Zephaniah 2:13

2:13 The Lord ¹  will attack the north ² 

and destroy Assyria.

He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins;

it will be as barren ³  as the desert.

Zephaniah 2:15

2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up ⁴  –

the city that was so secure. ⁵ 

She thought to herself, ⁶  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ⁷ 

What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live!

Everyone who passes by her taunts her ⁸  and shakes his fist. ⁹ 

[2:13]  ¹ tn Heb “He”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:13]  ² tn Heb “he will stretch out his hand against the north.”

[2:13]  ³ tn Or “dry.”

[2:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “this is the proud city.”

[2:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”

[2:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[2:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”

[2:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”

[2:15]  ⁹ sn Hissing (or whistling) and shaking the fist were apparently ways of taunting a defeated foe or an object of derision in the culture of the time.