Zephaniah 2:12-14

The Voice

Eternal One: ¹²As for you, Ethiopia to the south, you will die by My sword.

Even the great Assyria, once God’s chosen instrument to punish His people, will not escape the Lord’s judgment.

¹³God will stretch His hand over Assyria in the north and wage war against her.
Their prized city Nineveh will be left in ruins.
    Fertile land will give way to thirsty desert. Nothing will thrive there.
¹⁴Cattle and sheep will sleep in her streets;
    wild beasts will roam through the rubble.
Birds that fly and animals that burrow, such as the scavenger pelican and hedgehog, will live atop each column.
    Birds will roost and sing in the broken window sills.
Wrecked and ruined are the thresholds to the pagan temples,
    for God has exposed their beautiful cedar woodwork to the elements.