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This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies.
Zephaniah 2:10 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.
  • BSB This they shall have in return for their pride, for taunting and mocking the people of the LORD of Hosts.
  • NKJV This they shall have for their pride, Because they have reproached and made arrogant threats Against the people of the Lord of hosts.
  • NASB This they will have in return for their arrogance, because they have taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of armies.
  • NLT They will receive the wages of their pride, for they have scoffed at the people of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

This judgment comes upon Moab and Ammon because of their pride and contempt for God's people. It matters because it identifies pride against the Lord as the root of their downfall.

Overview

The verse names the cause directly: arrogance and reproach against the people of Yahweh of Armies. Scripture consistently teaches that God opposes the proud. Their fate warns every nation and person that exalting oneself against God invites judgment.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Isa 16:6We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath. His boastings are nothing.
  • Jer 48:29“We have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud; his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.
  • Zeph 2:8I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
  • Isa 37:22–29this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
  • Dan 5:20–23But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
  • Dan 4:37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven; for all his works are truth, and his ways justice; and those who walk in pride he is able to abase.
  • Ezek 38:14–18Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, shall you not know it?
  • Obad 1:3The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’
  • Exod 10:3Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.
  • 1 Pet 5:5Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
  • Exod 9:17as you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go.
  • Isa 10:12–15Therefore it will happen that, when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the willful proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the insolence of his haughty looks.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Zephaniah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Zephaniah 2:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ZephaniahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The day of the LORD gives way to the promise that God himself will be in the midst of his people, rejoicing over them with singing — fulfilled in the saving presence of Christ.

How Zephaniah 2:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.