“You too, O Cushites, will be slain by My sword.”
Parallel translations
- WEB You Cushites also, you will be killed by my sword.
- KJV Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.
- NKJV “YouEthiopians also, You shall be slain by My sword.”
- NASB ¶“You also, Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”
- NLT “You Ethiopians will also be slaughtered by my sword,” says the Lord.
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
God declares that the Cushites also will fall by His sword. It matters because it extends the judgment southward, showing no nation is beyond His reach.
Overview
Cush, in the region south of Egypt, represents distant peoples drawn into the universal day of judgment. The brevity of the oracle underscores the certainty of God's verdict. Yet later in the book Cush also appears among those who will bring offerings, hinting that judgment is not God's final word.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ezek 30:4–9A sword will come against Egypt, and there will be anguish in Cush when the slain fall in Egypt, its wealth is taken away, and its foundations are torn down.
- Jer 46:9–10Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots! Let the warriors come forth—Cush and Put carrying their shields, men of Lydia drawing the bow.
- Isa 20:4–5so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.
- Isa 18:1–7Woe to the land of whirring wings, along the rivers of Cush,
- Isa 43:3For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.
- Jer 51:20–23“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- Isa 13:5They are coming from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the LORD and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country.
- Ps 17:13Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,
- Jer 47:6–7‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’
- Isa 10:5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 2:12 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.