So the seacoast will become a land of pastures, with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep.
Parallel translations
- WEB The sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks.
- KJV And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
- NKJV The seacoast shall be pastures, With shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks.
- NASB So the seacoast will become grazing places, With pastures for shepherds and folds for flocks.
- NLT The Philistine coast will become a wilderness pasture, a place of shepherd camps and enclosures for sheep and goats.
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
The once-bustling coast will become open pastureland with shepherds and flocks. It matters because it pictures proud cities reduced to quiet wilderness under God's judgment.
Overview
The transformation of urban territory into grazing land vividly portrays desolation. What was a hub of Philistine power becomes fit only for shepherds. This reversal magnifies God's authority to humble the proud and reshape the fortunes of nations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Ezek 25:5I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’
- Isa 17:2The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.
- Zeph 2:14–15Herds will lie down in her midst, creatures of every kind. Both the desert owl and screech owl will roost atop her pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but desolation will lie on the threshold, for He will expose the beams of cedar.
- Isa 5:17Lambs will graze as in their own pastures, and strangers will feed in the ruins of the wealthy.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 2:6 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
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