Christian Standard Bible
Zephaniah 2:15
15This is the jubilant city that lives in security, that says to herself: I exist, and there is no one else. What a desolation she has become, a place for wild animals to lie down! Everyone who passes by her scoffs and shakes his fist.
Zephaniah 2:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.
- New International Version (NIV)This is the city of revelry that lived in safety. She said to herself, “I am the one! And there is none besides me.” What a ruin she has become, a lair for wild beasts! All who pass by her scoff and shake their fists.
- English Standard Version (ESV)This is the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, "I am, and there is no one else." What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.
- New King James Version (NKJV)This is the rejoicing city That dwelt securely, That said in her heart, “I am it, and there is none besides me.” How has she become a desolation, A place for beasts to lie down! Everyone who passes by her Shall hiss and shake his fist.
Context of Zephaniah 2:15
13He will also stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria; he will make Nineveh a desolate ruin, dry as the desert. 14Herds will lie down in the middle of it, every kind of wild animal. Both eagle owls and herons will roost in the capitals of its pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but devastation will be on the threshold, for he will expose the cedar work. This is the jubilant city that lives in security, that says to herself: I exist, and there is no one else. What a desolation she has become, a place for wild animals to lie down! Everyone who passes by her scoffs and shakes his fist.
Read all of Zephaniah 2Zephaniah 2:15 word by word
זֹ֠את הָעִ֤יר הָעַלִּיזָה֙ הַיּוֹשֶׁ֣בֶת לָבֶ֔טַח הָאֹֽמְרָה֙ בִּלְבָבָ֔הּ אֲנִ֖י וְאַפְסִ֣י ע֑וֹד אֵ֣יךְ׀ הָיְתָ֣ה לְשַׁמָּ֗ה מַרְבֵּץ֙ לַֽחַיָּ֔ה כֹּ֚ל עוֹבֵ֣ר עָלֶ֔יהָ יִשְׁרֹ֖ק יָנִ֥יעַ יָדֽוֹ׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- the rejoicingעַלִּיז‛allîyz · jubilantH5947
- cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- that dweltיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- carelesslyבֶּ֫טַחbeţach · securityH983
- that saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- in her heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
- none besideאֶ֫פֶס'ephes · endH657
- me: how is she become a desolationשַׁמָּהshammâh · horror: destroyedH8047
- a place for beastsחַיָּהchay · living thingH2416
- to lie down inמַרְבֵּץmarbêts · restingH4769
- every one that passeth byעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
- her shall hissשָׁרַקshâraq · to whistleH8319
- wagנוּעַnûa‛ · to shakeH5128
- his handיָדyâd · handH3027
Cross-references for Zephaniah 2:15
- Isaiah 10:12But when the Lord finishes all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes.”
- Isaiah 22:2The noisy city, the jubilant town, is filled with celebration. Your dead did not die by the sword; they were not killed in battle.
- Isaiah 47:7You said, ‘I will be the queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or think about their outcome.
- Revelation 18:7As much as she glorified herself and indulged her sensual and excessive ways, give her that much torment and grief. For she says in her heart, “I sit as a queen; I am not a widow, and I will never see grief.”
- Isaiah 47:8“So now hear this, lover of luxury, who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I am, and there is no one else. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’
- Ezekiel 28:2“Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.” Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.
- Ezekiel 29:3Speak to him and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster lying in the middle of his Nile, who says, “My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.”
- Isaiah 14:4you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylon and say: How the oppressor has quieted down, and how the raging has become quiet!
- Lamentations 1:1How she sits alone, the city once crowded with people! She who was great among the nations has become like a widow. The princess among the provinces has been put to forced labor.
- Lamentations 2:1How the Lord has overshadowed Daughter Zion with his anger! He has thrown down Israel’s glory from heaven to earth. He did not acknowledge his footstool in the day of his anger.
- Revelation 18:10They will stand far off in fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in a single hour your judgment has come.
- 1 Kings 9:7I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them, and I will reject the temple I have sanctified for my name. Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.
- Job 27:23It claps its hands at him and scoffs at him from its place.
- Psalms 52:6The righteous will see and fear, and they will derisively say about that hero,
- Lamentations 2:15All who pass by scornfully clap their hands at you. They hiss and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem: Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?
- Ezekiel 27:36Those who trade among the peoples scoff at you; you have become an object of horror and will never exist again.”’”
Commentaries on Zephaniah 2:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15This is the rejoicing city - The city in which mirth, jocularity, and pleasure, reigned without interruption. And wag his hand - Will point her out as a mark and monument of Divine displeasure.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-15Verses 4-15 Those are really in a woful condition who have the word of the Lord against them, for no word of his shall fall to the ground. God will restore his people to their rights, though long kept from them. It has been the common lot of God's people, in all ages, to be reproached and reviled. God shall be worshipped, not only by all Israel, and the strangers who join them, but by the heathen. Remote nations must be reckoned with for the wrongs done…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15ruin: The destruction was certain and could not be reversed (see Nahum 1:14; 2:13; 3:19). Zephaniah saw no future for Assyria or its capital. Nineveh was so completely destroyed that the Greek historian Xenophon passed by its ruins without knowing it was there. hisses and shakes his fist: Those who suffered under Assyria's cruel empire would feel glad seeing it come to an end.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Nothing then seemed more improbable than that the capital of so vast an empire, a city sixty miles in compass, with walls one hundred feet high, and so thick that three chariots could go abreast on them, and with fifteen hundred towers, should be so totally destroyed that its site is with difficulty discovered. Yet so it is, as the prophet foretold. there is none beside me--This peculiar phrase, expressing self-gratulation as if peerless, is plainly…Read the comment
Topics related to Zephaniah 2:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Zephaniah 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Christian Standard Bible — © 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Commentaries