Zephaniah 2:12

Zephaniah 2:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.
• New International Version (NIV)“You Cushites, too, will be slain by my sword.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“You Ethiopians also, You shall be slain by My sword.”

Context of Zephaniah 2:12

10That will happen to all proud people. The proud people said cruel words to God's people. The cruel people thought that they were greater than the people of the Lord Almighty. 11The Lord will make them afraid. He will destroy all the false gods. People will worship him instead. Every person, in his own place, will worship God. They will also worship him in the places where the people now believe in false gods. ‘I will also punish you people in the country called Ethiopia. Other people will kill you with a big knife,’ the Lord says. 13The Lord will go against the north. There, he will destroy the country called Assyria. He will also destroy Nineveh city. That place will become as dry as a desert. 14Sheep will lie down there. All the wild animals of that place will live together there. Vultures and owls will rest on top of the high, thin parts of the buildings. They will sing in the windows. Bits of doors will lie on the ground. The Lord will tear down all the things in the houses that they have made from valuable wood.

Zephaniah 2:12 word by word

גַּם־אַתֶּ֣ם כּוּשִׁ֔ים חַֽלְלֵ֥י חַרְבִּ֖י הֵֽמָּה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ye Ethiopiansכּוּשִׁיkûshîy · EthiopianH3569
• also, yeהֵ֫מָּהhêm hêmmâh · they(masc.)H1992
• slainחָלָלchâlâl · slain: killedH2491
• by my swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719

Cross-references for Zephaniah 2:12

• Isaiah 18:1It will be very bad for that land beyond the rivers of Cush. Their ships seem to have wings and fly everywhere!
• Isaiah 20:4The king of Assyria will take away people from Egypt as prisoners. He will do the same thing to the people of Cush. Young people and old people will go as prisoners to Assyria. They will not wear any clothes or shoes. People will see their bare bodies. The Egyptians will be very ashamed.
• Isaiah 43:3I am the Lord, your God, so I will rescue you. I am Israel's Holy God, your Saviour. I gave Egypt as the price to buy you back. I gave Ethiopia and Seba to their enemies, so that you could be free.
• Jeremiah 46:9So ride your horses quickly into the battle! Drive your chariots as fast as they will go! Tell your soldiers to march forward into the battle. Send your soldiers of Ethiopia and Libya who carry shields. Send your soldiers of Lydia who have bows and arrows.
• Ezekiel 30:4An enemy army will attack Egypt. The people of Ethiopia will be afraid. Many people in Egypt will die in the battle. Enemies will carry away Egypt's riches. They will knock down Egypt's buildings.
• Psalms 17:13Lord, please do something! Fight against them! Knock them down! Take your sword and save me from those wicked men.
• Isaiah 10:5It will be very bad for Assyria! I will use its army to punish my people, because I am angry with them. Assyria will be like a stick that I use to beat my people. That is how I will show them my anger.
• Isaiah 13:5People are coming from countries that are far away, from the ends of the earth. The Lord himself is coming with weapons for war, because he is angry. He will destroy the whole land.
• Jeremiah 47:6You shout to the Lord, “How long will you attack us with your sword? Please stop killing us! Put your sword away!”
• Jeremiah 51:20‘You are the weapon that I use to fight my battles. I have used you to punish nations. I have used you to destroy kingdoms.

Commentaries on Zephaniah 2:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Ye Ethiopians also - Nebuchadnezzar subdued these. See Jeremiah 46:2, Jeremiah 46:9; Ezekiel 30:4, Ezekiel 30:10. See also on Amos 9:7; (note).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. 12Cushites: While the Hebrew term can refer to any nation or people along the southern edge of the known world of that time, here it refers specifically to the Ethiopian family of kings that ruled Egypt.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. Fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar (God's sword, Is 10:5) conquered Egypt, with which Ethiopia was closely connected as its ally (Jr 46:2-9; Eze 30:5-9). Ye--literally, "They." The third person expresses estrangement; while doomed before God's tribunal in the second person, they are spoken of in the third as aliens from God.Read the comment

Topics related to Zephaniah 2:12

• Ethiopia

In the dictionaries

• Cottage
• Ethiopia
• Nahum, Book of
• Thereupon
• Zephaniah, Book of

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