EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Zephaniah 2:15
15All this will happen to that city, the proud city. That city's people said in their minds, ‘Here we are. We are greater than all the other people.’ But then, other people will destroy their city! Only bits of it will still be there. Then wild animals will come and they will lie down in it. People will see this. So any people who pass by the city will make noises with their lips. And they will hold their fists up. In this way, they will show that they think bad things about the city.
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
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. All this will happen to that city, the proud city. That city's people said in their minds, ‘Here we are. We are greater than all the other people.’ But then, other people will destroy their city! Only bits of it will still be there. Then wild animals will come and they will lie down in it. People will see this. So any people who pass by the city will make noises with their lips. And they will hold their fists up. In this way, they will show that they think bad things about the city.
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 10:12The Lord God will come to punish Mount Zion and Jerusalem. But when he has done that, he says, ‘Now I will punish the king of Assyria. He boasts in his mind and his eyes show how proud he is.’
- Isaiah 22:2Your city is full of the noise of parties, and people are shouting. It was not war that killed the people who are lying in your streets. They did not die in a battle.
- Isaiah 47:7You boasted, “I will rule other nations as queen for ever!” But you did not think about what you were doing. You did not think about what would happen in the end.
- Revelation 18:7She liked to receive honour. She bought expensive things to enjoy a wicked life. So now give her the trouble and pain that she deserves. She has said to herself, “I rule people like a queen. I do not live like a widow. I will never need to be sad.”
- Isaiah 47:8So listen to me, Babylon! You love to enjoy expensive things. You think that you are strong and safe. You say to yourself, “Here I am! There is nobody as good as I am. I will never be alone as a widow. I will never lose my children.”
- Ezekiel 28:2‘Son of man, say this to the ruler of Tyre. “This is what the Almighty Lord says: You are a very proud man. You say, ‘I am a god and Tyre is my throne. I rule over all the seas around me.’ But, whatever you think, you are only a man. You are not a god.
- Ezekiel 29:3Tell them, “The Almighty Lord says this: Listen, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, I have become your enemy. You are like the great monster that lies in Egypt's streams. You say, ‘The Nile river belongs to me! I made it for myself.’
- Isaiah 14:4Then you will laugh at the king of Babylon. You will say to him, ‘Now you cannot be cruel to us any more! Your power to cause trouble has finished!
- Lamentations 1:1The city that was full of people is lonely now. The city is like the wife of a dead husband. Once she was great. She was like a queen among the other places in the country. Now she is a slave.
- Lamentations 2:1The Lord was very angry. He wanted Zion's people to be ashamed. Zion was the most beautiful city in Israel. But he has put it down to the ground from its high place. Zion was like a place where he had rested his feet. Now that he is angry, he has forgotten about that.
- Revelation 18:10They will stand a long way from the city because they are afraid. They do not want to suffer in the same way. They will say, ‘Terrible trouble has come to you, Babylon! Great city! Powerful city! It is very bad for you! In one single hour God has destroyed you!’
- 1 Kings 9:7Then I will remove the Israelite people from the land that I have given to them. I will turn away from this temple that I have made a special place for people to worship me. People from all the other nations will insult the Israelites and they will laugh at them.
- Job 27:23The cruel wind laughs at them as they run away in fear.’
- Psalms 52:6Righteous people will see what has happened, and they will be afraid. Then they will laugh at the wicked person, and they will say,
- Lamentations 2:15Everyone who goes by laughs at you. They are happy because you are sad. They see how the enemy has destroyed everything in Jerusalem. ‘Surely this cannot be the city that men called most beautiful,’ they say. ‘People have said that this city is the best city on earth.’
- Ezekiel 27:36Traders from other nations keep away from you. A terrible thing has happened to you. It will be the end of you for ever.” ’
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
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