Zephaniah 2:4
New International Version
Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted.

New Living Translation
Gaza and Ashkelon will be abandoned, Ashdod and Ekron torn down.

English Standard Version
For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.

Berean Standard Bible
For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.

King James Bible
For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

New King James Version
For Gaza shall be forsaken, And Ashkelon desolate; They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, And Ekron shall be uprooted.

New American Standard Bible
For Gaza will be abandoned, And Ashkelon will become a desolation; The inhabitants of Ashdod will be driven out at noon, And Ekron will be uprooted.

NASB 1995
For Gaza will be abandoned And Ashkelon a desolation; Ashdod will be driven out at noon And Ekron will be uprooted.

NASB 1977
For Gaza will be abandoned, And Ashkelon a desolation; Ashdod will be driven out at noon, And Ekron will be uprooted.

Legacy Standard Bible
For Gaza will be forsaken And Ashkelon a desolation; Ashdod will be driven out at noon, And Ekron will be uprooted.

Amplified Bible
For [this is the fate of the Philistines:] Gaza will be abandoned And Ashkelon a desolation; [The people of] Ashdod will be driven out at noon [in broad daylight] And Ekron will be uprooted and destroyed.

Christian Standard Bible
For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon will become a ruin. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon will become a ruin. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.

American Standard Version
For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because Aza will be abandoned, and Ashqelon will be for destruction; at noonday they shall take Ashdod and Aqron shall be uprooted

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For Gaza shall be utterly spoiled, and Ascalon shall be destroyed; and Azotus shall be cast forth at noon-day, and Accaron shall be rooted up.

Contemporary English Version
Gaza and Ashkelon will be deserted and left in ruins. Ashdod will be emptied in broad daylight, and Ekron uprooted.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For Gaza shall be destroyed, and Ascalon shall be a desert, they shall cast out Azotus at noonday, and Accaron shall be rooted up.

English Revised Version
For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Gaza will be deserted, and Ashkelon will be destroyed. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be torn out by the roots.

Good News Translation
No one will be left in the city of Gaza. Ashkelon will be deserted. The people of Ashdod will be driven out in half a day, and the people of Ekron will be driven from their city.

International Standard Version
"For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon deserted— Ashdod will be emptied at high noon; even Ekron will be uprooted.

JPS Tanakh 1917
For Gaza shall be forsaken, And Ashkelon a desolation; They shall drive out Ashdod at the noonday, And Ekron shall be rooted up.

Literal Standard Version
For Gaza is forsaken, | And Ashkelon [is] for a desolation, | Ashdod! At noon they cast her forth, | And Ekron is rooted up.

Majority Standard Bible
For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.

New American Bible
For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon shall be a waste, Ashdod they shall drive out at midday, and Ekron shall be uprooted.

NET Bible
Indeed, Gaza will be deserted and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, and Ekron will be overthrown.

New Revised Standard Version
For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.

New Heart English Bible
For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up.

Webster's Bible Translation
For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

World English Bible
For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up.

Young's Literal Translation
For Gaza is forsaken, And Ashkelon is for a desolation, Ashdod! at noon they do cast her forth, And Ekron is rooted up.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Judgment on the Philistines
4For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted. 5Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you, and no one will be left.”…

Cross References
Isaiah 14:29
Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.

Jeremiah 6:4
Prepare for battle against her; rise up, let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the daylight is fading; the evening shadows grow long.

Jeremiah 47:1
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.

Jeremiah 47:5
The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?

Amos 1:6
This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Gaza, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they exiled a whole population, delivering them up to Edom.

Amos 1:7
So I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza, to consume its citadels.

Amos 1:8
I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish," says the Lord GOD.


Treasury of Scripture

For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

Gaza.

Jeremiah 25:20
And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,

Jeremiah 47:1-7
The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza…

Ezekiel 25:15-17
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; …

at.

Psalm 91:6
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

Jeremiah 6:4
Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

Jeremiah 15:8
Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.

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Abandoned Ashdod Ashkelon Ash'kelon Cast Deserted Desolation Drive Driven Ekron Emptied Forsaken Forth Gaza Midday Noon Noonday Rooted Ruins Uprooted Waste
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Zephaniah 2
1. An exhortation to repentance.
4. The judgment of the Philistines,
8. of Moab and Ammon,
12. of Ethiopia,
13. and of Assyria.














Verses 4-7. - § 2. The admonition is enforced by the announcement of the punishment that is about to fall on various nations, which shall prepare the way for the general acceptance of true religion; and first the sentence shall reach the Philistines. Verse 4. - There is reason enough why Judah should tremble when the nations around her, such as the powerful and turbulent Philistines, fall before the invading host. Four of the five cities of the Philistines are mentioned, as denoting the whole territory, which again is the representative of the heathen world more definitely particularized later on. Thus the four quarters of the world are virtually specified: the Philistines representing the west,, the Moabites and Ammonites (vers. 8-10) the east, the Cushites (vers. 11, 12) the south, and the Assyrians (vers. 13-15) the north. Gaza (see note on Amos 1:6) shall be forsaken; depopulated and desolate. There is a paronomasia in the Hebrew: Azzah will be azubhah. Some of the other localities are treated in the same manner (comp. Micah 1:10-15, and notes there). Ashkelon a desolation (see note on Amos 1:8). They shall drive out Ashdod. The inhabitants shall be expelled. (For Ashdod, see note on Amos, loc. cit.) At the noon day. The hottest part of the day, the most unlikely time for a hostile attack, hence the expression is equivalent to "unexpectedly and suddenly" (comp. Jeremiah 15:8). Ekron shall be rooted up. In the Hebrew paronomasia, Ekron ("the Deep-rooted") shall be teaker. (For Ekron, see note on Amos, loc. cit., where the fulfilment of prophecy concerning that town is noted.) Gaza (see note on Amos 1:7), after being depopulated and again re-peopled by Alexander the Great, fell into the hands of Ptolemy, and was destroyed by Antiochus, B.C. 198 (Polybius, 'Reliq.,' 16:40; Pusey, p. 457). Often rebuilt, it was as often razed to the ground; and the present representative of the ancient town, Ghuzzeh, stands upon a hill composed of the accumulated ruins of successive cities. Of the condition of Ashkelon, Dr. Thomson writes, "There are no buildings of the ancient city now standing, but broken columns are mixed up with the soil .... Let us climb to the top of these tall fragments at the southeast angle of the wall, and we shell have the whole scene of desolation before us, stretching terrace after terrace, quite down to the sea on the northwest .... No site in this country has so deeply impressed my mind with sadness. They have stretched out upon Ashkelon the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness. Thorns have come up in her palaces, and brambles in the fortresses thereof, and it is a habitation of dragons and a court for owls (Isaiah 34:11-13)" ('The Land and the Book,' p. 546). "It was for ages," says Dr. Porter, "a great and strong city. Under the Philistines, the Hebrews, the Greeks, the Romans, the Saracens, the Crusaders, it was a place of note. The shattered walls that still surround the site were built by Richard Coeur de Lion. When I first clambered to the top of a broken bastion, a scene of desolation burst suddenly upon my view for which I was not prepared, though I had seen Baal-bec and Palmyra, Heliopolis and Memphis. The whole site was before me, and not a fragment of a house standing. One small section was covered with little gardens; but over the rest of the site lay smooth rounded hillocks of drifting sand. The sand is fast advancing - so fast, that probably ere the close of the century the site of Ascalon will have been blotted out forever" ('Illust. of Bible Proph.,' p. 21). As for Ekron, hod. Akir, travellers note that it is now a little village, consisting of about fifty mud houses, without a remnant of antiquity except two large walls; its very ruins have vanished. The omission of Gath, a town at this time of small importance (see note on Amos 1:6), is probably owing to a feeling of the symbolism of numbers, four denoting completion, or the whole, like "the four winds, the four ends of the earth," etc.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
For
כִּ֤י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

Gaza
עַזָּה֙ (‘az·zāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 5804: A Philistine city

will be
תִֽהְיֶ֔ה (ṯih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

abandoned,
עֲזוּבָ֣ה (‘ă·zū·ḇāh)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - feminine singular
Strong's 5800: To loosen, relinquish, permit

and Ashkelon
וְאַשְׁקְל֖וֹן (wə·’aš·qə·lō·wn)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 831: Ashkelon -- a city of the Philistines

left in ruins.
לִשְׁמָמָ֑ה (liš·mā·māh)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8077: Devastation, astonishment

Ashdod
אַשְׁדּ֗וֹד (’aš·dō·wḏ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 795: Ashdod -- a city of the Philistines

will be driven out
יְגָ֣רְשׁ֔וּהָ (yə·ḡā·rə·šū·hā)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | third person feminine singular
Strong's 1644: To drive out from a, possession, to expatriate, divorce

at noon,
בַּֽצָּהֳרַ֙יִם֙ (baṣ·ṣā·ho·ra·yim)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6672: A light, double light, noon

and Ekron
וְעֶקְר֖וֹן (wə·‘eq·rō·wn)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6138: Ekron -- a Philistine city

will be uprooted.
תֵּעָקֵֽר׃ (tê·‘ā·qêr)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 6131: To pluck up, to hamstring, to exterminate


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OT Prophets: Zephaniah 2:4 For Gaza will be forsaken and Ashkelon (Zeph. Zep Zp)
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