the Week of Proper 24 / Ordinary 29
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New Living Translation
Zephaniah 2:14
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Only sheep and wild animals will live in those ruins. Owls and crows will sit on the columns that are left standing. Their calls will be heard coming through the windows. Crows will sit on the doorsteps. Black birds will make their homes in those empty houses.
Flocks will lie down in her midst, All animals that range in herds; Both the pelican and the hedgehog Will spend their nights in the tops of her pillars; Birds will sing in the window, Devastation will be on the threshold; For He has uncovered the cedar work.
Flocks and herds will lie down there, and all wild animals. The owls and crows will sit on the stone pillars. The owl will hoot through the windows, trash will be in the doorways, and the wooden boards of the buildings will be gone.
And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the capitals thereof; [their] voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he has laid bare the cedar-work.
And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; [their] voice shall sing in the windows; desolation [shall be] in the threshholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.
Flocks will lie down in her midst, All the animals which range in herds; Both the pelican and the short-eared owl Will roost on the top of Nineveh's pillars. Birds will sing in the window, Desolation will be on the threshold; For He has uncovered the cedar paneling.
Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of beasts; even the owl and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation will be on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
Herds will lie down in the midst of her, all the animals of the nations. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams.
And flockis, and alle the beestis of folkis, schulen ligge in the myddil therof; and onacratalus, and irchun schulen dwelle in threshfoldis therof; vois of the syngynge in wyndow, and crow in the lyntil, for Y schal make thinne the strengthe therof.
And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the chapiters thereof: their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he hath laid bare the cedar work.
Herds 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.
Herds of wild animals will live in its rubble; all kinds of desert owls will perch on its stones and hoot in the windows. Noisy ravens will be heard inside its buildings, stripped bare of cedar.
And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the capitals thereof; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he hath laid bare the cedar-work.
And herds will take their rest in the middle of her, all the beasts of the valley: the pelican and the porcupine will make their living-places on the tops of its pillars; the owl will be crying in the window; the raven will be seen on the doorstep.
Herds will lie down in it, and all kinds of wild animals too — jackdaws and owls will roost on her columns, voices screeching in the windows, desolation on the doorsteps, for its cedarwork is stripped bare.
And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the crowd of beasts; both the pelican and the bittern shall lodge in the chapiters thereof; a voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be on the thresholds: for he hath laid bare the cedar work.
And all beasts of every kind shall lie down in the midst of her in herds; both the pelican and the bittern shall lodge in the capitals thereof; voices shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the posts; for the cedar-work thereof shall be uncovered.
And flocks shall lie downe in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the Cormorant, and the Bitterne, shall lodge in the vpper lintels of it: their voice shal sing in the windowes, desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall vncouer the Cedar worke.
Flocks will lie down in it, all the animals of the field. The pelican and the hedgehog will live in the tops of its pillars. Birds will sing in the window. And the doorways will be broken down. The pieces of cedar will not be covered.
Herds shall lie down in it, every wild animal; the desert owl and the screech owl shall lodge on its capitals; the owl shall hoot at the window, the raven croak on the threshold; for its cedar work will be laid bare.
And flockes shall lie in the middes of her, and all the beastes of the nations, and the pelicane, and the owle shall abide in the vpper postes of it: the voyce of birdes shall sing in the windowes, and desolations shalbe vpon the postes: for the cedars are vncouered.
And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all kinds of beasts of the nations; both pelicans and the owls shall lodge in her houses; and wild beasts shall roar in the midst of her, and the sword shall be in her gates; for her foundations are laid bare.
So shall lie down in her midst - flocks, each living thing of a nation, both pelican and bittern, in her capitals, shall roost, - a voice, shall resound in the window, the bustard, on the sill, for he hath destroyed, hath laid bare.
And flocks shall lie down in the midst thereof, all the beasts of the nations: and the bittern and the urchin shall lodge in the threshold thereof: the voice of the singing bird in the window, the raven on the upper post, for I will consume her strength.
Herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the field; the vulture and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals; the owl shall hoot in the window, the raven croak on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
The flockes and all the beastes of the people shall lye in the middest of it, pellicanes and owles shal abide in the vpper postes of it, foules shall sing in the wyndowes, and desolation shalbe vpon the postes, for the Cedars are vncouered.
And flocks, and all the wild beasts of the land, and chameleons shall feed in the midst thereof: and hedgehogs shall lodge in the ceilings thereof; and wild beasts shall cry in the breaches thereof, and ravens in her porches, whereas her loftiness was as as cedar.
It will be a place where flocks, herds, and animals of every kind will lie down. Owls will live among its ruins and hoot from the windows. Crows will caw on the doorsteps. The cedar wood of her buildings will be stripped away.
Herds will lie down in the middle of it,every kind of wild animal.Both eagle owls and heronswill 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.
Herds will lie down in the midst of her, all the animals of the nations. Both the ka`at and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams.
And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he shall uncover the cedar work.
Herds shall lie down in her midst, every wild animal of a nation; even the desert owl and the screech owl shall lodge on her capitals. A voice shall hoot in the window; rubble on the threshold; for the cedar is laid bare.
And flocks shall lie down in her midst; all the beasts of a nation; both the pelican and the bittern shall lodge in the capitals of its pillars. A voice shall sing at the window; ruin shall be at the doorsill; for the cedar work Hewill bare.
And crouched in her midst have droves, Every beast of the nation, Both pelican and hedge-hog in her knobs lodge, A voice doth sing at the window, `Destruction [is] at the threshold, For the cedar-work is exposed.'
The flockes and all the beastes of the people shall lye in the myddest of it, pellicanes and storckes shall abyde in the vpper postes of it, foules shal synge in the wyndowes, and rauens shal syt vpon the balckes, for the bordes of Cedre shalbe ryue downe.
Flocks and herds will lie down in the middle of it, as well as every kind of wild animal. Owls will sleep in the tops of its support pillars; they will hoot through the windows. Rubble will cover the thresholds; even the cedar work will be exposed to the elements.
The herds shall lie down in her midst, Every beast of the nation. Both the pelican and the bittern Shall lodge on the capitals of her pillars; Their voice shall sing in the windows; Desolation shall be at the threshold; For He will lay bare the cedar work.
Flocks will lie down in her midst, All beasts which range in herds; Both the pelican and the hedgehog Will lodge in the tops of her pillars; Birds will sing in the window, Desolation will be on the threshold; For He has laid bare the cedar work.
Flocks will lie down in her midst,All the beasts of the nation;Both the pelican and the hedgehogWill lodge in the tops of her pillars;Their voice will sing in the window,Ruin will be on the threshold;For He has laid bare the cedar work.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
flocks: Zephaniah 2:6, Isaiah 13:19-22, Isaiah 34:11-17, Revelation 18:2
cormorant: or, pelican
upper lintels: or, knops, or chapiters, Amos 9:1
for he shall uncover: or, when he hath uncovered
the cedar: Jeremiah 22:14
Reciprocal: Psalms 102:6 - a pelican Isaiah 5:17 - shall the lambs Isaiah 14:17 - made Isaiah 14:23 - make Ezekiel 25:5 - a stable Zephaniah 2:9 - as Gomorrah
Cross-References
From there he expanded his territory to Assyria, building the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah,
The descendants of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, "I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River—
Ishmael's descendants occupied the region from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt in the direction of Asshur. There they lived in open hostility toward all their relatives.
It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River.
Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours. Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
On April 23, as I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River,
And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her,.... In the midst of the city of Nineveh; in the streets of it, where houses stood, and people in great numbers walked; but now only should be seen the cottages of shepherds, and flocks of sheep feeding or lying down, as is before observed of the sea coast of the Philistines, Zephaniah 2:6:
all the beasts of the nations; that is, all sorts of beasts, especially wild beasts, in the several parts of the world, should come and dwell here; instead of kings and princes, nobles, merchants, and the great men thereof, who once here inhabited, now there should be beasts of prey, terrible to come nigh unto; for these are to be understood properly and literally, and not figuratively, of men, for their savageness and cruelty, comparable to beasts:
both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; of the doors of the houses in Nineveh: or, "on its pomegranates" k; the figures of these being often put on chapiters, turrets, pinnacles, pillars, and posts in buildings, and over porches of doors; and on these those melancholy and doleful creatures here mentioned, which delight in solitary places, should take up their abode. The "cormorant" is the same with the "corvus aquaticus", or "sea raven", about the size of a goose; it builds not only among rocks, but often on trees: what is called the "shagge" is a species of it, or the lesser cormorant, a water fowl common on our northern coasts; is somewhat larger than a common duck, and builds on trees as the common cormorant l. Bochart m takes it to be the "pelican" which is here meant; and indeed, whatever bird it is, it seems to have its name from vomiting; and this is what naturalists n observe of the pelican, that it swallows down shell fish, which, being kept awhile in its stomach, are heated, and then it casts them up, which then open easily, and it picks out the flesh of them: and it seems to delight in desolate places, since it is called the pelican of the wilderness, Psalms 102:6. Isidore says o it is an Egyptian bird, dwelling in the desert by the river Nile, from whence it has its name; for it is called "canopus Aegyptus"; and the Vulgate Latin version renders the word here "onocrotalus", the same with the pelican; and Montanus translates it the "pelican"; and so do others. The "bittern" is a bird of the heron kind; it is much the size of a common heron; it is usually found in sedgy and reedy places near water, and sometimes in hedges; it makes a very remarkable noise, and, from the singularity of it, the common people imagine it sticks its beak in a reed or in the mud, in order to make it; hence it is sometimes called the "mire drum" p. It is said it will sometimes make a noise like a bull, or the blowing of a horn, so as to be heard half a German mile, or one hour's journey; hence it is by some called "botaurus", as if "bootaurus", because it imitates the bellowing of a bull q. The Tigurine version renders it the "castor" or "beaver" r; but Bochart s takes it to be the "hedgehog"; and so the word is rendered in the Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and by others: which is a solitary creature, and drives away all other animals from society with it by its prickles:
[their] voice shall sing in the windows: of desolate houses, the inhabitants being gone who used to be seen looking out of them; but now these creatures before named should dwell here, and utter their doleful sounds, who otherwise would not have come near them:
desolation [shall be] in the thresholds; there being none to go in and out over them. The Septuagint version, and which is followed by the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions, render it, "the ravens shall be in its gates": mistaking הדב, "desolation", for ערב, "a raven":
for he shall uncover the cedar work; the enemy Nebuchadnezzar, or Nabopolassar, when he should take the city, would unroof the houses panelled with cedar, and expose all the fine cedar work within to the inclemencies of the air, which would soon come to ruin. All these expressions are designed to set forth the utter ruin and destruction of this vast and populous city; and which was so utterly destroyed, as Lucian says, that there is no trace of it to be found; and, according to modern travellers, there are only heaps of rubbish to be seen, which are conjectured to be the ruins of this city; Psalms 102:6- :.
k בכפתוריה "in malogranatis ejus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius. l Vid Supplement to Chambers's Dictionary, in the words "Cormorant, Cornus Aquaticus", and "Shagge". m Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 24. col. 294. n Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 10. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 40. Aelian de Animal. l. 3. c. 20. o Originum, l. 12. c. 7. p Supplement, ut supra (Chambers's Dictionary), in the word "Bittern". q Schotti Physica Curiosa, par. 2. l. 9. c. 24. p. 1160. r Vid. Fuller. Miscel. Saer. l. 1. c. 18. s Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 36. col. 1036.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her - No desolation is like that of decayed luxury. It preaches the nothingness of man, the fruitlessness of his toils, the fleetingness of his hopes and enjoyments, and their baffling when at their height. Grass in a court or on a once beaten road, much more, in a town, speaks of the passing away of what has been, that man was accustomed to be there, and is not, or is there less than he was. It leaves the feeling of void and forsakenness. But in Nineveh not a few tufts of grass here and there shall betoken desolation, it shall be one wild rank pasture, where “flocks” shall not feed only, but “lie down” as in their fold and continual resting place, not in the outskirts only or suburbs, but in the very center of her life and throng and busy activity, “in the midst of her,” and none shall fray them away. So Isaiah had said of the cities of Aroer, “they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down and none shall make them afraid” Isaiah 17:2, and of Judah until its restoration by Christ, that it should be “a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks” (Isaiah 32:14, compare Jeremiah 6:2). And not only those which are wont to be found in some connection with man, but “all the beasts of a nation” , the troops of wild and savage and unclean beasts which shun the dwellings of man or are his enemies, these in troops have their lair there.
Both the cormorant and the bittern - They may be the same. The pelican retires inland to consume its food. Tristram, Houghton, in Smith’s Bible Dictionary, “Pelican” note. It could be a hedgehog.
Shall lodge in the upper lintels of it. - The “chapiters” (English margin) or capitals of the pillars of the temples and palaces shall lie broken and strewn upon the ground, and among those desolate fragments of her pride shall unclean animals haunt. The pelican has its Hebrew name from vomiting. It vomits up the shells which it had swallowed whole, after they had been opened by the heat of the stomach, and so picks out the animal contained in them , the very image of greediness and uncleanness. It dwells also not in deserts only but near marshes, so that Nineveh is doubly waste.
A voice shall sing in the windows - In the midst of the desolation, the muteness of the hedgehog and the pensive loneliness of the solitary pelican, the musing spectator is even startled by the gladness of a bird, joyous in the existence which God has given it. Instead of the harmony of music and men-singers and women-singers in their palaces shall be the sweet music of some lonely bird, unconscious that it is sitting “in the windows” of those, at whose name the world grew pale, portions of the outer walls being all which remain of her palaces. “Desolation” shall be “in the thresholds,” sitting, as it were, in them; everywhere to be seen in them; the more, because unseen. Desolation is something oppressive; we “feel” its presence. There, as the warder watch and ward at the empty portals, where once was the fullest throng, shall “desolation sit,” that no one enter. “For He shall uncover (hath uncovered, English margin) the cedar-work:” in the roofless palaces, the carved “cedar-work” shall be laid open to wind and rain. Any one must have noticed, how piteous and dreary the decay of any house in a town looks, with the torn paper hanging uselessly on its walls. A poet of our own said niche beautiful ruins of a wasted monastery:
“For the gay beams of lightsome day
Gild, but to flout the ruins gray.”
But at Nineveh it is one of the mightiest cities of the world which thus lies waste, and the bared “cedar-work” had, in the days of its greatness, been carried off from the despoiled Lebanon or Hermon .
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Zephaniah 2:14. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her — Nineveh was so completely destroyed, that its situation is not at present even known. The present city of Mossoul is supposed to be in the vicinity of the place where this ancient city stood.
The cormorant קאת kaath; and the bittern, קפד kippod. These Newcome translates, "The pelican and the porcupine."
Their voice shall sing in the windows — The windows shall be all demolished; wild fowl shall build their nests in them, and shall be seen coming from their sills, and the fine cedar ceilings shall be exposed to the weather, and by and by crumble to dust. See the note on Isaiah 34:11; Isaiah 34:14, where nearly the same terms are used.
I have in another place introduced a remarkable couplet quoted by Sir W. Jones from a Persian poet, which speaks of desolation in nearly the same terms.
[Persian]
[Persian]
"The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar:
The owl stands sentinel in the watchtower of Afrasiab."
