Zephaniah 2:11 (DBY)

Passage

Jehovah will be terrible unto them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and all the isles of the nations shall worship him, every one from his place.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore, [as] I live, saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall certainly be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt-pits, and a perpetual desolation; the remnant of my people shall spoil them, and the residue of my nation shall possess them.

Zephaniah 2:10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah of hosts.

Zephaniah 2:11 Jehovah will be terrible unto them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and all the isles of the nations shall worship him, every one from his place.

Zephaniah 2:12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be the slain of my sword.

Zephaniah 2:13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, a place of drought like the wilderness.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehovah", "terrible", "famish", "gods", "earth", "isles", "nations", and "shall". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehovah" and "terrible", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "This shall they have for their pride..." into verse 12's "Ye Ethiopians also ye shall be the...", so "jehovah" and "terrible" belong inside that flow. In Zephaniah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jehovah" and "terrible" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.