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.
Zephaniah 2:12 You Ethiopians, also shall be slain with my sword.
Zephaniah 2:13 And he will stretch out his hand upon the north, and will destroy Assyria: and he will make the beautiful city a wilderness, and as a place not passable, and as a desert.
Zephaniah 2:14 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.
Zephaniah 2:15 This is the glorious city that dwelt in security: that said in her heart: I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desert, a place for beasts to lie down in? every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.
The verse centers on "flocks", "shall", "down", "midst", "thereof", "beasts", "nations", and "bittern". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "flocks" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 13's "And he will stretch out his hand..." into verse 15's "This is the glorious city that dwelt...", so "flocks" and "shall" 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 "flocks" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.