Zephaniah 2:11 (GNV)

Passage

The Lord will be terrible vnto them: for he wil consume all the gods of the earth, and euery man shall worship him from his place, euen all the yles of the heathen.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore, as I liue, saith the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall bee as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorah, euen the breeding of nettels and salt pittes, and a perpetuall desolation: the residue of my folke shall spoyle them, and the remnant of my people shall possesse them.

Zephaniah 2:10 This shall they haue for their pride, because they haue reproched and magnified themselues against the Lord of hostes people.

Zephaniah 2:11 The Lord will be terrible vnto them: for he wil consume all the gods of the earth, and euery man shall worship him from his place, euen all the yles of the heathen.

Zephaniah 2:12 Ye Morians also shalbe slaine by my sword with them.

Zephaniah 2:13 And he wil stretch out his hand against the North, and destroy Asshur, and will make Nineueh desolate, and waste like a wildernesse.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lord", "terrible", "vnto", "consume", "gods", "earth", "euery", and "shall". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lord" 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 haue for their pride..." into verse 12's "Ye Morians also shalbe slaine by my...", so "lord" 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 "lord" and "terrible" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.