Zephaniah 2:11 (LSB)

Passage

Yahweh will be fearsome to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore, as I live,” declares Yahweh of hosts, The God of Israel, “Surely Moab will be like Sodom And the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah— A place possessed by nettles and salt pits, And a perpetual desolation. The remnant of My people will plunder them, And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”

Zephaniah 2:10 This they will have in return for their pride because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of hosts.

Zephaniah 2:11 Yahweh will be fearsome to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.

Zephaniah 2:12 “You also, O Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”

Zephaniah 2:13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north And cause Assyria to perish, And He will make Nineveh a desolation, Parched like the wilderness.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "yahweh", "fearsome", "starve", "gods", "earth", "coastlands", "nations", and "down". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "yahweh" and "fearsome", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "This they will have in return for..." into verse 12's "You also O Ethiopians will be slain...", so "yahweh" and "fearsome" 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 "yahweh" and "fearsome" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.