Zephaniah 2:5 (LSB)

Passage

Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, The nation of the Cherethites! The word of Yahweh is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; And I will make you perish So that there will be no inhabitant.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 2:3 Seek Yahweh, All you humble of the earth Who have worked His justice; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of Yahweh’s anger.

Zephaniah 2:4 For Gaza will be forsaken And Ashkelon a desolation; Ashdod will be driven out at noon, And Ekron will be uprooted.

Zephaniah 2:5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, The nation of the Cherethites! The word of Yahweh is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; And I will make you perish So that there will be no inhabitant.

Zephaniah 2:6 So the seacoast will be pastures, With caves for shepherds and folds for flocks.

Zephaniah 2:7 And the coast will be For the remnant of the house of Judah; They will feed upon it. In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening; For Yahweh their God will care for them And restore their fortune.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "inhabitants", "seacoast", "nation", "cherethites", "word", "yahweh", "against", and "canaan". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "inhabitants" and "seacoast", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "For Gaza will be forsaken And Ashkelon..." into verse 6's "So the seacoast will be pastures With...", so "inhabitants" and "seacoast" 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 "inhabitants" and "seacoast" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.