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Zephaniah 2

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1 Collect yourselves and gather together, O nation without shame,

2 before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass away as chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah's anger come upon you.

3 Seek Jehovah, all ye meek of the land, who have performed his ordinance; Seek righteousness, Seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of Jehovah's anger.

4 For Gazah shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon shall be a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: I will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant;

6 and the sea-coast shall be cave-dwellings for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for Jehovah their God shall visit them, and turn again their captivity.

8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, wherewith they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the crowd of beasts; both the pelican and the bittern shall lodge in the chapiters thereof; a voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be on the thresholds: for he hath laid bare the cedar work.

15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt in security, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none else beside me: how is she become a desolation, a couching-place for beasts! Every one that passeth by her shall hiss, shall wave his hand.

   

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Shepherd

  
A Chilean gaucho herding sheep.

Shepherds represent people who lead and teach others, using knowledge and true ideas to help people reach the goodness of life. This makes sense if you think about what a shepherd does. He makes sure the flock has good grass to eat; plants in the Bible represent facts and knowledge. The shepherd makes sure the flock has good water to drink; water represents true thinking about the spiritual aspect of day-to-day life. He carries weapons (a true understanding of spiritual things) to ward off predators (desires for evil) and keeps the flock safe. And the ultimate goal of the shepherd is for the flock to be useful, to do good, to provide good things, representing the good of life. There are, of course, a few cases in which shepherds are the bad guys (for instance, a group of them in Midian would chase Jethro's daughters away so they could water their sheep first; Moses found favor by helping the daughters and ended up marrying one of them). In these cases shepherds represent people who lead and teach without the good of life as the goal. When goodness is not the goal, ideas and knowledge are twisted into falsity and the teaching and leading trend toward evil. See also Sheep.