Zephaniah 2:13

¹¹ The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.

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

And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

¹⁴ And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.

¹⁵ This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert.
KJV: And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
WEB: He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness.
ASV: And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.
DARBY: 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.
BLB: And He will stretch out His hand against the north, and He will destroy Assyria; and He will set Nineveh as a desolation, as dry as the desert.

ÅB: Han rekker sin hånd ut mot Norden og ødelegger Assur og gjør Ninive til et øde, tørt som en ørken.
OTB: Og Han skal strekke ut sin hånd mot nord
Og bringe Assyria ned,
Og Han skal gjøre Ninive til en ødemark,
Tørr som ørkenen.
B1930: Han rekker sin hånd ut mot Norden og ødelegger Assur og gjør Ninive til et øde, tørt som en ørken.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Nahum 3:7
And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
Read in context
Nahum 3:18–19
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
Read in context
Nahum 1:1
The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Read in context
Isaiah 10:12
Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
Read in context
Isaiah 10:16
Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
Read in context
Micah 5:6
And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
Read in context
Isaiah 11:11
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
Read in context
Zechariah 10:10–11
I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.
Read in context