The Lord in Zephaniah 2:8 has made known that he was well aware of the taunts of Moab and Ammon against his covenant people. The adverb therefore
introduces the logical result of the Lord’s awareness: divine punishment against the people of Moab and Ammon. Both nations have forgotten that to despise Judah is to despise God Himself.
1
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”