Prophecies of the nations' conversion and the overthrow of false gods
Augustine is reciting and explaining Old Testament prophecies that he says foretold the conversion of all nations to the worship of the true God through Christ and the destruction of the false gods.
I recalled a little earlier, and I repeat it now, that the prophets of God foretold that the nations would worship him after the false gods they once served had been exterminated. “The Lord will prevail against them,” he says, “and will exterminate all the gods of the nations of the earth, and they will worship him, each from his own place, all the islands of the nations” (Zephaniah 2:11). And not only the islands, but all the nations—so much so that even all the islands of the nations are included—since elsewhere he does not name islands but speaks of the whole world: “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before him, for the kingdom is the Lord’s, and he will rule over the nations” (Psalm 22:27, Septuagint Psalm 21:27). That these things were to be fulfilled through Christ is clear enough both from many other testimonies and from the very psalm from which I quoted this. For when a little earlier he himself spoke through the prophet about his coming passion, saying, “They dug my hands and my feet; they counted all my bones. They looked and stared at me. They divided my garments among themselves, and over my clothing they cast lots” (Psalm 22:16-18, Septuagint Psalm 21:16-18), a little later he brings in what I cited: “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,” and the rest. And indeed the testimony I used first, where it says, “The Lord will prevail against them, and will exterminate all the gods of the nations of the earth,” shows clearly enough in the word “prevail” that this too was foretold: that the nations would first attack the church and persecute the Christian name as much as they could, so that, if possible, it would be entirely wiped from the earth. And because he was going to overcome them by the patience of the martyrs, the greatness of miracles, and the faith of the peoples that would follow, it was said this way: “The Lord will prevail against them.” For it would not say “he will prevail against them” unless they were resisting him by attacking. So it was prophesied in the psalm: “Why did the nations rage, and the peoples meditate empty things? The kings of the earth stood by, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ” (Psalm 2:1-2). And a little later it says: “The Lord said to me: You are my son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession” (Psalm 2:7-8). This is why it was said in the other psalm I quoted above: “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord.” By these and similar prophetic testimonies it is shown that what we see being fulfilled through Christ was foretold: that the God of Israel, whom we understand to be the one true God, would be worshiped not only in that one nation called Israel but among all the nations, and that he would remove all the false gods of the nations both from their temples and from the hearts of their worshipers.
Latin
Quod autem ipsum essent culturae gentes exterminatis diis falsis, quos antea colebant, a prophetis eius esse praedictum paulo ante commemoraui et nunc repeto. praeualebit, inquit, dominus aduersus eos et exterminabit omnes deos gentium terrae, et adorabunt eum unusquisque de loco suo, omnes insulae gentium. neque solae insulae, sed ita omnes gentes, ut etiam omnes insulae gentium, quandoquidem alibi non insulas nominat, sed uniuersum orbem terrarum dicens: commemorabuntur et conuertentur ad dominum uniuersi fines terrae, et adorabunt in conspectu eius uniuersae patriae gentium, quoniam domini est regnum, et ipse dominabitur gentium. haec autem per Christum fuisse conplenda et aliis pluribus testimoniis et in eodem ipso psalmo, unde hoc commemoraui, satis adparet. cum enim paulo superius futuram passionem suam per prophetam ipse loqueretur dicens: foderunt manus meas et pedes meos, dinumerauerunt omnia ossa mea; ipsi uero considerauerunt et conspexerunt me. diuiserunt sibi uestimenta mea, et super uestimentum meum miserunt sortem, paulo post infert illud, quod posui: commemorabuntur et conuertentur ad dominum uniuersi fines terrae et cetera. quamquam et illud testimonium, quod prius adhibui, ubi dictum est: praeualebit dominus aduersus eos, et exterminabit omnes deos gentium terrae, in eo, quod positum est 'praeualebit', satis ostenditur etiam hoc praenuntiatum, quod pagani prius oppugnaturi essent ecclesiam nomenque christianum, quantum ualerent, persecuturi, ut, si fieri posset, de terra omnino deleretur. et quia eos patientia martyrum et magnitudine miraculorum et consequente fide populorum erat superaturus, ideo sic dictum est: praeualebit dominus aduersus eos. non enim diceretur: praeualebit aduersus eos, nisi oppugnando illi resisterent. unde et in psalmo ita prophetatum est: ut quid fremuerunt gentes, et populi meditati sunt inania? adstiterunt reges terrae, et principes conuenerunt in unum aduersus dominum et aduersus Christum eius. et paulo post dicit: dominus dixit ad me: filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te; postula a me, et dabo tibi gentes hereditatem tuam et possessionem tuam terminos terrae. ecce unde dictum est et in alio psalmo, quod superius interposui: commemorabuntur et conuertentur ad dominum uniuersi fines terrae. his atque huius modi propheticis documentis praedictum ostenditur, quod uidemus inpleri per Christum, futurum fuisse, ut deus Israhel, quem unum uerum deum intellegimus, non in una ipsa gente, quae appellata est Israhel, sed in omnibus gentibus coleretur et omnes falsos deos gentium et a templis eorum et a cordibus cultorum suorum amoliretur.