Chapter 1

1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

2 “I will utterly sweep away everything

from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

3 “I will sweep away man and beast;

I will sweep away the birds of the air

and the fish of the sea.

I will overthrowa the wicked;

I will cut off mankind

from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah,

and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal

and the name of the idolatrous priests;*

5 those who bow down on the roofs

to the host of the heavens;

those who bow down and swear to the Lord

and yet swear by Milcom;

6 those who have turned back from following the Lord,

who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

7 Be silent before the Lord GOD!

For the day of the Lord is at hand;

the Lord has prepared a sacrifice

and consecrated his guests.

8 And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice—

“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons

and all who array themselves in foreign attire.

9 On that day I will punish

every one who leaps over the threshold,

and those who fill their master’s house

with violence and fraud.”

10 “On that day,” says the Lord,

“a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,

a wail from the Second Quarter,

a loud crash from the hills.

11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!

For all the traders are no more;

all who weigh out silver are cut off.

12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

and I will punish the men

who are thickening upon their lees,

those who say in their hearts,

‘The Lord will not do good,

nor will he do ill.’

13 Their goods shall be plundered,

and their houses laid waste.

Though they build houses,

they shall not inhabit them;

though they plant vineyards,

they shall not drink wine from them.”

14 The great day of the Lord is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter,

the mighty man cries aloud there.

15 A day of wrath is that day,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness,

16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

17 I will bring distress on men,

so that they shall walk like the blind,

because they have sinned against the Lord;

their blood shall be poured out like dust,

and their flesh like dung.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold

shall be able to deliver them

on the day of the wrath of the Lord.

In the fire of his jealous wrath,

all the earth shall be consumed;

for a full, yea, sudden end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Chapter 2

1 Come together and hold assembly,

O shameless nation,

2 before you are driven away

like the drifting chaff,*

before there comes upon you

the fierce anger of the Lord,

before there comes upon you

the day of the wrath of the Lord.

3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,

who do his commands;

seek righteousness, seek humility;

perhaps you may be hidden

on the day of the wrath of the Lord.

4 For Gaza shall be deserted,

and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;

Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.

5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,

you nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the Lord is against you,

O Canaan, land of the Philistines;

and I will destroy you till no inhabitant is left.

6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,

meadows for shepherds

and folds for flocks.

7 The seacoast shall become the possession

of the remnant of the house of Judah,

on which they shall pasture,

and in the houses of Ashkelon

they shall lie down at evening.

For the Lord their God will be mindful of them

and restore their fortunes.

8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab

and the revilings of the Ammonites,

how they have taunted my people

and made boasts against their territory.

9 Therefore, as I live,” says 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 for ever.

The remnant of my people shall plunder them,

and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”

10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride,

because they scoffed and boasted

against the people of the Lord of hosts.

11 The Lord will be terrible against them;

yea, he will famish all the gods of the earth,

and to him shall bow down,

each in its place,

all the lands of the nations.

12 You also, O Ethiopians,

shall be slain by my sword.

13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north,

and destroy Assyria;

and he will make Nineveh a desolation,

a dry waste like the desert.

14 Herds shall lie down in the midst of her,

all the beasts of the field;d

the vulturee and the hedgehog

shall lodge in her capitals;

the owlf shall hoot in the window,

the raveng croak on the threshold;

for her cedar work will be laid bare.

15 This is the exultant city

that dwelt secure,

that said to herself,

“I am and there is none else.”

What a desolation she has become,

a lair for wild beasts!

Every one who passes by her

hisses and shakes his fist.