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

The Great Day of the Lord

2 “I will 1utterly consume everything

From the face of the land,”

Says the Lord;

3 “I bwill consume man and beast;

I will consume the birds of the heavens,

The fish of the sea,

And the 2stumbling blocks along with the wicked.

I will cut off man from the face of the 3land,”

Says the Lord.

4 “I will stretch out My hand against Judah,

And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

4I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,

The names of the cidolatrous 5priests with the pagan priests—

5 Those dwho worship the host of heaven on the housetops;

Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord,

But who also swear eby 6Milcom;

6 fThose who have turned back from following the Lord,

And ghave not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.”

7 hBe silent in the presence of the Lord God;

iFor the day of the Lord is at hand,

For jthe Lord has prepared a sacrifice;

He has 7invited His guests.

8 “And it shall be,

In the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,

That I will punish kthe princes and the king’s children,

And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.

9 In the same day I will punish

All those who lleap over the threshold,

Who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

10 “And there shall be on that day,” says the Lord,

“The sound of a mournful cry from mthe Fish Gate,

A wailing from the Second Quarter,

And a loud crashing from the hills.

11 nWail, you inhabitants of 8Maktesh!

For all the merchant people are cut down;

All those who handle money are cut off.

12 “And it shall come to pass at that time

That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

And punish the men

Who are osettled 9in complacency,

pWho say in their heart,

‘The Lord will not do good,

Nor will He do evil.’

13 Therefore their goods shall become booty,

And their houses a desolation;

They shall build houses, but not inhabit them;

They shall plant vineyards, but qnot drink their wine.”

14 rThe great day of the Lord is near;

It is near and hastens quickly.

The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter;

There the mighty men shall cry out.

15 sThat day is a day of wrath,

A day of trouble and distress,

A day of devastation and desolation,

A day of darkness and gloominess,

A day of clouds and thick darkness,

16 A day of ttrumpet and alarm

Against the fortified cities

And against the high towers.

17 “I will bring distress upon men,

And they shall uwalk like blind men,

Because they have sinned against the Lord;

Their blood shall be poured out like dust,

And their flesh like refuse.”

18 vNeither their silver nor their gold

Shall be able to deliver them

In the day of the Lord’s wrath;

But the whole land shall be devoured

By the fire of His jealousy,

For He will make speedy riddance

Of all those who dwell in the land.