Zephaniah 3:1–7

Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,

the oppressing city!

She listens to no voice;

she accepts no correction.

She does not trust in the Lord;

she does not draw near to her God.

Her officials within her

are roaring lions;

her judges are evening wolves

that leave nothing till the morning.

Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men;

her priests profane what is holy;

they do violence to the law.

The Lord within her is righteous;

he does no injustice;

every morning he shows forth his justice;

each dawn he does not fail;

but the unjust knows no shame.

“I have cut off nations;

their battlements are in ruins;

I have laid waste their streets

so that no one walks in them;

their cities have been made desolate,

without a man, without an inhabitant.

I said, ‘Surely you will fear me;

you will accept correction.

Then your dwelling would not be cut off

according to all that I have appointed against you.’

But all the more they were eager

to make all their deeds corrupt.

Woe to the city of oppressors,

rebellious and defiled!

She obeys no one,

she accepts no correction.

She does not trust in the Lord,

she does not draw near to her God.

Her officials within her

are roaring lions;

her rulers are evening wolves,

who leave nothing for the morning.

Her prophets are unprincipled;

they are treacherous people.

Her priests profane the sanctuary

and do violence to the law.

The Lord within her is righteous;

he does no wrong.

Morning by morning he dispenses his justice,

and every new day he does not fail,

yet the unrighteous know no shame.

“I have destroyed nations;

their strongholds are demolished.

I have left their streets deserted,

with no one passing through.

Their cities are laid waste;

they are deserted and empty.

Of Jerusalem I thought,

‘Surely you will fear me

and accept correction!’

Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed,

nor all my punishments come upon her.

But they were still eager

to act corruptly in all they did.

Woe to the city that is rebellious and defiled,

the oppressive city!

She has not obeyed;

she has not accepted discipline.

She has not trusted in the Lord;

she has not drawn near to her God.

The princes within her are roaring lions;

her judges are wolves of the night,

which leave nothing for the morning.

Her prophets are reckless—

treacherous men.

Her priests profane the sanctuary;

they do violence to instruction.

The righteous Lord is in her;

he does no wrong.

He applies his justice morning by morning;

he does not fail at dawn,

yet the one who does wrong knows no shame.

I have cut off nations;

their corner towers are destroyed.

I have laid waste their streets,

with no one to pass through.

Their cities lie devastated,

without a person, without an inhabitant.

I said: You will certainly fear me

and accept correction.

Then her dwelling place

would not be cut off

based on all that I had allocated to her.

However, they became more corrupt

in all their actions.

What sorrow awaits rebellious, polluted Jerusalem,

the city of violence and crime!

No one can tell it anything;

it refuses all correction.

It does not trust in the Lord

or draw near to its God.

Its leaders are like roaring lions

hunting for their victims.

Its judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time,

who by dawn have left no trace of their prey.

Its prophets are arrogant liars seeking their own gain.

Its priests defile the Temple by disobeying God’s instructions.

But the Lord is still there in the city,

and he does no wrong.

Day by day he hands down justice,

and he does not fail.

But the wicked know no shame.

“I have wiped out many nations,

devastating their fortress walls and towers.

Their streets are now deserted;

their cities lie in silent ruin.

There are no survivors—

none at all.

I thought, ‘Surely they will have reverence for me now!

Surely they will listen to my warnings.

Then I won’t need to strike again,

destroying their homes.’

But no, they get up early

to continue their evil deeds.

Woe to you, O rebellious and defiled one!

The oppressing city!

She listens to no voice;

she does not accept correction.

In Yahweh she does not trust;

to her God she does not draw near.

Her officials in her midst are roaring lions;

her judges are evening wolves;

they leave nothing until the morning.

Her prophets are arrogant men of treachery;

her priests have defiled that which is holy;

they do violence to the law.

Yahweh is righteous in her midst;

he does not do wickedness.

Morning by morning he renders his judgment;

at dawn he does not fail,

but an evil one knows no shame.

“I have cut off nations;

their strongholds are deserted.

I have laid waste their streets,

so that none pass through.

Their cities have been destroyed

and are without a man, without an inhabitant.

I have said, ‘Surely she will fear me;

she will accept discipline.

Then her dwelling place will not be cut down,

nor all that I have brought upon her.’

Surely they rise early;

they make all their deeds corrupt.

Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!

She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction;

She trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God.

Her princes within her are roaring lions;

Her judges are evening wolves;

They gnaw not the bones till the morrow.

Her prophets are light and treacherous persons:

Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.

The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity:

Every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not;

But the unjust knoweth no shame. I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate;

I made their streets waste, that none passeth by:

Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.

I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction;

So their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them:

But they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.