Zephaniah 1

1The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah,^a in the days of Josiah^b son of Amon,^c king of Judah.

THE GREAT DAY OF THE LORD

²I will completely sweep away everything

from the face of the earth^d—

this is the Lord’s declaration.

³I will sweep away people and animals;^e

I will sweep away the birds of the sky

and the fish of the sea,

and the ruins^A along with the wicked.^f

I will cut off mankind

from the face of the earth.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁴I will stretch out my hand^g against Judah

and against all the residents of Jerusalem.

I will cut off every vestige of Baal^h

from this place,

the names of the pagan priestsⁱ

along with the priests;

⁵those who bow in worship on the rooftops^j

to the stars in the sky;

those who bow and pledge loyalty to the Lord^k

but also pledge loyalty to Milcom;^Bl

⁶and those who turn back from following the Lord,

who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.

⁷Be silent in the presence of the Lord God,^m

for the day of the Lord is near.ⁿ

Indeed, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;^o

he has consecrated his guests.^p

⁸On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice

I will punish the officials, the king’s sons,

and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.

⁹On that day^q I will punish

all who skip over the threshold,^Cr

who fill their master’s house

with violence and deceit.

¹⁰On that day—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

there will be an outcry from the Fish Gate,^s

a wailing from the Second District,^t

and a loud crashing from the hills.

¹¹Wail, you residents of the Hollow,^D

for all the merchants^E will be silenced;

all those loaded with silver will be cut off.

¹²And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps

and punish those who settle down comfortably,^Au

who say to themselves:

The Lord will do nothing—good or bad.^v

¹³Their wealth will become plunder

and their houses a ruin.

They will build houses but never live in them,

plant vineyards but never drink their wine.^w

¹⁴The great day of the Lord is near,^x

near and rapidly approaching.

Listen, the day of the Lord—

then the warrior’s cry is bitter.

¹⁵That day is a day of wrath,

a day of trouble and distress,

a day of destruction and desolation,

a day of darkness^y and gloom,

a day of clouds and total darkness,^z

¹⁶a day of trumpet and battle cry

against the fortified cities,

and against the high corner towers.

¹⁷I will bring distress on mankind,

and they will walk like the blind^aa

because they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dust

and their flesh like dung.

¹⁸Their silver and their gold

will be unable to rescue them

on the day of the Lord’s wrath.^a

The whole earth will be consumed

by the fire of his jealousy,^b

for he will make a complete,

yes, a horrifying end

of all the inhabitants of the earth.