Zephaniah 1–3

1The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, ^ain the days of Josiah ^bson of Amon, ^cking 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 man and animal; ^e

I will sweep away the birds of the sky

and the fish of the sea,

and the ruins ^falong with the wicked. ^g

I will cut off mankind

from the face of the earth.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁴I will stretch out My hand ^hagainst Judah

and against all the residents of Jerusalem.

I will cut off every vestige of Baal ⁱ

from this place,

the names of the pagan priests ^j

along with the priests;

⁵those who bow in worship on the rooftops ^k

to the heavenly host;

those who bow and pledge loyalty to the Lord ^l

but also pledge loyalty to Milcom; ^mn

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, ^o

for the Day of the Lord is near. ^p

Indeed, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice; ^q

He has consecrated His guests. ^r

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 ^sI will punish

all who skip over the threshold, ^tu

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, ^v

a wailing from the Second District, ^w

and a loud crashing from the hills.

¹¹Wail, you residents of the Hollow, ^x

for all the merchants ^ywill be silenced;

all those loaded with silver will be cut off.

¹²And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps

and punish the men who settle down comfortably, ^za

who say to themselves:

The Lord will not do good or evil. ^b

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. ^c

¹⁴The great Day of the Lord is near, ^d

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 ^eand gloom,

a day of clouds and blackness, ^f

¹⁶a day of trumpet blast 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 ^g

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 not be able to rescue them

on the day of the Lord’s wrath. ^h

The whole earth will be consumed

by the fire of His jealousy. ⁱ

For He will make a complete,

yes, a horrifying end

of all the inhabitants of the earth.

A Call to Repentance

2Gather yourselves together;

gather together, undesirable ^jnation,

²before the decree ^ktakes effect

and the day passes like chaff,

before the burning of the Lord’s anger ^lovertakes you,

before the day of the Lord’s anger overtakes you. ^m

³Seek the Lord, ⁿall you humble ^oof the earth,

who carry out what He commands.

Seek righteousness, seek humility;

perhaps you will be concealed ^p

on the day of the Lord’s anger.

Judgment against the Nations

⁴For Gaza will be abandoned,

and Ashkelon will become a ruin.

Ashdod will be driven out at noon,

and Ekron will be uprooted. ^q

⁵Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,

nation of the Cherethites! ^rs

The word of the Lord is against you, ^t

Canaan, land of the Philistines:

I will destroy you until there is no one left. ^u

⁶The seacoast will become pasturelands

with caves for shepherds and folds for sheep.

⁷The coastland will belong

to the remnant of the house of Judah;

they will find pasture there.

They will lie down in the evening

among the houses of Ashkelon,

for the Lord their God will return to them

and restore their fortunes. ^v

⁸I have heard the taunting ^wof Moab

and the insults of the Ammonites, ^x

who have taunted My people

and threatened their territory.

⁹Therefore, as I live—

this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts,

the God of Israel—

Moab will be like Sodom ^y

and the Ammonites like Gomorrah ^z—

a place overgrown with weeds,

a salt pit, and a perpetual wasteland.

The remnant of My people will plunder them;

the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.

¹⁰This is what they get for their pride,

because they have taunted and acted arrogantly ^a

against the people of the Lord of Hosts.

¹¹The Lord will be terrifying to them

when He starves all the gods of the earth.

Then all the distant coastlands of the nations

will bow in worship to Him,

each in its own place.

¹²You Cushites will also be slain by My sword. ^b

¹³He will also stretch out His hand against the north

and destroy Assyria;

He will make Nineveh a desolate ruin, ^c

dry as the desert.

¹⁴Herds will lie down in the middle of it,

every kind of wild animal. ^d

Both the desert owl ^eand the screech owl ^f

will roost in the capitals of its pillars.

Their calls will sound ^gfrom the window,

but devastation ^hwill be on the threshold,

for He will expose the cedar work. ⁱ

¹⁵This is the self-assured ^jcity

that lives in security,

that thinks to herself:

I exist, and there is no one else.

What a desolation she has become,

a place for wild animals to lie down!

Everyone who passes by her

jeers ^kand shakes his fist.

Woe to Oppressive Jerusalem

3Woe to the city that is rebellious ^lmand defiled, ⁿ

the oppressive city!

²She has not obeyed; ^o

she has not accepted discipline. ^p

She has not trusted ^qin Yahweh;

she has not drawn near to her God.

³The ^rprinces within her are roaring lions; ^s

her judges are wolves of the night, ^t

which leave nothing for ^uthe morning.

⁴Her prophets are reckless ^v—

treacherous men.

Her priests profane the sanctuary;

they do violence to instruction. ^w

⁵The righteous Lord is in her; ^x

He does no wrong. ^y

He applies His justice morning by morning;

He does not fail at dawn,

yet the one who does wrong knows no shame. ^z

⁶I have cut off nations;

their corner towers ^aare destroyed.

I have laid waste their streets,

with no one to pass through.

Their cities lie devastated,

without a person, without an inhabitant. ^b

⁷I thought: You will certainly fear Me

and accept correction.

Then her dwelling place ^c

would not be cut off

based on all that I had allocated to her.

However, they became more corrupt

in all their actions.

⁸Therefore, wait for Me ^d—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

until the day I rise up for plunder. ^e

For My decision is to gather nations,

to assemble kingdoms,

in order to pour out My indignation ^fon them,

all My burning anger;

for the whole earth will be consumed

by the fire of My jealousy. ^g

Final Restoration Promised

⁹For I will then restore

pure ^hspeech to the peoples

so that all of them may call

on the name of Yahweh

and serve Him with a single purpose. ⁱ

¹⁰From beyond the rivers of Cush ^j

My supplicants, My dispersed people,

will bring an offering to Me.

¹¹On that day you ^kwill not be put to shame ^l

because of everything you have done

in rebelling ^magainst Me.

For then I will remove

your proud, ⁿarrogant people from among you,

and you will never again be haughty

on My holy mountain. ^o

¹²I will leave

a meek and humble people ^pamong you,

and they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh.

¹³The remnant ^qof Israel will no longer

do wrong or tell lies;

a deceitful tongue will not be found

in their mouths.

But they will pasture and lie down,

with nothing to make them afraid. ^r

¹⁴Sing for joy, Daughter Zion;

shout loudly, Israel!

Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,

Daughter Jerusalem!

¹⁵The Lord has removed your punishment;

He has turned back your enemy.

The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you;

you need no longer fear harm.

¹⁶On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:

“Do not fear;

Zion, do not let your hands grow weak. ^s

¹⁷Yahweh your God is among you,

a warrior ^twho saves.

He will rejoice over you ^uwith gladness.

He will bring you quietness ^vwith His love.

He will delight in you with shouts of joy.” ^w

¹⁸I will gather those who have been driven ^x

from the appointed festivals;

they will be a tribute from you ^y

and a reproach on her. ^z

¹⁹Yes, at that time

I will deal with all who afflict you.

I will save the lame ^aand gather the scattered; ^b

I will make those who were disgraced

throughout the earth

receive praise and fame.

²⁰At that time I will bring you ^cback,

yes, at the time I will gather you.

I will give you fame and praise

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes ^dbefore your eyes.

Yahweh has spoken.