Zephaniah 3

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.