Zephaniah 3:1–8

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