Zephaniah 1–2

1^*The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of ^aHizkiah, ^*in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

^2†I will utterly consume all things from off ^†the land, saith the Lord.

³I ^bwill consume ^cman and beast;

^bI will consume ^cthe fowls of the heaven, and ^cdthe fishes of the sea,

And ^ethe ^||stumblingblocks with the wicked;

And ^fI will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.

⁴I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah,

And upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

And ^gI will cut off ^hthe remnant of Baal from this place,

And ⁱthe name of ^jthe Chemarims with the priests;

⁵And ^kthem that worship the host of heaven ^kupon the housetops;

And ^lthem that worship and ^lmthat swear ^||by the Lord,

And ^lnthat swear by ^oMalcham;

⁶And ^pthem that are turned back ^qfrom the Lord;

And ^rthose that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him.

^7sHold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God:

For ^tthe day of the Lord is at hand:

For ^uthe Lord hath prepared a sacrifice,

He hath ^†bid ^vhis guests.

⁸And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,

That I will ^†punish ^wthe princes, and ^wthe king’s children,

And all such as are ^xclothed with strange ^yapparel.

⁹In the same day also will I punish all those ^zthat leap on the threshold,

Which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

¹⁰And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord,

That there shall be the noise of a cry from ^athe fish gate,

And ^ban howling from ^cthe second,

And a great crashing from the hills.

^11dHowl, ye inhabitants of ^eMaktesh,

For all ^fthe merchant people are cut down;

All they that bear silver are cut off.

¹²And it shall come to pass at that time,

That ^ghI will search Jerusalem ^hwith candles,

And punish the men that are ^†settled ^lon their lees:

^mThat say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.

¹³Therefore their goods shall become ⁿa booty, and their houses a desolation:

^oThey shall also build houses, but not inhabit them;

And ^opthey shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

^14qThe great day of the Lord ^ris near,

It is near, and hasteth greatly,

Even the voice of the day of the Lord:

^sThe mighty man shall ^tcry ^uthere bitterly.

^15vThat day is a day of wrath,

A day of ^wtrouble and ^wdistress,

A day of ^xwasteness and ^xdesolation,

^yA day of darkness and gloominess,

^yzA day of clouds and thick darkness,

¹⁶A day of ^athe trumpet and ^aalarm

Against the fenced cities, and against the high ^btowers.

¹⁷And ^cI will bring distress upon men, that ^dthey shall walk like blind men,

Because they have sinned against the Lord:

And ^etheir blood shall be poured out as dust, and their ^fflesh ^gas the dung.

^18hNeither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them

ⁱIn the day of the Lord’s wrath;

But ^kthe whole land shall be devoured by ^lthe fire of ^mhis jealousy:

For ⁿhe shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

2Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation ^||not ^adesired;

^2bBefore the decree bring forth, before the day pass ^cas the chaff,

^dBefore the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you,

Before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.

^3eSeek ye the Lord, ^fall ye meek of the earth,

Which have wrought his judgment;

Seek righteousness, seek meekness:

It ^gmay be ^hye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.

⁴For ^ijkGaza shall be ^lforsaken, and ^ijmAshkelon a desolation:

They shall drive out ^jnAshdod ^oat the noon day, and ^jpEkron ^qshall be rooted up.

⁵Woe unto the inhabitants of ^rthe sea ^vcoast, the nation of the ^sCherethites!

The word of the Lord is against you;

^tO Canaan, the land of the Philistines,

I will even destroy thee, ^uthat there shall be no inhabitant.

⁶And the sea ^vcoast ^wshall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and ^xfolds for flocks.

⁷And ^vthe coast shall be for ^xxthe remnant of the house of Judah;

^yThey shall feed thereupon:

^yIn the houses of ^mAshkelon shall they ^zlie down in the evening:

^||For the Lord their God shall ^avisit them, and ^bturn away their captivity.

^8cI have heard ^dthe reproach of Moab,

And ^dthe revilings of ^ethe children of Ammon,

Whereby they have reproached my people,

And ^fmagnified themselves ^gagainst their border.

⁹Therefore ^has I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,

Surely ^cMoab shall be ⁱas Sodom, and ^ethe children of Ammon ⁱas Gomorrah,

Even the breeding of ^knettles, and ⁱsaltpits, and ^la perpetual desolation:

^mThe residue of my people shall spoil them,

And the remnant of ⁿmy people shall possess them.

¹⁰This shall they have ^ofor their pride,

Because they have reproached and ^fmagnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts.

¹¹The Lord will be terrible unto them:

For ^phe will ^†famish all the gods of the earth;

And ^qmen shall worship him, ^revery one from his place,

Even all ^sthe isles of the heathen.

^12tYe Ethiopians also, ye shall be ^uslain by ^vmy sword.

¹³And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and ^wdestroy Assyria;

And will make ^xNineveh ^ya desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

¹⁴And flocks shall ^zalie down in the midst of her, ^aall the beasts of the nations:

Both the ^||bcormorant and ^bcthe bittern shall lodge in the ^||upper lintels of it;

Their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in ^dthe thresholds:

^||For he shall ^dduncover ^ethe cedar work.

¹⁵This is ^fthe rejoicing city ^gthat dwelt carelessly,

^ghThat said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me:

How is she become a desolation, ⁱa place for beasts to lie down in!

^jEvery one that passeth by her ^jkshall hiss, and ^lwag his hand.