1The word of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.

²“I will surely destroy everything

from the face of the earth”—a declaration of Yahweh.

³“I will destroy humanity and beast;

I will destroy the birds of the sky

and the fish of the sea,

and the stumbling blocks^a with the wicked.

And I will cut off humankind

from the face of the earth”—a declaration of Yahweh.

⁴“And I will stretch out my hand against Judah

and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And I will cut off from this place

the remnant of Baal,

and the name of idolatrous priests with the priests,^b

⁵and those who bow down on the rooftops

to the host of heaven,

and those who bow down, swearing to Yahweh

but also swearing by Milcom,^c

⁶and those who turned back from following^d Yahweh,

and who did not seek Yahweh,

and did not inquire of him.”

⁷Be silent before the Lord Yahweh,

for the day of Yahweh draws near,

for Yahweh has provided a sacrifice

and has consecrated his guests.

⁸And it will happen on the day of the sacrifice of Yahweh,

I will punish the officials,

and the sons of the king,

and all those who dress in foreign clothing.

⁹And on that day I will punish

all who leap over the threshold,

who fill up the house of their master

with violence and deceit.

¹⁰“And there shall be on that day”—a declaration of Yahweh—

“a loud outcry^e from the Fish Gate,

and a wailing from the Second District,

and a loud^f crashing from the hills.

¹¹The inhabitants of the Mortar shall wail,

for all the traders have perished;

all who trade with silver have been cut off.

¹²And it shall be that at that time

I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

and I will punish the men

whose senses are dulled from drinking,^g

who say in their hearts,

‘Yahweh will not do good, nor will he do evil.’

¹³Then their wealth shall be as plunder,

and their homes as desolation.

And they shall build their houses and not inhabit them,

and they shall plant vineyards and not drink their wine.”

¹⁴The great day of Yahweh draws near;

it is near and coming very swiftly.

The sound of the day of Yahweh is bitterness;

there, a warrior cries out!

¹⁵That day will be a day of wrath,

a day of trouble and distress,

a day of disaster and ruination,

a day of darkness and deep gloom,

a day of clouds^h and thick clouds,ⁱ

¹⁶a day of trumpet and trumpet blast

against the fortified cities

and against the high corner towers.

¹⁷And I will bring distress to all humankind,

and they shall walk about like the blind,

for they sinned against Yahweh;

their blood shall be poured out like dust

and their entrails like dung.

¹⁸Moreover, their silver and their gold

will not be able to save them

on the day of the wrath of Yahweh.

And in the fire of his zeal,

the whole land shall be consumed,

for a terrifying end he shall make

for all the inhabitants of the land.

Judgment of Judah’s Enemies

2Gather yourselves together! Now gather together,

O nation having no shame!

²Before the birth of the decree,

the day flies away like chaff;

before the fierce anger of Yahweh overtakes you;

before the day of the anger of Yahweh overtakes you.

³Seek Yahweh, all you afflicted of the land

who have fulfilled his law;

seek righteousness;

seek humility.

Perhaps you will be concealed

on the day of the anger of Yahweh.

⁴For Gaza will be abandoned,

and Ashkelon as a desolation.

As for Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.

⁵Woe to you, inhabitants of the region of the sea,

people of the Kerethites!

The word of Yahweh is against you,

O Canaan, land of the Philistines.

I will destroy you until there is no inhabitant.^a

⁶And you, O region of the sea, shall become

pastures and meadows for shepherds

and sheep pens for the flocks.

⁷And it shall become a region

for the remnant of the house of Judah;

upon them they shall graze,

and in the houses of Ashkelon

they shall lie down in the evening.

For Yahweh their God shall be mindful of them,

and he will restore their fortunes.

⁸I have heard the reproaches of Moab

and the scorning of the Ammonites,^b

with which they have taunted my nation

and made boasts against their territory.

⁹“Therefore, as I live”—a declaration of Yahweh of hosts,

the God of Israel—

“Moab shall be as Sodom,

and the Ammonites^c like Gomorrah,

a place of weeds and salt pits

and a desolation forever.

The remnant of my people shall plunder them,

and the remainder of my nation shall possess them.”

¹⁰This shall be for them in place of their pride

because they mocked and boasted

against the people of Yahweh of hosts.

¹¹Yahweh will be awesome against them,

for he will destroy all the gods of the earth

and all the lands^d of the nations;

each in its place will bow down to him.

¹²You also, O Cushites,

they shall be killed by my sword.

¹³And he will stretch out his hand against the north,

and he will destroy Assyria

and will make Nineveh a desolation,

a dry wasteland like the desert.

¹⁴Herds shall lie down in her midst,

every wild animal of a nation;

even the desert owl and the screech owl

shall lodge on her capitals.

A voice shall hoot in the window;

rubble^e on the threshold;

for the cedar is laid bare.

¹⁵This is the city of rejoicing

that lived securely;

the one saying in her heart,

“I am, and there is none besides me.”^f

How she has become a desolation,

a lair for wild animals!

Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

aA reference to idols
bThe last phrase, “with the priests,” may be a later explanatory gloss
cOr “their king”
dLiterally “after”
eLiterally “voice of a cry of distress”
fOr “great”
gLiterally “who are thickened with their dregs”
hHebrew “cloud”
iHebrew “cloud”
aLiterally “from there is not an inhabitant”
bLiterally “sons/children of Ammon”
cLiterally “sons/children of Ammon”
dOr “islands”
eThe traditional Hebrew text has “waste,” while LXX has “a raven,” reflecting a different word with one consonant changed
fLiterally “I am and none me”