Zephaniah 1–3

CHAPTER 1

Yahweh Will End All Things

¹The word of ¹Yahweh which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of ^aJosiah son of ^bAmon, king of Judah:

²“I will completely ^aend all things

From the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.

³“I will end ^aman and beast;

I will end the ^bbirds of the sky

And the fish of the sea

And the ^1cruins along with the wicked;

And I will cut off man from the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.

⁴“So I will ^astretch out My hand against Judah

And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And I will ^bcut off the remnant of Baal from this place,

And the names of the ^cidolatrous priests along with the priests,

⁵And those who worship on the ^ahousetops the host of heaven,

And those who worship and ^bswear to Yahweh and yet swear by ^1cMilcom,

⁶And those who have ^aturned back from following Yahweh,

And those who have ^bnot sought Yahweh or inquired of Him.”

The Day of Yahweh Is Near

^71aBe silent before Lord Yahweh!

For the ^bday of Yahweh is near,

For Yahweh has prepared a ^csacrifice;

He has ^dset apart His guests.

⁸“Then it will be on the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice

That I will ^apunish the princes, the king’s sons,

And all who clothe themselves with ^bforeign garments.

⁹“And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold,

Who fill the house of their ¹Lord with ^aviolence and deceit.

¹⁰“And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,

“That there will be the sound of a cry from the ^aFish Gate

And a wail from the ^1bSecond Quarter

And a great destruction from the ^chills.

¹¹“Wail, O inhabitants of the ¹Mortar,

For all the ²people of ^aCanaan will be silenced;

All who weigh out ^bsilver will be cut off.

¹²“And it will be at that time

That I will ^asearch Jerusalem with lamps,

And I will punish the men

Who are ^1bstagnant in spirit,

Who say in their hearts,

‘Yahweh will ^cnot do good or evil!’

¹³“And it will be that their wealth will become ^aspoil

And their houses desolate;

Indeed, ^bthey will build houses but not inhabit them,

And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”

¹⁴Near is the ^agreat ^bday of Yahweh,

Near and coming very quickly;

O the sound, the day of Yahweh!

¹In it the mighty man ^ccries out bitterly.

¹⁵A day of fury is that day,

A day of ^atrouble and distress,

A day of destruction and desolation,

A day of ^bdarkness and thick darkness,

A day of clouds and dense gloom,

¹⁶A day of ^atrumpet and loud shouting

Against the ^bfortified cities

And the high corner towers.

¹⁷I will bring ^adistress on men

So that they will walk ^blike the blind

Because they have sinned against Yahweh;

And their ^cblood will be poured out like dust

And their ^dflesh like dung.

¹⁸Neither their ^asilver nor their gold

Will be able to deliver them

On the day of the fury of Yahweh;

And ^ball the earth will be devoured

In the fire of His jealousy,

For He will ^cmake a complete destruction,

Indeed a terrifying one,

Of all the inhabitants of the earth.

CHAPTER 2

Seek Yahweh Before His Day of Anger

¹Gather yourselves together, indeed, ^agather,

O nation ^bwithout ¹shame,

²Before the decree ¹takes effect—

The day passes ^alike the chaff—

Before the ^bburning anger of Yahweh comes upon you,

Before the ^cday of Yahweh’s anger comes upon you.

^3aSeek Yahweh,

All you ^bhumble of the ¹earth

Who have worked His justice;

^cSeek righteousness, seek humility.

Perhaps you will be ^dhidden

In the day of Yahweh’s anger.

⁴For ^aGaza will be ¹forsaken

And Ashkelon a desolation;

^bAshdod will be driven out at noon,

And ^cEkron will be uprooted.

⁵Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,

The nation of the ^1aCherethites!

The word of Yahweh is ^bagainst you,

O ^cCanaan, land of the Philistines;

And I will ^dmake you perish

So that there will be ^eno inhabitant.

⁶So the seacoast will be ^apastures,

With ¹caves for shepherds and folds for flocks.

⁷And the coast will be

For the ^aremnant of the house of Judah;

They will ^bfeed upon it.

In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;

For Yahweh their God will ^ccare for them

And ^drestore their fortune.

⁸“I have heard the ^areproach of Moab

And the ^brevilings of the sons of Ammon,

With which they have reproached My people

And ^cmagnified themselves against their territory.

⁹“Therefore, as I live,” declares Yahweh of hosts,

The God of Israel,

“Surely ^aMoab will be like ^bSodom

And the sons of ^cAmmon like ^dGomorrah—

A place possessed by nettles and salt pits,

And a perpetual desolation.

The remnant of My people will ^eplunder them,

And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”

¹⁰This they will have in return for their ^apride because they have ^breproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of hosts.

¹¹Yahweh will be ^afearsome to them, for He will ¹starve ^ball the gods of the earth; and all the ^ccoastlands of the nations will ^dbow down to Him, everyone from his own place.

¹²“You also, O ^aEthiopians, will be slain by My sword.”

¹³And He will ^astretch out His hand against the north

And cause ^bAssyria to perish,

And He will make ^cNineveh a desolation,

Parched like the wilderness.

¹⁴Flocks will lie down in her midst,

All the beasts of the nation;

Both the ^1apelican and the hedgehog

Will lodge in ²the tops of her pillars;

Their voice will sing in the window,

Ruin will be on the threshold;

For He has laid bare the cedar work.

¹⁵This is the ^aexultant city

Which ^binhabits securely,

Who says in her heart,

“^cI am, and there is no one besides me.”

How she has become an object of ^dhorror,

A resting place for beasts!

^eEveryone who passes by her will hiss

And wave his hand in contempt.

CHAPTER 3

The Unjust Knows No Shame

¹Woe to her who is ^arebellious and ^bdefiled,

The oppressive ^ccity!

²She ^adid not listen to any voice;

She ^bdid not receive discipline.

She did not ^ctrust in Yahweh;

She did not ^ddraw near to her God.

³Her ^aprinces in her midst are roaring lions;

Her judges are ^bwolves at evening;

They leave nothing to gnaw for the morning.

⁴Her prophets are ^areckless, treacherous men;

Her ^bpriests have profaned the sanctuary.

They have done violence to the law.

⁵Yahweh is ^arighteous ^bin her midst;

He will ^cdo no injustice.

^dEvery morning He brings His justice to light;

¹He does not fail.

But the unjust ^eknows no shame.

⁶“I have cut off nations;

Their corner towers are desolate.

I have made their streets ^aa waste,

With no one passing by;

Their ^bcities are laid waste,

Without a man, ^cwithout an inhabitant.

⁷“I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,

^aReceive discipline.’

So her abode will ^bnot be cut off

According to all that I have appointed concerning her.

But they were eager to ^ccorrupt all their deeds.

Yahweh Will Pour Out His Anger

⁸“Therefore ^await for Me,” declares Yahweh,

“For the day when I rise up as a witness.

Indeed, My judgment is to ^bassemble nations,

To gather kingdoms,

To pour out on them My indignation,

All My burning anger;

For ^call the earth will be devoured

By the fire of My zeal.

⁹“For then I will change them to peoples with ^apurified lips,

That all of them may ^bcall on the name of Yahweh,

To serve Him ¹shoulder to shoulder.

¹⁰“From beyond the rivers of ^1aEthiopia

My ²worshipers, ³My scattered ones,

Will ^bbring My offerings.

¹¹“In that day you will ^afeel no shame

Because of all your deeds

By which you have transgressed against Me;

For then I will remove from your midst

Your ^bproud, exulting ones,

And you will never again be haughty

On My ^choly mountain.

¹²“But I will cause to remain in your midst

A ^1alowly and poor people,

And they will ^btake refuge in the name of Yahweh.

¹³“The ^aremnant of Israel will ^bdo no injustice

And ^cnot speak falsehood,

Nor will a deceitful tongue

Be found in their mouths;

For they will ^dfeed and lie down

With no one to make them tremble.”

Yahweh’s Joy in Restoring Israel

¹⁴Sing for joy, O daughter of Zion!

^aMake a loud shout, O Israel!

Be glad and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

¹⁵Yahweh has taken away ^aHis judgments against you;

He has cleared away your enemies.

The King of Israel, Yahweh, is ^bin your midst;

You will ^cfear evil no more.

^16aIn that day it will be said to Jerusalem:

“^bDo not fear, O Zion;

^cDo not let your hands fall limp.

¹⁷“Yahweh your God is ^ain your midst,

A ^bmighty one who will save.

He will ^cbe joyful over you with gladness;

He will ¹be quiet in His love;

He will rejoice over you with joyful singing.

¹⁸“I will assemble those who ^agrieve about the appointed feasts—

They were from you, O Zion;

The reproach of exile is a burden on ¹them.

¹⁹“Behold, I am going to deal at that time

With all those who ^aafflict you,

And I will save the ^blame

And gather the banished,

And I will turn them—in their ^cshame—into ^dpraise and a name

In all the earth.

²⁰“At that time I will ^abring you in,

Even at the time when I gather you together;

Indeed, I will give you to be a ^bname and praise

Among all the peoples of the earth,

When I ^crestore your fortunes before your eyes,”

Says Yahweh.