Zephaniah 1:1–12

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!’