Zephaniah 1:7–18

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.