Zephaniah 1:1–3:20
1 The word of the Lord 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 aremove all things
From the face of the 1earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will remove aman and beast;
I will remove 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 2earth,” declares the Lord.
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.
5 “And those who bow down on the ahousetops to the host of heaven,
And those who bow down and bswear to the Lord and yet swear by 1cMilcom,
6 And those who have aturned back from following the Lord,
And those who have bnot sought the Lord or inquired of Him.”
7 1aBe silent before the Lord 2God!
For the bday of the Lord is near,
For the Lord has prepared a csacrifice,
He has dconsecrated His guests.
8 “Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’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 “On that day,” declares the Lord,
“There will be the sound of a cry from the aFish Gate,
A wail from the 1bSecond Quarter,
And a loud crash 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 “It will come about at that time
That I will asearch Jerusalem with lamps,
And I will punish the men
Who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will cnot do good or evil!’
13 “Moreover, their wealth will become aplunder
And their houses desolate;
Yes, bthey will build houses but not inhabit them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”
14 Near is the agreat bday of the Lord,
Near and coming very quickly;
Listen, the day of the Lord!
1In it the warrior ccries out bitterly.
15 A day of wrath is that day,
A day of atrouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of bdarkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of atrumpet and battle cry
Against the bfortified cities
And the high corner towers.
17 I will bring adistress on men
So that they will walk blike the blind,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
And their cblood will be poured out like dust
And their dflesh like dung.
18 Neither their asilver nor their gold
Will be able to deliver them
On the day of the Lord’s wrath;
And ball the earth will be devoured
In the fire of His jealousy,
For He will cmake a complete end,
Indeed a terrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
1 Gather yourselves together, yes, agather,
2 Before the decree 1takes effect—
The day passes alike the chaff—
Before the bburning anger of the Lord comes upon you,
Before the cday of the Lord’s anger comes upon you.
3 aSeek the Lord,
Who have carried out His 2ordinances;
cSeek righteousness, seek humility.
Perhaps you will be dhidden
In the day of the Lord’s anger.
4 For aGaza will be abandoned
And Ashkelon a desolation;
aAshdod will be driven out at noon
And aEkron will be uprooted.
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the 1aCherethites!
The word of the Lord is bagainst you,
O cCanaan, land of the Philistines;
And I will ddestroy you
So that there will be eno inhabitant.
6 So the seacoast will be apastures,
With 1caves for shepherds and folds for flocks.
For the aremnant of the house of Judah,
They will bpasture on it.
In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;
For the Lord their God will ccare for them
And drestore their fortune.
8 “I have heard the 1ataunting of Moab
And the brevilings of the sons of Ammon,
With which they have 2taunted My people
And 3cbecome arrogant against their territory.
9 “Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord 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.”
10 This they will have in return for their apride, because they have 1btaunted and 2become arrogant against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be aterrifying 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.”
13 And He will astretch out His hand against the north
And destroy bAssyria,
And He will make cNineveh a desolation,
Parched like the wilderness.
14 Flocks will lie down in her midst,
1All beasts which range in herds;
Both the 2apelican and the hedgehog
Will lodge in 3the tops of her pillars;
4Birds will sing in the window,
Desolation will be on the threshold;
For He has laid bare the cedar work.
15 This is the aexultant city
Which bdwells securely,
Who says in her heart,
“cI am, and there is no one besides me.”
How she has become a ddesolation,
A resting place for beasts!
eEveryone who passes by her will hiss
And wave his hand in contempt.
Woe to Jerusalem and the Nations
1 Woe to her who is arebellious and bdefiled,
The ctyrannical city!
2 She aheeded no voice,
She baccepted no instruction.
She did not ctrust in the Lord,
She did not ddraw near to her God.
3 Her aprinces within her are roaring lions,
Her judges are bwolves at evening;
They leave nothing for the morning.
4 Her prophets are areckless, treacherous men;
Her bpriests have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the law.
5 The Lord is arighteous bwithin her;
He will cdo no injustice.
dEvery morning He brings His justice to light;
He does not fail.
But the unjust eknows no shame.
Their corner towers are in ruins.
I have made their streets adesolate,
With no one passing by;
Their bcities are laid waste,
Without a man, cwithout an inhabitant.
7 “I said, ‘Surely you will revere Me,
aAccept instruction.’
So her dwelling will bnot be cut off
According to all that I have appointed concerning her.
But they were eager to ccorrupt all their deeds.
8 “Therefore await for Me,” declares the Lord,
“For the day when I rise up as a witness.
Indeed, My decision is to bgather nations,
To assemble 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 1give to the peoples apurified lips,
That all of them may bcall on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him 2shoulder to shoulder.
10 “From beyond the rivers of aEthiopia
My 1worshipers, 2My dispersed ones,
Will bbring My offerings.
11 “In that day you will afeel no shame
Because of all your deeds
By which you have rebelled 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 leave among you
A ahumble and lowly people,
And they will btake refuge in the name of the Lord.
13 “The aremnant of Israel will bdo no wrong
And ctell no lies,
Nor will a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths;
For they will dfeed and lie down
With no one to make them tremble.”
14 Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!
aShout in triumph, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away aHis judgments against you,
He has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is bin your midst;
You will cfear disaster no more.
16 aIn that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“bDo not be afraid, O Zion;
cDo not let your hands fall limp.
17 “The Lord your God is ain your midst,
He will cexult over you with joy,
He will 2be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
18 “I will gather those who agrieve about the appointed feasts—
They 1came from you, O Zion;
The reproach of exile is a burden on 2them.
19 “Behold, I am going to deal at that time
With all your aoppressors,
I will save the blame
And gather the outcast,
And I will turn their cshame into dpraise and renown
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 brenown and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I crestore your fortunes before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.