Zephaniah 1–3

Chapter 1

Day of Judgment on Judah

¹The 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,

⁶And those who have ^aturned back from following the Lord,

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

^71aBe 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 are ^1bstagnant in spirit,

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.”

¹⁴Near 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.

¹⁵A 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,

¹⁶A day of ^atrumpet and battle cry

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 the Lord;

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 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.

Chapter 2

Judgments on Judah’s Enemies

¹Gather yourselves together, yes, ^agather,

O nation ^bwithout ¹shame,

²Before 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.

^3aSeek the Lord,

All you ^bhumble of the ¹earth

Who have carried out His ²ordinances;

^cSeek righteousness, seek humility.

Perhaps you will be ^dhidden

In the day of the Lord’s anger.

⁴For ^aGaza will be abandoned

And Ashkelon a desolation;

Ashdod will be driven out at noon

And Ekron will be uprooted.

⁵Woe 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.

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 ^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.”

¹⁰This they will have in return for their ^apride, because they have ^1btaunted and ²become arrogant against the people of the Lord of hosts.

¹¹The 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.”

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

And destroy ^bAssyria,

And He will make ^cNineveh a desolation,

Parched like the wilderness.

¹⁴Flocks 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.

¹⁵This 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.

Chapter 3

Woe to Jerusalem and the Nations

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

The ^ctyrannical city!

²She ^aheeded no voice,

She ^baccepted no instruction.

She did not ^ctrust in the Lord,

She did not ^ddraw near to her God.

³Her ^aprinces within her are roaring lions,

Her judges are ^bwolves at evening;

They leave nothing for the morning.

⁴Her prophets are ^areckless, treacherous men;

Her ^bpriests have profaned the sanctuary.

They have done violence to the law.

⁵The 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.

⁶“I have cut off nations;

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.

A Remnant of Israel

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.”

¹⁴Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!

^aShout in triumph, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

¹⁵The 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.

^16aIn 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,

A ^1bvictorious warrior.

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.