Zephaniah 1

1The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah^a son of Amon^b king of Judah:

Judgment on the Whole Earth in the Day of the Lord

²“I will sweep away everything

from the face of the earth,”^c

declares the Lord.

³“I will sweep away both man and beast;^d

I will sweep away the birds in the sky^e

and the fish in the sea—

and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.”^a

“When I destroy all mankind

on the face of the earth,”^f

declares the Lord,^g

⁴“I will stretch out my hand^h against Judah

and against all who live in Jerusalem.

I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,ⁱ

the very names of the idolatrous priests^j—

⁵those who bow down on the roofs

to worship the starry host,^k

those who bow down and swear by the Lord

and who also swear by Molek,^bl

⁶those who turn back from following^m the Lord

and neither seekⁿ the Lord nor inquire^o of him.”

⁷Be silent^p before the Sovereign Lord,

for the day of the Lord^q is near.

The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;^r

he has consecrated those he has invited.

⁸“On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice

I will punish^s the officials

and the king’s sons^t

and all those clad

in foreign clothes.

⁹On that day I will punish

all who avoid stepping on the threshold,^cu

who fill the temple of their gods

with violence and deceit.^v

¹⁰“On that day,^w”

declares the Lord,

“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,^x

wailing^y from the New Quarter,

and a loud crash from the hills.

¹¹Wail,^z you who live in the market district^d;

all your merchants will be wiped out,

all who trade with^e silver will be destroyed.^a

¹²At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps

and punish those who are complacent,^b

who are like wine left on its dregs,^c

who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,^d

either good or bad.’^e

¹³Their wealth will be plundered,^f

their houses demolished.

Though they build houses,

they will not live in them;

though they plant vineyards,

they will not drink the wine.”^g

¹⁴The great day of the Lord^h is nearⁱ—

near and coming quickly.

The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;

the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.

¹⁵That day will be a day of wrath—

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of trouble and ruin,

a day of darkness^j and gloom,

a day of clouds and blackness^k—

¹⁶a day of trumpet and battle cry^l

against the fortified cities

and against the corner towers.^m

¹⁷“I will bring such distressⁿ on all people

that they will grope about like those who are blind,^o

because they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out^p like dust

and their entrails like dung.^q

¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold

will be able to save them

on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”^r

In the fire of his jealousy^s

the whole earth will be consumed,^t

for he will make a sudden end

of all who live on the earth.^u