Zephaniah 1–2

¹The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah.^*

The Coming Judgment on Judah

²I will utterly sweep away everything

from the face of the earth, says the Lord.^*

³I will sweep away humans and animals;

I will sweep away the birds of the air

and the fish of the sea.

I will make the wicked stumble.^a

I will cut off humanity

from the face of the earth, says the Lord.^*

⁴I will stretch out my hand against Judah

and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

and I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal

and the name of the idolatrous priests,^b*

⁵those who bow down on the roofs

to the host of the heavens,

those who bow down and swear to the Lord

but also swear by Milcom,^c*

⁶those who have turned back from following the Lord,

who have not sought the Lord or inquired of him.^*

⁷Be silent before the Lord God,

for the day of the Lord is at hand!

The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;

he has consecrated his guests.^*

⁸And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice

I will punish the officials and the king’s sons

and all who dress themselves in foreign attire.^*

⁹On that day I will punish

all who leap over the threshold,

who fill their master’s house

with violence and fraud.^*

¹⁰On that day, says the Lord,

a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,

a wail from the Second Quarter,

a loud crash from the hills.^*

¹¹The inhabitants of the Mortar wail,

for all the traders have perished;

all who weigh out silver are cut off.

¹²At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

and I will punish the people

who settle like dregs in wine,

those who say in their hearts,

“The Lord will not do good,

nor will he do harm.”^*

¹³Their wealth shall be plundered

and their houses laid waste.

Though they build houses,

they shall not inhabit them;

though they plant vineyards,

they shall not drink wine from them.^*

The Great Day of the Lord

¹⁴The great day of the Lord is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;

the warrior cries aloud there.^*

¹⁵That day will be a day of wrath,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness,^*

¹⁶a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

¹⁷I will bring such distress upon people

that they shall walk like the blind;

because they have sinned against the Lord,

their blood shall be poured out like dust

and their flesh like dung.^*

¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold

will be able to save them

on the day of the Lord’s wrath;

in the fire of his passion

the whole earth shall be consumed,

for a full, a terrible end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.^*

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

²Gather together, gather,

O shameless nation,^*

²before you are driven away^d

like the drifting chaff,^e

before there comes upon you

the fierce anger of the Lord,

before there comes upon you

the day of the Lord’s wrath.^*

³Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land

who do his commands;

seek righteousness, seek humility;

perhaps you may be hidden

on the day of the Lord’s wrath.^*

⁴For Gaza shall be deserted,

and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;

Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.^*

⁵Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,

you nation of the Cherethites!

The word of the Lord is against you,

O Canaan, land of the Philistines,

and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.^*

⁶And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,

meadows for shepherds,

and folds for flocks.^*

⁷The seacoast shall become the possession

of the remnant of the house of Judah,

on which they shall pasture,

and in the houses of Ashkelon

they shall lie down at evening.

For the Lord their God will be mindful of them

and restore their fortunes.^*

⁸I have heard the taunts of Moab

and the revilings of the Ammonites,

how they have taunted my people

and made boasts against their territory.^*

⁹Therefore, as I live, says the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel,

Moab shall become like Sodom

and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,

a land possessed by nettles and salt pits

and a waste forever.

The remnant of my people shall plunder them,

and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.^*

¹⁰This shall be their lot in return for their pride,

because they scoffed and boasted

against the people of the Lord of hosts.^*

¹¹The Lord will be terrible against them;

he will shrivel all the gods of the earth,

and to him shall bow down

each in its place,

all the coasts and islands of the nations.^*

¹²You also, O Cushites,

shall be killed by my sword.^*

¹³And he will stretch out his hand against the north

and destroy Assyria,

and he will make Nineveh a desolation,

a dry waste like the desert.^*

¹⁴Herds shall lie down in it,

every wild animal of the earth;^f

the desert owl^g and the screech owl^h

shall lodge on its capitals;

the owlⁱ shall hoot at the window,

the raven^j croak on the threshold,

for its cedar work will be laid bare.^*

¹⁵Is this the exultant city

that lived secure,

that said to itself,

“I am, and there is no one else”?

What a desolation it has become,

a lair for wild animals!

Everyone who passes by it

hisses and shakes the fist.^*