Chapter 1

Day of Judgment on Judah

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 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.”

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.