Zephaniah

1 The 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

²  I will utterly sweep away everything
         from the face of the earth, says the LORD.
³  I 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.
⁴  I 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
⁵  those 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
⁶  those who have turned back from following the LORD,
         who have not sought the LORD or inquired of him.

⁷  Be 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.
⁸  And 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.
⁹  On that day I will punish
         all who leap over the threshold,
     who fill their master's house
         with violence and fraud.

¹⁰  On 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.
¹¹  The inhabitants of the Mortar wail,
         for all the traders have perished;
         all who weigh out silver are cut off.
¹²  At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
         and I will punish the people
     who rest complacently^d on their dregs,
         those who say in their hearts,
     "The LORD will not do good,
         nor will he do harm."
¹³  Their 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

¹⁴  The 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.
¹⁵  That 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,
¹⁶   a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
     against the fortified cities
         and against the lofty battlements.

¹⁷  I 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.
¹⁸  Neither 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.

a Cn: Heb sea, and those who cause the wicked to stumble b Compare Gk: Heb the idolatrous priests with the priests c Gk Mss Syr Vg: Heb Malcam (or, their king) d Heb who thicken
ToC | Hebrew Scriptures . . . Zephaniah | ToC

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.