Chapter
1
The Day of
the LORD's Wrath
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.
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. 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;
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;
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 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.
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.
Chapter
2
The Doom of
the Surrounding Nations
1: Gather together, gather, O shameless nation,
2: before you are driven away like the
drifting chaff, before there comes upon you the fierce anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you the day of the Lord's wrath.
3: Seek 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.
4: For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon
shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and
Ekron shall be uprooted.
5: Ah, 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.
6: And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7: The 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.
8: I have heard the taunts of Moab and the
revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boasts
against their territory.
9: Therefore,
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.
10: This shall be their lot in return for
their pride, because they scoffed and boasted against the people of the Lord of
hosts.
11: The 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.
12: You also, O Ethiopians, shall be killed by
my sword.
13: And 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.
14: Herds shall lie down in it, every wild
animal; the
desert owl and the screech owl shall lodge on its capitals; the owl shall hoot
at the window, the raven croak on the threshold; for its cedar work will be
laid bare.
15: Is 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.
Chapter
3
Jerusalem's Sin and
Redemption
1: Ah, soiled, defiled,
oppressing city!
2: It has listened to no
voice; it has accepted no correction. It has not trusted in the Lord; it has
not drawn near to its God.
3: The officials within
it are roaring lions; its judges are evening wolves that leave nothing until
the morning.
4: Its prophets are
reckless, faithless persons; its priests have profaned what is sacred, they
have done violence to the law.
5: The Lord within it is
righteous; he does no wrong. Every morning he renders his judgment, each dawn
without fail; but the unjust knows no shame.
6: I have cut off
nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so
that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without
people, without inhabitants.
7: I said, "Surely
the city will fear me, it will accept correction; it will not lose sight of all
that I have brought upon it." But they were the more eager to make all
their deeds corrupt.
8: Therefore wait for
me, says the Lord, for the day when I arise as a witness. For my decision is to
gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all
the heat of my anger; for in the fire of my passion all the earth shall be
consumed.
9: At that time I will
change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call on
the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord.
10: From beyond the
rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, my scattered ones, shall bring my offering.
11: On that day you shall
not be put to shame because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled against
me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you
shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.
12: For I will leave in
the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name
of the Lord-
13: the remnant of
Israel; they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue
be found in their mouths. Then they will pasture and lie down, and no one shall
make them afraid.
14: Sing aloud, O
daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O
daughter Jerusalem!
15: The Lord has taken
away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of
Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.
16: On that day it shall
be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak.
17: The Lord, your God,
is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with
gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud
singing
18: as on a day of
festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach
for it.
19: I will deal with all
your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
20: At that time I will
bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and
praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before
your eyes, says the Lord.
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