Zephaniah 1

¹The word of Jehovah, which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.

²I will utterly consume all things from the face of the land, saith Jehovah;

³I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the sea, And the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; And I will cut off man from the face of the land, saith Jehovah.

⁴I will stretch out my hand over Judah, And over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, And I will cut off from this place the residue of Baal, The name of the idol-sacrificers with the priests,

⁵And those who bow themselves on the house-tops to the host of heaven, And those who bow themselves and swear by Jehovah, And also swear by their idol,

⁶And those that turn back from Jehovah, And those that seek not Jehovah, nor inquire for him.

⁷Be silent before the Lord Jehovah! For the day of Jehovah is near; For Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice; He hath appointed his guests.

⁸And in the day of the sacrifice of Jehovah it shall come to pass That I will punish the princes and the sons of the king, And all that are clothed with foreign apparel.

⁹In that day also will I punish all that leap over the threshold, That fill the houses of their master with violence and deceit.

¹⁰And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, That there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish-gate, And of a howling from the other part of the city, And of great destruction from the hills.

¹¹Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh! For all the trafficking people are cut down; All they that bear silver are destroyed.

¹²And it shall come to pass at that time, That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men that are settled on their lees; That say in their hearts, "Jehovah doeth neither good nor evil."

¹³Their substance shall become a spoil, And their houses a desolation; They shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; And shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

¹⁴The day of Jehovah is near, the great day; It is near, and hasteth greatly; The day of Jehovah shall resound; Bitterly shall the mighty man cry for help.

¹⁵That day is a day of wrath, A day of distress and anguish, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness,

¹⁶A day of the trumpet and the war-shout, Against the fenced cities, And against the high towers.

¹⁷And I will distress the men, so that they shall walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against Jehovah. And their blood shall be poured out as dust, And their flesh as dung.

¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Jehovah, But by the fire of his indignation shall the whole land be devoured; For destruction, and that a speedy one, will he bring Upon all that dwell in the land.

Zephaniah 1

¹The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

²I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.

³I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.

⁴I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;

⁵And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham;

⁶And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him.

⁷Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.

⁸And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

⁹In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

¹⁰And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.

¹¹Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

¹²And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.

¹³Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

¹⁴The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

¹⁵That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

¹⁶A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

¹⁷And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.