Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.

Read full chapter

Her foes have become her masters;
    her enemies are at ease.
The Lord has brought her grief(A)
    because of her many sins.(B)
Her children have gone into exile,(C)
    captive before the foe.(D)

Read full chapter

Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.

Read full chapter

He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice.(A) They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’(B)

Read full chapter

17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.

18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

Read full chapter

17 He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things(A) they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence(B) and continually arouse my anger?(C) Look at them putting the branch to their nose! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger;(D) I will not look on them with pity(E) or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen(F) to them.”

Read full chapter

Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained.

Read full chapter

Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him,(A) and the rest of the people.(B)

Read full chapter

14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

Read full chapter

14 All your allies(A) have forgotten you;
    they care nothing for you.
I have struck you as an enemy(B) would
    and punished you as would the cruel,(C)
because your guilt is so great
    and your sins(D) so many.
15 Why do you cry out over your wound,
    your pain that has no cure?(E)
Because of your great guilt and many sins
    I have done these things to you.(F)

Read full chapter

For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.

Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

Read full chapter

We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins(A) in the light of your presence.(B)

Read full chapter

15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

19 And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.

20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.

24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.

26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:

27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.

Read full chapter

15 Jeshurun[a](A) grew fat(B) and kicked;
    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned(C) the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock(D) their Savior.
16 They made him jealous(E) with their foreign gods
    and angered(F) him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed(G) to false gods,(H) which are not God—
    gods they had not known,(I)
    gods that recently appeared,(J)
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot(K) the God who gave you birth.

19 The Lord saw this and rejected them(L)
    because he was angered by his sons and daughters.(M)
20 “I will hide my face(N) from them,” he said,
    “and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,(O)
    children who are unfaithful.(P)
21 They made me jealous(Q) by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.(R)
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.(S)
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath,(T)
    one that burns down to the realm of the dead below.(U)
It will devour(V) the earth and its harvests(W)
    and set afire the foundations of the mountains.(X)

23 “I will heap calamities(Y) on them
    and spend my arrows(Z) against them.
24 I will send wasting famine(AA) against them,
    consuming pestilence(AB) and deadly plague;(AC)
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts,(AD)
    the venom of vipers(AE) that glide in the dust.(AF)
25 In the street the sword will make them childless;
    in their homes terror(AG) will reign.(AH)
The young men and young women will perish,
    the infants and those with gray hair.(AI)
26 I said I would scatter(AJ) them
    and erase their name from human memory,(AK)
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
    lest the adversary misunderstand(AL)
and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed;
    the Lord has not done all this.’”(AM)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun means the upright one, that is, Israel.

Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!

She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God.

Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.

Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.

The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.

I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.

I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.

Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

Read full chapter

Jerusalem

Woe to the city of oppressors,(A)
    rebellious(B) and defiled!(C)
She obeys(D) no one,
    she accepts no correction.(E)
She does not trust(F) in the Lord,
    she does not draw near(G) to her God.
Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;(H)
her rulers are evening wolves,(I)
    who leave nothing for the morning.(J)
Her prophets are unprincipled;
    they are treacherous people.(K)
Her priests profane the sanctuary
    and do violence to the law.(L)
The Lord within her is righteous;(M)
    he does no wrong.(N)
Morning by morning(O) he dispenses his justice,
    and every new day he does not fail,(P)
    yet the unrighteous know no shame.(Q)

Jerusalem Remains Unrepentant

“I have destroyed nations;
    their strongholds are demolished.
I have left their streets deserted,
    with no one passing through.
Their cities are laid waste;(R)
    they are deserted and empty.
Of Jerusalem I thought,
    ‘Surely you will fear me
    and accept correction!’(S)
Then her place of refuge[a] would not be destroyed,
    nor all my punishments come upon[b] her.
But they were still eager
    to act corruptly(T) in all they did.
Therefore wait(U) for me,”
    declares the Lord,
    “for the day I will stand up to testify.[c]
I have decided to assemble(V) the nations,(W)
    to gather the kingdoms
and to pour out my wrath(X) on them—
    all my fierce anger.(Y)
The whole world will be consumed(Z)
    by the fire of my jealous anger.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 3:7 Or her sanctuary
  2. Zephaniah 3:7 Or all those I appointed over
  3. Zephaniah 3:8 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew will rise up to plunder

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.

I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.

10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

Read full chapter

Israel Will Rise

Do not gloat over me,(A) my enemy!
    Though I have fallen, I will rise.(B)
Though I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be my light.(C)
Because I have sinned against him,
    I will bear the Lord’s wrath,(D)
until he pleads my case(E)
    and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;(F)
    I will see his righteousness.(G)
10 Then my enemy will see it
    and will be covered with shame,(H)
she who said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”(I)
My eyes will see her downfall;(J)
    even now she will be trampled(K) underfoot
    like mire in the streets.

Read full chapter

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.

12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Read full chapter

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;(A)
10 who build(B) Zion with bloodshed,(C)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.(D)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(E)
    her priests teach for a price,(F)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(G)
Yet they look(H) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”(I)
12 Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(J)
    the temple(K) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(L)

Read full chapter

O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

14 Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

Read full chapter

“Lord, you are righteous,(A) but this day we are covered with shame(B)—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered(C) us because of our unfaithfulness(D) to you.(E) We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you.(F) The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving,(G) even though we have rebelled against him;(H) 10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.(I) 11 All Israel has transgressed(J) your law(K) and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses(L) and sworn judgments(M) written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned(N) against you. 12 You have fulfilled(O) the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster.(P) Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like(Q) what has been done to Jerusalem.(R) 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord(S) our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.(T) 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster(U) on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does;(V) yet we have not obeyed him.(W)

15 “Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand(X) and who made for yourself a name(Y) that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts,(Z) turn away(AA) your anger and your wrath(AB) from Jerusalem,(AC) your city, your holy hill.(AD) Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn(AE) to all those around us.

Read full chapter

24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.

29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.

Read full chapter

24 “Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’(A) 25 There is a conspiracy(B) of her princes[a] within her like a roaring lion(C) tearing its prey; they devour people,(D) take treasures and precious things and make many widows(E) within her. 26 Her priests do violence to my law(F) and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common;(G) they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean;(H) and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned(I) among them.(J) 27 Her officials(K) within her are like wolves(L) tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people(M) to make unjust gain.(N) 28 Her prophets whitewash(O) these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations.(P) They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.(Q) 29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery;(R) they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner,(S) denying them justice.(T)

30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall(U) and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.(V) 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger,(W) bringing down(X) on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.(Y)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 22:25 Septuagint; Hebrew prophets

46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

Read full chapter

46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
    wide(A) against us.(B)

Read full chapter