Zephaniah 1-3 New American Standard Bible

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 ^(A)Josiah son of ^(B)Amon, king of Judah:

²“I will completely ^(C)remove all things
From the face of the ^[a]earth,” declares the Lord.
³“I will remove ^(D)human and animal life;
I will remove the ^(E)birds of the sky
And the fish of the sea,
And the ^[b]^(F)ruins along with the wicked;
And I will eliminate mankind from the face of the ^[c]earth,” declares the Lord.
⁴“So I will ^(G)stretch out My hand against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will ^(H)eliminate the remnant of Baal from this place,
And the names of the ^(I)idolatrous priests along with the other priests.
⁵And those who bow down on the ^(J)housetops to the heavenly ^[d]lights,
And those who bow down and ^(K)swear to the Lord, but also swear by ^[e]^(L)Milcom,
⁶And those who have ^(M)turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have ^(N)not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him.”

⁷^[f]^(O)Be silent before the Lord ^[g]God!
For the ^(P)day of the Lord is near,
Because the Lord has prepared a ^(Q)sacrifice,
He has ^(R)consecrated His guests.
⁸“Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
That I will ^(S)punish the princes, the king’s sons,
And all who clothe themselves with ^(T)foreign garments.
⁹And on that day I will punish all who leap on the temple threshold,
Who fill the house of their ^[h]lord with ^(U)violence and deceit.
¹⁰And on that day,” declares the Lord,
“There will be the sound of a cry from the ^(V)Fish Gate,
Wailing from the ^[i]^(W)Second Quarter,
And a loud crash from the ^(X)hills.
¹¹Wail, you inhabitants of the ^[j]Mortar,
Because all the ^[k]people of ^(Y)Canaan will be destroyed;
All who weigh out ^(Z)silver will be eliminated.
¹²And it will come about at that time
That I will ^(AA)search Jerusalem with lamps,
And I will punish the people
Who are ^[l]^(AB)stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will ^(AC)not do good nor harm!’
¹³Their wealth will become ^(AD)plunder,
And their houses desolate;
Yes, ^(AE)they will build houses but not inhabit them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”

¹⁴The ^(AF)great ^(AG)day of the Lord is near,
Near and coming very quickly;
Listen, the day of the Lord!
^[m]In it the warrior ^(AH)cries out bitterly.
¹⁵That day is a day of anger,
A day of ^(AI)trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of ^(AJ)darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
¹⁶A day of ^(AK)trumpet and battle cry
Against the ^(AL)fortified cities
And the high corner towers.
¹⁷I will bring ^(AM)distress on mankind
So that they will walk ^(AN)like those who are blind,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
And their ^(AO)blood will be poured out like dust,
And their ^(AP)flesh like dung.
¹⁸Neither their ^(AQ)silver nor their gold
Will be able to save them
On the day of the Lord’s anger;
And ^(AR)all the earth will be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will ^(AS)make a complete end,
Indeed a horrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Judgments on Judah’s Enemies

2 Gather yourselves together, yes, ^(AT)join together,
You nation ^(AU)without ^[n]shame,
²Before the decree ^[o]takes effect—
The day passes ^(AV)like chaff—
Before the ^(AW)burning anger of the Lord comes upon you,
Before the ^(AX)day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you.
³^(AY)Seek the Lord,
All you ^(AZ)humble of the ^[p]earth
Who have practiced His ^[q]ordinances;
^(BA)Seek righteousness, seek humility.
Perhaps you will ^(BB)remain hidden
On the day of the Lord’s anger.

⁴For ^(BC)Gaza will be abandoned,
And Ashkelon will become a desolation;
The inhabitants of ^(BD)Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
And ^(BE)Ekron will be uprooted.
⁵Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the ^[r]^(BF)Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is ^(BG)against you,
^(BH)Canaan, land of the Philistines;
And I will ^(BI)eliminate you
So that there will be ^(BJ)no inhabitant.
⁶So the seacoast will become ^(BK)grazing places,
With pastures for shepherds and folds for flocks.
⁷And the coast will be
For the ^(BL)remnant of the house of Judah,
They will ^(BM)drive sheep to pasture on it.
In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;
For the Lord their God will ^(BN)care for them
And ^(BO)restore their fortunes.

⁸“I have heard the ^(BP)taunting of Moab
And the ^(BQ)abusive speech of the sons of Ammon,
With which they have taunted My people
And ^(BR)boasted against their territory.
⁹Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of armies,
The God of Israel,
“^(BS)Moab will assuredly be like ^(BT)Sodom,
And the sons of ^(BU)Ammon like ^(BV)Gomorrah—
Ground overgrown with weeds and full of salt mines,
And a permanent desolation.
The remnant of My people will ^(BW)plunder them,
And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”

¹⁰This they will have in return for their ^(BX)arrogance, because they have ^(BY)taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of armies. ¹¹The Lord will be ^(BZ)terrifying to them, for He will ^[s]starve ^(CA)all the gods of the earth; and all the ^(CB)coastlands of the nations will ^(CC)bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.

¹²“You also, ^(CD)Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”
¹³And He will ^(CE)stretch out His hand against the north
And eliminate ^(CF)Assyria,
And He will make ^(CG)Nineveh a desolation,
Parched like the wilderness.
¹⁴Flocks will lie down in her midst,
^[t]All animals that range in herds;
Both the ^[u]^(CH)pelican and the hedgehog
Will spend their nights in ^[v]the tops of her pillars;
^[w]Birds will sing in the window,
Devastation will be on the threshold;
For He has uncovered the cedar work.
¹⁵This is the ^(CI)presumptuous city
That ^(CJ)dwells securely,
Who says in her heart,
“^(CK)I am, and there is no one besides me.”
How she has become a ^(CL)desolation,
A resting place for animals!
^(CM)Everyone who passes by her will ^[x]hiss
And wave his hand in contempt.

Woe to Jerusalem and the Nations

3 Woe to her who is ^(CN)rebellious and ^(CO)defiled,
The ^(CP)oppressive city!
²She ^(CQ)obeyed no voice,
She ^(CR)accepted no discipline.
She did not ^(CS)trust in the Lord,
She did not ^(CT)approach her God.
³Her ^(CU)leaders within her are roaring lions,
Her judges are ^(CV)wolves at evening;
They have no bones to gnaw in the morning.
⁴Her prophets are ^(CW)insolent, treacherous men;
Her ^(CX)priests have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the Law.
⁵The Lord is ^(CY)righteous ^(CZ)within her;
He will ^(DA)do no injustice.
^(DB)Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He ^[y]does not fail.
But the ^[z]criminal ^(DC)knows no shame.
⁶“I have eliminated nations;
Their corner towers are deserted.
I have ^(DD)laid waste their streets,
With no one passing by;
Their ^(DE)cities have been laid waste,
Without a person, ^(DF)without an inhabitant.
⁷I said, ‘You will certainly revere Me,
You will ^(DG)accept discipline.’
So her dwelling will ^(DH)not be eliminated
In accordance with everything that I have stipulated for her.
Instead, they were eager to ^(DI)corrupt all their deeds.

⁸“Therefore ^(DJ)wait for Me,” declares the Lord,
“For the day when I rise up as a witness.
Indeed, My decision is to ^(DK)gather nations,
To assemble kingdoms,
To pour out on them My indignation,
All My burning anger;
For ^(DL)all the earth will be devoured
By the fire of My zeal.
⁹For then I will ^[aa]restore to the peoples ^(DM)pure lips,
So that all of them may ^(DN)call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him ^[ab]shoulder to shoulder.
¹⁰From beyond the rivers of ^(DO)Ethiopia
My worshipers, ^[ac]My dispersed ones,
Will ^(DP)bring My offerings.
¹¹On that day you will ^(DQ)feel no shame
Because of all your deeds
By which you have rebelled against Me;
For then I will remove from your midst
Your ^(DR)proud, arrogant ones,
And you will never again be haughty
On My ^(DS)holy mountain.

A Remnant of Israel

¹²But I will leave among you
A ^(DT)humble and lowly people,
And they will ^(DU)take refuge in the name of the Lord.
¹³The ^(DV)remnant of Israel will ^(DW)do no wrong
And ^(DX)tell no lies,
Nor will a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths;
For they will ^(DY)feed and lie down
With no one to frighten them.”

¹⁴Shout for joy, daughter of Zion!
^(DZ)Shout in triumph, Israel!
Rejoice and triumph with all your heart,
Daughter of Jerusalem!
¹⁵The Lord has taken away ^(EA)His judgments against you,
He has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is ^(EB)in your midst;
You will no longer ^(EC)fear disaster.
¹⁶^(ED)On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“^(EE)Do not be afraid, Zion;
^(EF)Do not let your hands fall limp.
¹⁷The Lord your God is ^(EG)in your midst,
A ^[ad]^(EH)victorious warrior.
He will ^(EI)rejoice over you with joy,
He will ^[ae]be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
¹⁸I will gather those who are ^(EJ)worried about the appointed feasts—
They ^[af]came from you, Zion;
The disgrace of exile is a burden on ^[ag]them.
¹⁹Behold, I am going to deal at that time
With all your ^(EK)oppressors;
I will save ^(EL)those who limp
And gather the scattered,
And I will turn their ^(EM)shame into ^(EN)praise and fame
In all the earth.
²⁰At that time I will ^(EO)bring you in,
Even at the time when I gather you together;
Indeed, I will make you ^(EP)famous and praiseworthy
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I ^(EQ)restore your fortunes before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.

Footnotes

Zephaniah 1:2 Lit ground
Zephaniah 1:3 Or stumbling blocks
Zephaniah 1:3 Lit ground
Zephaniah 1:5 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
Zephaniah 1:5 Or their king; MT Malcam, prob. a variant spelling of Milcom, the Ammonite god
Zephaniah 1:7 Lit Hush
Zephaniah 1:7 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Zephaniah 1:9 Or Lord
Zephaniah 1:10 I.e., a district of Jerusalem
Zephaniah 1:11 I.e., a district of Jerusalem
Zephaniah 1:11 Or merchant people will
Zephaniah 1:12 Lit thickening on their dregs
Zephaniah 1:14 Lit There
Zephaniah 2:1 Or longing
Zephaniah 2:2 Lit gives birth
Zephaniah 2:3 Or land
Zephaniah 2:3 Or justice
Zephaniah 2:5 I.e., a segment of the Philistines with roots in Crete
Zephaniah 2:11 Lit allow to dwindle
Zephaniah 2:14 Or All kinds of beasts in crowds; lit Every kind of beast of a nation
Zephaniah 2:14 Or owl; or jackdaw
Zephaniah 2:14 Lit her capitals
Zephaniah 2:14 Lit A voice
Zephaniah 2:15 Or whistle
Zephaniah 3:5 Lit is not missing
Zephaniah 3:5 Or sinner
Zephaniah 3:9 Lit change
Zephaniah 3:9 Lit with one shoulder
Zephaniah 3:10 Lit the daughter of My dispersed ones
Zephaniah 3:17 Lit A warrior who saves
Zephaniah 3:17 Or with some ancient versions, renew you in
Zephaniah 3:18 Lit were
Zephaniah 3:18 Lit her