The Wickedness of Jerusalem

Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the Lord,
She has not drawn near to her God.

(A)Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are (B)evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
Her (C)prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have [a]polluted the sanctuary,
They have done (D)violence to the law.
The Lord is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
[b]Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails,
But (E)the unjust knows no shame.

“I have cut off nations,
Their fortresses are devastated;
I have made their streets desolate,
With none passing by.
Their cities are destroyed;
There is no one, no inhabitant.
(F)I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,
You will receive instruction’—
So that her dwelling would not be cut off,
Despite everything for which I punished her.
But [c]they rose early and (G)corrupted all their deeds.

A Faithful Remnant(H)

“Therefore (I)wait for Me,” says the Lord,
“Until the day I rise up [d]for plunder;
My determination is to (J)gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth (K)shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.

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Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 3:4 Or profaned
  2. Zephaniah 3:5 Lit. Morning by morning
  3. Zephaniah 3:7 They were eager
  4. Zephaniah 3:8 LXX, Syr. for witness; Tg. for the day of My revelation for judgment; Vg. for the day of My resurrection that is to come

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.

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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