Zephaniah 1
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Will End All Things
1 The word of [a]Yahweh 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)end all things
From the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.
3 “I will end (D)man and beast;
I will end the (E)birds of the sky
And the fish of the sea
And the [b](F)ruins along with the wicked;
And I will cut off man from the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.
4 “So I will (G)stretch out My hand against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will (H)cut off the remnant of Baal from this place,
And the names of the (I)idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 And those who worship on the (J)housetops the host of heaven,
And those who worship and (K)swear to Yahweh and yet swear by [c](L)Milcom,
6 And those who have (M)turned back from following Yahweh,
And those who have (N)not sought Yahweh or inquired of Him.”
The Day of Yahweh Is Near
7 [d](O)Be silent before Lord Yahweh!
For the (P)day of Yahweh is near,
For Yahweh has prepared a (Q)sacrifice;
He has (R)set apart His guests.
8 “Then it will be on the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice
That I will (S)punish the princes, the king’s sons,
And all who clothe themselves with (T)foreign garments.
9 And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold,
Who fill the house of their [e]Lord with (U)violence and deceit.
10 And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,
“That there will be the sound of a cry from the (V)Fish Gate
And a wail from the [f](W)Second Quarter
And a great destruction from the (X)hills.
11 Wail, O inhabitants of the [g]Mortar,
For all the [h]people of (Y)Canaan will be silenced;
All who weigh out (Z)silver will be cut off.
12 And it will be at that time
That I will (AA)search Jerusalem with lamps,
And I will punish the men
Who are [i](AB)stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘Yahweh will (AC)not do good or evil!’
13 And it will be that their wealth will become (AD)spoil
And their houses desolate;
Indeed, (AE)they will build houses but not inhabit them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”
14 Near is the (AF)great (AG)day of Yahweh,
Near and coming very quickly;
O the sound, the day of Yahweh!
[j]In it the mighty man (AH)cries out bitterly.
15 A day of fury is that day,
A day of (AI)trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of (AJ)darkness and thick darkness,
A day of clouds and dense gloom,
16 A day of (AK)trumpet and loud shouting
Against the (AL)fortified cities
And the high corner towers.
17 I will bring (AM)distress on men
So that they will walk (AN)like the blind
Because they have sinned against Yahweh;
And their (AO)blood will be poured out like dust
And their (AP)flesh like dung.
18 Neither their (AQ)silver nor their gold
Will be able to deliver them
On the day of the fury of Yahweh;
And (AR)all the earth will be devoured
In the fire of His jealousy,
For He will (AS)make a complete destruction,
Indeed a terrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:1 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Zephaniah 1:3 Or stumbling blocks
- Zephaniah 1:5 Or their king; M.T. Malcam, probably a variant spelling of Milcom
- Zephaniah 1:7 Lit Hush
- Zephaniah 1:9 Or lord
- Zephaniah 1:10 A district of Jerusalem
- Zephaniah 1:11 A district of Jerusalem
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or merchant people will
- Zephaniah 1:12 Lit thickening on their lees
- Zephaniah 1:14 Lit There
Zephaniah 1
Revised Standard Version
1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephani′ah the son of Cushi, son of Gedali′ah, son of Amari′ah, son of Hezeki′ah, in the days of Josi′ah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Coming Judgment on Judah
2 “I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea.
I will overthrow[a] the wicked;
I will cut off mankind
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 the remnant of Ba′al
and the name of the idolatrous priests;[b]
5 those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens;
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
and yet swear by Milcom;
6 those who have turned back from following the Lord,
who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”
7 Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is at hand;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
and 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 array themselves in foreign attire.
9 On that day I will punish
every one who leaps over the threshold,
and those 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 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
For all the traders are no more;
all who weigh out silver are cut off.
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
who are thickening upon their lees,
those who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do ill.’
13 Their goods 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.”
The Great Day of the Lord
14 The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter,
the mighty man cries aloud there.
15 A day of wrath is that day,
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 distress on men,
so 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
shall be able to deliver them
on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
In the fire of his jealous wrath,
all the earth shall be consumed;
for a full, yea, sudden end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:3 Cn: Heb the stumbling blocks
- Zephaniah 1:4 Compare Gk: Heb idolatrous priests with the priests
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Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.