Zephaniah 1
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.
5 And 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,
6 And 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.
9 And 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.
10 And 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.
11 Wail, 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.
12 And 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!’
13 Their 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.”
14 The (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.
15 That 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,
16 A day of (AK)trumpet and battle cry
Against the (AL)fortified cities
And the high corner towers.
17 I 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.
18 Neither 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.
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 1
International Standard Version
The Imminent Destruction of Judah
1 This message from the Lord came to Cushi’s son Zephaniah,[a] the grandson of Gedaliah and great-grandson of Hezekiah’s son Amariah, during the reign[b] of Amon’s son Josiah, king of Judah:
2 “I’ll utterly sweep away everything from[c] the land,”
declares the Lord.
3 “I’ll consume both human beings and animals—
I’ll consume the birds of the sky,
the fish in the sea,
and the wicked along with their sin,[d]
when I eliminate human beings from the land,”
declares the Lord.
4 “I will also stretch out my hand against Judah,
and upon all inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I’ll wipe out every trace of Baal from this place,
and the name[e] of the pagan priests[f],
along with my own[g] priests.
5 I’ll wipe out[h] those who worship the stars
that they view[i] from their housetops,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
and who also swear by Milcom,[j]
6 those who turn away from the Lord,
don’t seek the Lord,
and never ask for his help.[k]”
The Approaching Day of the Lord
7 Remain silent in the presence of the Lord God,
because the Day of the Lord approaches,
and because the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
for those whom he has invited to be consecrated.
8 “It will come about during[l] the Lord’s sacrifice
that I’ll punish the officials,[m] the royal descendants,
and all who wear foreign clothing.[n]
9 At the same time, I’ll punish every idol worshipper,[o]
especially those who are filling their master’s temple with violence and deceit.
10 When all of this happens,”[p] declares the Lord,
“a loud shriek will come[q] from the Fish Gate,
and howling from the Mishneh[r] Quarter,
along with great destruction from the hills.”
Divine Judgment on the Business Community
11 “Wail, you who live in the market district,
because all of the merchants will be crushed
and all of their customers[s] will be eliminated.[t]
12 And it will come about that I will search Jerusalem with candles,[u]
punishing the self-satisfied and complacent,
who say to themselves,
‘The Lord will do neither good nor evil.’
13 Therefore their possessions will be seized as plunder
and their homes left in ruins.
They may build houses,
but they won’t live in them.
They may plant vineyards,
but they won’t drink their wine.”
Zephaniah’s Description of the Day of the Lord
14 “The great Day of the Lord approaches—
How it comes, hurrying faster and faster!
The sound of the Day of the Lord there
includes the bitter cry of the mighty soldier.
15 That day will be filled with wrath,
a day of trouble and tribulation,
a day of desolation and devastation,
a day of doom and gloom,
a day of clouds and shadows,[v]
16 a day of trumpet and battle cry
against fortified cities and watch[w] towers.
17 “And I’ll bring so much distress to people
that they will walk around like the blind.
Because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood will be poured out like dust
and their intestines will spill out[x] like manure.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold will deliver them
in the Day of the Lord’s wrath;
but the entire land will be consumed
by the fire of his jealousy,
for he will bring the inhabitants of the land to a sudden end.”
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:1 The Heb. name Zephaniah means The Lord has treasured
- Zephaniah 1:1 Lit. in the days of
- Zephaniah 1:2 Lit. from the face of
- Zephaniah 1:3 Lit. with the heap of rubble
- Zephaniah 1:4 Or authority
- Zephaniah 1:4 Lit. the Chemarim; i.e. idol worshiping priests
- Zephaniah 1:4 The Heb. lacks my own
- Zephaniah 1:5 The Heb. lacks I’ll wipe out
- Zephaniah 1:5 The Heb. lacks that they view
- Zephaniah 1:5 I.e. the national idol of the Ammonites
- Zephaniah 1:6 Lit. and don’t inquire of him
- Zephaniah 1:8 Lit. in the day of
- Zephaniah 1:8 Lit. princes
- Zephaniah 1:8 Or wear cultic vestments
- Zephaniah 1:9 Lit. everyone who leaps over the threshold; cf. 1Sam 5:5
- Zephaniah 1:10 Lit. It will come about in that day
- Zephaniah 1:10 The Heb. lacks will come
- Zephaniah 1:10 Or from The Second; i.e. a section of Jerusalem
- Zephaniah 1:11 Lit. all who carry silver
- Zephaniah 1:11 Lit. be cut off
- Zephaniah 1:12 Or with oil lamps
- Zephaniah 1:15 Cf. Joel 2:2a
- Zephaniah 1:16 Lit. corner
- Zephaniah 1:17 The Heb. lacks will spill out
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