Zephaniah 1:1-3:11
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.
Judgments on Judah’s Enemies
2 Gather yourselves together, yes, (AT)join together,
You nation (AU)without [n]shame,
2 Before 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.
4 For (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.
5 Woe 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.
6 So the seacoast will become (BK)grazing places,
With pastures for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7 And 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.
9 Therefore, 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.”
10 This they will have in return for their (BX)arrogance, because they have (BY)taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of armies. 11 The 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.”
13 And 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.
14 Flocks 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.
15 This 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!
2 She (CQ)obeyed no voice,
She (CR)accepted no discipline.
She did not (CS)trust in the Lord,
She did not (CT)approach her God.
3 Her (CU)leaders within her are roaring lions,
Her judges are (CV)wolves at evening;
They have no bones to gnaw in the morning.
4 Her prophets are (CW)insolent, treacherous men;
Her (CX)priests have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the Law.
5 The 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.
7 I 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.
9 For 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.
10 From beyond the rivers of (DO)Ethiopia
My worshipers, [ac]My dispersed ones,
Will (DP)bring My offerings.
11 On 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.
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 1:1-3:11
King James Version
1 The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.
4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham;
6 And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him.
7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.
13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
2 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you.
3 Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the Lord is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.
8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
9 Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.
12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he shall uncover the cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.
3 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God.
3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
