Zephaniah 1

English Standard Version

1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, ^(A)in the days of ^(B)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

The Coming Judgment on Judah

²^(C)“I will utterly sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
³“I will sweep away ^(D)man and beast;
    I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
    and ^(E)the fish of the sea,
and ^(F)the rubble^[a] with the wicked.
    I will ^(G)cut off mankind
    from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
⁴“I will stretch out my hand against Judah
    and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
^(H)and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
    and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
⁵^(I)those who bow down on the roofs
    to the host of the heavens,
^(J)those who bow down and swear to the Lord
    and yet swear by ^(K)Milcom,^[b]
⁶^(L)those who have turned back from following the Lord,
    ^(M)who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

The Day of the Lord Is Near

⁷^(N)Be silent before the Lord God!
    For ^(O)the day of the Lord is near;
^(P)the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
    and ^(Q)consecrated his guests.
⁸And on the day of the Lord's sacrifice—
^(R)“I will punish the officials and the king's sons
    and ^(S)all who array themselves in foreign attire.
⁹On that day I will punish
    everyone ^(T)who leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master's^[c] house
    with violence and fraud.

¹⁰“On that day,” declares the Lord,
    “a cry will be heard from ^(U)the Fish Gate,
^(V)a wail from ^(W)the Second Quarter,
    a loud crash from the hills.
¹¹^(X)Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
    For all the traders^[d] are no more;
    all who weigh out silver are cut off.
¹²At that time ^(Y)I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
    and I will punish the men
^(Z)who are complacent,^[e]
    ^(AA)those who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
    nor will he do ill.’
¹³Their goods shall be ^(AB)plundered,
    and their houses laid waste.
^(AC)Though they build houses,
    they shall not inhabit them;
^(AD)though they plant vineyards,
    they shall not drink wine from them.”

¹⁴^(AE)The great day of the Lord is near,
    near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
    ^(AF)the mighty man cries aloud there.
¹⁵^(AG)A day of wrath is that day,
    a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ^(AH)ruin and devastation,
    ^(AI)a day of darkness and gloom,
^(AJ)a day of clouds and thick darkness,
¹⁶    ^(AK)a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
^(AL)against the fortified cities
    and against the lofty battlements.

¹⁷^(AM)I will bring distress on mankind,
    so that they shall walk ^(AN)like the blind,
    because they have sinned against the Lord;
^(AO)their blood shall be poured out like dust,
    and their flesh ^(AP)like dung.
¹⁸^(AQ)Neither their silver nor their gold
    shall be able to deliver them
    on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
^(AR)In the fire of his jealousy,
    ^(AS)all the earth shall be consumed;
^(AT)for a full and sudden end
    he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Footnotes

Zephaniah 1:3 Or stumbling blocks (that is, idols)
Zephaniah 1:5 Or their king
Zephaniah 1:9 Or their Lord's
Zephaniah 1:11 Or all the people of Canaan
Zephaniah 1:12 Hebrew are thickening on the dregs [of their wine]

Habakkuk 2

English Standard Version

2 I will ^(A)take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and ^(B)look out to see ^(C)what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

²And the Lord answered me:

^(D)“Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
³For still ^(E)the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, ^(F)wait for it;
    ^(G)it will surely come; it will not delay.

⁴“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but ^(H)the righteous shall live by his faith.^[a]

⁵“Moreover, wine^[b] is ^(I)a traitor,
    an arrogant man who is never at rest.^[c]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
    like death ^(J)he has never enough.
^(K)He gathers for himself all nations
    and collects as his own all peoples.”

Woe to the Chaldeans

⁶Shall not all these ^(L)take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

^(M)“Woe to him ^(N)who heaps up what is not his own—
    for ^(O)how long?—
    and ^(P)loads himself with pledges!”
⁷^(Q)Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
    and those awake who will make you tremble?
    Then you will be spoil for them.
⁸^(R)Because you have plundered many nations,
    all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
^(S)for the blood of man and ^(T)violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

⁹^(U)“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
    ^(V)to ^(W)set his nest on high,
    to be safe from the reach of harm!
¹⁰You have devised shame for your house
    ^(X)by cutting off many peoples;
    you have forfeited your life.
¹¹For ^(Y)the stone will cry out from the wall,
    and the beam from the woodwork respond.

¹²^(Z)“Woe to him ^(AA)who builds a town with blood
    and founds a city on iniquity!
¹³Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
    that ^(AB)peoples labor merely for fire,
    and nations weary themselves for nothing?
¹⁴^(AC)For the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of ^(AD)the glory of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁵^(AE)“Woe to him ^(AF)who makes his neighbors drink—
    you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
    in order to gaze ^(AG)at their nakedness!
¹⁶You will have your fill ^(AH)of shame instead of glory.
    ^(AI)Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
^(AJ)The cup in the Lord's right hand
    will come around to you,
    and ^(AK)utter shame will come upon your glory!
¹⁷^(AL)The violence ^(AM)done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
^(AN)for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

¹⁸^(AO)“What profit is an idol
    when its maker has shaped it,
    a metal image, ^(AP)a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
    when he makes ^(AQ)speechless idols!
¹⁹^(AR)Woe to him ^(AS)who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
    to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
    and ^(AT)there is no breath at all in it.
²⁰But ^(AU)the Lord is in his holy temple;
    ^(AV)let all the earth keep silence before him.”