² I will wipe out everything from the earth, says the Lord.
³         I will destroy humanity and the beasts;
        I will destroy the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea.
        I will make the wicked into a heap of ruins;
        I will eliminate humanity from the earth, says the Lord.

⁷ Hush before the Lord God,
        for the day of the Lord is near!
        The Lord has established a sacrifice;
            he has made holy those he has summoned.
⁸ On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
        I will punish the princes, the king’s sons,
            and all those wearing foreign clothes.
⁹ I will punish the one leaping on the threshold on that day,
            those filling the house of their master with violence and deceit.
¹⁰ On that day—says the Lord—
        an outcry will resound from the Fish Gate,
        wailing from the second quarter,
        a loud crash from the hills.
¹¹ The ones who grind the grain^[b] will wail;
        all the merchants will be silenced.
        I will eliminate all those weighing out silver.
¹² At that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps;
        I will punish the men growing fat on the sediment in their wine,
            those saying to themselves, The Lord won’t do good or evil.
¹³         Their wealth will be looted and their houses destroyed.
        They will rebuild houses, but not live in them;
        they will plant vineyards, but not drink the wine.
¹⁴ The great day of the Lord is near;
        it is near and coming very quickly.
The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter.
        A warrior screams there.
¹⁵ That day is a day of fury,
        a day of distress and anxiety,
        a day of desolation and devastation,
        a day of darkness and gloominess,
        a day of clouds and deep darkness,
¹⁶         a day for blowing the trumpet and alarm against their invincible cities
            and against their high towers.
¹⁷ I will make humanity suffer;
            they will walk like the blind
            because they sinned against the Lord.
        Their blood will be poured out like dust
        and their intestines like manure.
¹⁸ Moreover, their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them
        on the day of the Lord’s fury.
His jealousy will devour the entire land with fire;
        he will make an end,
            a truly horrible one,
        for all the inhabitants of the land.

3 Doom, obstinate one,
        the defiled one,
        the violent city.
² She listened to no voice;
        she accepted no discipline.
She didn’t trust in the Lord,
        nor did she draw near to her God.
³ The princes in her midst are roaring lions.
        Her judges are wolves of the evening;
        they leave nothing for the morning.
⁴ Her prophets are reckless, men of treachery.
        Her priests pollute that which is holy;
        they do violence to the Instruction.
⁵ The Lord is righteous in her midst.
He does nothing unjust.
        Morning by morning he renders justice,
        but the unrighteous one knows no shame.
⁶ I will cut off nations;
        their towers will be destroyed;
        I will devastate their streets.
            No one will pass through.
        Their cities will be laid waste.
            There will be no person, no inhabitant left.
⁷ I said, “Surely, she will fear me;
            she will take instruction
        so that her habitation won’t be cut off^[a]
            because of everything I did to her.”
However, they rose early to corrupt their deeds.
⁸ Therefore, wait for me, says the Lord,
        wait for the day when I rise up as a witness,^[b]
        when I decide to gather nations,
                to collect kingdoms,
            to pour out my indignation upon them,
                all the heat of my anger.
        In the fire of my jealousy,
            all the earth will be devoured.

⁹ Then I will change the speech of the peoples into pure speech,
        that all of them will call on the name of the Lord
        and will serve him as one.^[c]
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush,
        my daughter, my dispersed ones, will bring me offerings.
¹¹ On that day, you won’t be ashamed of all your deeds
        with which you sinned against me;
            then I will remove from your midst those boasting with pride.
No longer will you be haughty on my holy mountain,
¹²     but I will cause a humble and powerless people to remain in your midst;
        they will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.
¹³ The few remaining from Israel won’t commit injustice;
        they won’t tell lies;
        a deceitful tongue won’t be found on their lips.
            They will graze and lie down;
                no one will make them afraid.
¹⁴ Rejoice, Daughter Zion! Shout, Israel!
        Rejoice and exult with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem.
¹⁵ The Lord has removed your judgment;
        he has turned away your enemy.
The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst;
        you will no longer fear evil.
¹⁶ On that day, it will be said to Jerusalem:
        Don’t fear, Zion.
        Don’t let your hands fall.
¹⁷ The Lord your God is in your midst—a warrior bringing victory.
        He will create calm with his love;
        he will rejoice over you with singing.

⁷ Ever since the time of your ancestors,
        you have deviated from my laws
            and have not kept them.
Return to me and I will return to you,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
But you say,
    “How should we return?”
⁸ Should a person deceive God?
        Yet you deceive me.
But you say,
    “How have we deceived you?”
With your tenth-part gifts and offerings.
⁹ You are being cursed with a curse,
        and you, the entire nation, are robbing me.
¹⁰ Bring the whole tenth-part to the storage house so there might be food in my house.
        Please test me in this,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
See whether I do not open all the windows of the heavens for you
        and empty out a blessing until there is enough.^[a]
11 I will threaten the one who wants to devour you
        so that it doesn’t spoil the fruit of your fertile land,
            and so that the vine doesn’t abort its fruit in your field,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
¹² All the nations will consider you fortunate,
        for you will be a desirable land,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.

¹⁶ Then those revering the Lord,
    each and every one, spoke among themselves.
        The Lord paid attention and listened to them.
Then a scroll of remembrance was written before the Lord
        about those revering the Lord,
            the ones meditating on his name.
¹⁷ On the day that I am preparing,
says the Lord of heavenly forces,
        they will be my special possession.
        I will spare them just as parents spare a child who serves them.
¹⁸ You will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked,
        between those serving God and those not serving him.

4 ^[b] Look, the day is coming,
        burning like an oven.
All the arrogant ones and all those doing evil will become straw.
    The coming day will burn them,
says the Lord of heavenly forces,
        leaving them neither root nor branch.
² But the sun of righteousness will rise on those revering my name;
        healing will be in its wings
            so that you will go forth and jump about like calves in the stall.
³ You will crush the wicked;
        they will be like dust beneath the soles of your feet
            on the day that I am preparing,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
⁴ Remember the Instruction from Moses, my servant,
        to whom I gave Instruction and rules for all Israel at Horeb.
⁵ Look, I am sending Elijah the prophet to you,
        before the great and terrifying day of the Lord arrives.
⁶ Turn the hearts of the parents to the children
    and the hearts of the children to their parents.
            Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.