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
Holman Christian Standard Bible
1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah(A) son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Great Day of the Lord
2 I will completely sweep away everything
from the face of the earth(B)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
3 I will sweep away man and animal;(C)
I will sweep away the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea,
and the ruins[a] along with the wicked.(D)
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
4 I will stretch out My hand(E) against Judah
and against all the residents of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every vestige of Baal(F)
from this place,
the names of the pagan priests(G)
along with the priests;
5 those who bow in worship on the rooftops(H)
to the heavenly host;
those who bow and pledge loyalty to the Lord(I)
but also pledge loyalty to Milcom;[b](J)
6 and those who turn back from following the Lord,
who do not seek the Lord or inquire of Him.
7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord God,(K)
for the Day of the Lord is near.(L)
Indeed, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;(M)
He has consecrated His guests.(N)
8 On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials, the king’s sons,
and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.
9 On that day(O) I will punish
all who skip over the threshold,[c](P)
who fill their master’s house
with violence and deceit.
10 On that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
there will be an outcry from the Fish Gate,(Q)
a wailing from the Second District,(R)
and a loud crashing from the hills.
11 Wail, you residents of the Hollow,[d]
for all the merchants[e] will be silenced;
all those loaded with silver will be cut off.
12 And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish the men who settle down comfortably,[f](S)
who say to themselves:
The Lord will not do good or evil.
13 Their wealth will become plunder
and their houses a ruin.
They will build houses but never live in them,
plant vineyards but never drink their wine.(T)
14 The great Day of the Lord is near,(U)
near and rapidly approaching.
Listen, the Day of the Lord—
then the warrior’s cry is bitter.
15 That day is a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of destruction and desolation,
a day of darkness(V) and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,(W)
16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities,
and against the high corner towers.
17 I will bring distress on mankind,
and they will walk like the blind(X)
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.
18 Their silver and their gold
will not be able to rescue them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.(Y)
The whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of His jealousy.(Z)
For He will make a complete,
yes, a horrifying end
of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:3 Perhaps objects connected with idolatry
- Zephaniah 1:5 Some LXX mss, Syr, Vg; MT, other LXX mss read their king
- Zephaniah 1:9 Hb obscure
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or the market district
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or Canaanites
- Zephaniah 1:12 Lit who thicken on their dregs
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.