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.
Notas al pie
- 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
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.”
Notas al pie
- 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
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 © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
