Zephaniah 1
Modern English Version
1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Great Day of the Lord
2 I will utterly consume all things
on the face of the earth,
says the Lord;
3 I will consume man and beast;
I will consume the birds of the heavens
and the fish of the sea,
and the stumbling blocks with the wicked.
I will cut off man from the face of the land,
says the Lord.
4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah,
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal,
and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 and those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of heaven;
those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord
and yet swear by Milcom;
6 those who have turned back from following the Lord,
who have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him.
7 Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is at hand;
the Lord has prepared the sacrifice;
He has consecrated His guests.
8 On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
I will punish the officials
and the king’s sons,
and all who clothe themselves
with foreign attire.
9 On that day I will punish
all who step over the threshold,
who fill their masters’ houses
with violence and deceit.
10 On that day, says the Lord,
a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
and a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail, you inhabitants of the Mortar!
For all the merchants are cut down;
all those who weigh out silver are cut off.
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
who are settled on their lees,
who say in their heart,
“The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.”
13 Their goods will be plundered,
and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
they will not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
they will not drink from their wine.
The Great Day of the Lord
14 The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening quickly.
The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
the mighty man shall cry out there.
15 That day is a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of ruin and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,
16 a day of trumpet and alarms
against the fortified cities
and against the high towers.
17 I will bring distress on men,
so that they will walk like blind men.
Because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood will be poured out like dust,
and their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to deliver them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.
But the whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of His jealousy,
for He will make a sudden end
of all those who dwell on the earth.
Zephaniah 1
American Standard Version
1 The word of Jehovah which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah. 3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah. 4 And I will stretch out my 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 Chemarim with the priests; 5 and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship, that swear to Jehovah and swear by [a]Malcam; 6 and them that are turned back from following Jehovah; and those that have not sought Jehovah, nor inquired after him.
7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord Jehovah; for the day of Jehovah is at hand: for Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath consecrated his guests. 8 And it shall come to pass in the day of Jehovah’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s sons, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel. 9 And in that day I will [b]punish all those that leap over the threshold, that fill their master’s house with violence and deceit. 10 And in that day, saith Jehovah, there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and a wailing from the [c]second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. 11 Wail, ye inhabitants of [d]Maktesh; for all [e]the people of Canaan are undone; all they that were laden with silver are cut off. 12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps; and I will [f]punish the men that are [g]settled on their lees, that say in their heart, Jehovah will not do good, neither will he do evil. 13 And their wealth shall become a spoil, and their houses a desolation: yea, they shall build houses, but shall not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink the wine thereof.
14 The great day of Jehovah is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of Jehovah; the mighty man crieth 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 fortified cities, and against the high [h]battlements. 17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he will make an end, yea, a [i]terrible end, of all them that dwell in the land.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:5 Or, their king
- Zephaniah 1:9 Hebrew visit upon.
- Zephaniah 1:10 Hebrew Mishneh.
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or, The mortar
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or, the merchant people
- Zephaniah 1:12 Hebrew visit upon.
- Zephaniah 1:12 Or, thickened
- Zephaniah 1:16 Or, corner towers
- Zephaniah 1:18 Or, speedy
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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