Day of Judgment on Judah

The word of the Lord 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:

“I will completely (C)remove all things
From the face of the [a]earth,” declares the Lord.
“I will remove (D)human and animal life;
I will remove the (E)birds of the sky
And the fish of the sea,
And the [b](F)ruins along with the wicked;
And I will eliminate mankind from the face of the [c]earth,” declares the Lord.
“So I will (G)stretch out My hand against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will (H)eliminate the remnant of Baal from this place,
And the names of the (I)idolatrous priests along with the other priests.
And those who bow down on the (J)housetops to the heavenly [d]lights,
And those who bow down and (K)swear to the Lord, but also swear by [e](L)Milcom,
And those who have (M)turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have (N)not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him.”

[f](O)Be silent before the Lord [g]God!
For the (P)day of the Lord is near,
Because the Lord has prepared a (Q)sacrifice,
He has (R)consecrated His guests.
“Then it will come about on the day of the Lords sacrifice
That I will (S)punish the princes, the king’s sons,
And all who clothe themselves with (T)foreign garments.
And on that day I will punish all who leap on the temple threshold,
Who fill the house of their [h]lord with (U)violence and deceit.
10 And on that day,” declares the Lord,
“There will be the sound of a cry from the (V)Fish Gate,
Wailing from the [i](W)Second Quarter,
And a loud crash from the (X)hills.
11 Wail, you inhabitants of the [j]Mortar,
Because all the [k]people of (Y)Canaan will be destroyed;
All who weigh out (Z)silver will be eliminated.
12 And it will come about at that time
That I will (AA)search Jerusalem with lamps,
And I will punish the people
Who are [l](AB)stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will (AC)not do good nor harm!’
13 Their wealth will become (AD)plunder,
And their houses desolate;
Yes, (AE)they will build houses but not inhabit them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”

14 The (AF)great (AG)day of the Lord is near,
Near and coming very quickly;
Listen, the day of the Lord!
[m]In it the warrior (AH)cries out bitterly.
15 That day is a day of anger,
A day of (AI)trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of (AJ)darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of (AK)trumpet and battle cry
Against the (AL)fortified cities
And the high corner towers.
17 I will bring (AM)distress on mankind
So that they will walk (AN)like those who are blind,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
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 save them
On the day of the Lords anger;
And (AR)all the earth will be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will (AS)make a complete end,
Indeed a horrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 1:2 Lit ground
  2. Zephaniah 1:3 Or stumbling blocks
  3. Zephaniah 1:3 Lit ground
  4. Zephaniah 1:5 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
  5. Zephaniah 1:5 Or their king; MT Malcam, prob. a variant spelling of Milcom, the Ammonite god
  6. Zephaniah 1:7 Lit Hush
  7. Zephaniah 1:7 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  8. Zephaniah 1:9 Or Lord
  9. Zephaniah 1:10 I.e., a district of Jerusalem
  10. Zephaniah 1:11 I.e., a district of Jerusalem
  11. Zephaniah 1:11 Or merchant people will
  12. Zephaniah 1:12 Lit thickening on their dregs
  13. Zephaniah 1:14 Lit There

Judah’s Impending Judgment

The word of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.

“I will surely destroy everything
    from the face of the earth”—a declaration of Yahweh.
“I will destroy humanity and beast;
    I will destroy the birds of the sky
    and the fish of the sea,
    and the stumbling blocks[a] with the wicked.
And I will cut off humankind
    from the face of the earth”—a declaration of Yahweh.
“And I will stretch out my hand against Judah
    and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will cut off from this place
    the remnant of Baal,
    and the name of idolatrous priests with the priests,[b]
and those who bow down on the rooftops
    to the host of heaven,
and those who bow down, swearing to Yahweh
    but also swearing by Milkom,[c]
and those who turned back from following[d] Yahweh,
    and who did not seek Yahweh,
    and did not inquire of him.”
Be silent before the Lord Yahweh,
    for the day of Yahweh draws near,
for Yahweh has provided a sacrifice
    and has consecrated his guests.
And it shall be that on the day of the sacrifice of Yahweh,
I will punish the officials
    and the sons of the king
    and those who dress in foreign clothing.
And on that day I will punish
    all who leap over the threshold,
who fill up the house of their master
    with violence and deceit.
10 “And there shall be on that day”—a declaration of Yahweh—
    “a loud outcry[e] from the Fish Gate,
and a wailing from the Second District,
    and a loud[f] crashing from the hills.
11 The inhabitants of the Mortar shall wail,
    for all the traders have perished;
    all who trade with silver have been cut off.
12 And it shall be that at that time
I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
    whose senses are dulled from drinking,[g]
who say in their hearts,
    ‘Yahweh will not do good, nor will he do evil.’
13 Then their wealth shall be as plunder,
    and their homes as desolation.
And they shall build their houses and not inhabit them,
    and they shall plant vineyards and not drink their wine.”
14 The great day of Yahweh draws near;
    it is near and coming very swiftly.
The sound of the day of Yahweh is bitterness;
    there, a warrior cries out!
15 That day will be a day of wrath,
    a day of trouble and distress,
    a day of disaster and ruination,
    a day of darkness and deep gloom,
    a day of clouds[h] and thick clouds,[i]
16 a day of trumpet and trumpet blast
    against the fortified cities
    and against the high corner towers.
17 And I will bring distress to all humankind,
    and they shall walk about like the blind,
for they sinned against Yahweh;
    their blood shall be poured out like dust
    and their entrails like dung.
18 Moreover, their silver and their gold
    will not be able to save them
    on the day of the wrath of Yahweh.
And in the fire of his zeal,
    the whole land shall be consumed,
for a terrifying end he shall make
    for all the inhabitants of the land.

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 1:3 A reference to idols
  2. Zephaniah 1:4 The last phrase, “with the priests,” may be a later explanatory gloss
  3. Zephaniah 1:5 Or “their king”
  4. Zephaniah 1:6 Literally “after”
  5. Zephaniah 1:10 Literally “voice of a cry of distress”
  6. Zephaniah 1:10 Or “great”
  7. Zephaniah 1:12 Literally “who are thickened with their dregs”
  8. Zephaniah 1:15 Hebrew “cloud”
  9. Zephaniah 1:15 Hebrew “cloud”