Zephaniah 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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 King Josiah son of Amon of Judah.(A)
The Coming Judgment on Judah
2 I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth, says the Lord.(B)
3 I will sweep away humans and animals;
I will sweep away the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea.
I will make the wicked stumble.[a]
I will cut off humanity
from the face of the earth, says the Lord.(C)
4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests,[b](D)
5 those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
but also swear by Milcom,[c](E)
6 those who have turned back from following the Lord,
who have not sought the Lord or inquired of him.(F)
7 Be silent before the Lord God,
for the day of the Lord is at hand!
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
he has consecrated his guests.(G)
8 And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials and the king’s sons
and all who dress themselves in foreign attire.(H)
9 On that day I will punish
all who leap over the threshold,
who fill their master’s house
with violence and fraud.(I)
10 On that day, says the Lord,
a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.(J)
11 The inhabitants of the Mortar wail,
for all the traders have perished;
all who weigh out silver are cut off.
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the people
who settle like dregs in wine,
those who say in their hearts,
“The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do harm.”(K)
13 Their wealth shall be plundered
and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.(L)
The Great Day of the Lord
14 The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
the warrior cries aloud there.(M)
15 That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,(N)
16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
17 I will bring such distress upon people
that they shall walk like the blind;
because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood shall be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.(O)
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath;
in the fire of his passion
the whole earth shall be consumed,
for a full, a terrible end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.(P)
Zephaniah 1
Contemporary English Version
1 (A) I am Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, the great-grandson of Amariah, and the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah.[a]
When Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah,[b] the Lord gave me this message.
Judgment on Judah
2 I, the Lord, now promise
to destroy everything
on this earth—
3 people and animals,
birds and fish.
Everyone who is evil
will crash to the ground,[c]
and I will wipe out
the entire human race.
4 I will reach out to punish
Judah and Jerusalem—
nothing will remain
of the god Baal;[d]
nothing will be remembered
of his pagan priests.
5 Not a trace will be found
of those who worship stars
from their rooftops,
or bow down to the god Milcom,[e]
while claiming loyalty
to me, the Lord.
6 Nothing will remain of anyone
who has turned away
and rejected me.
7 Be silent! I am the Lord God,
and the time is near.
I am preparing
to sacrifice my people
and to invite my guests.
8 On that day I will punish
national leaders
and sons of the king,
along with all who follow
foreign customs.[f]
9 I will punish worshipers
of pagan gods[g]
and cruel palace officials
who abuse their power.
10 I, the Lord, promise
that on that day
noisy crying will be heard
from Fish Gate, New Town,
and Upper Hills.
11 Everyone in Lower Hollow[h]
will mourn loudly,
because merchants
and money changers
will be wiped out.
12 I'll search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those people
who sit there unworried
while thinking,
“The Lord won't do anything,
good or bad.”
13 Their possessions will be taken,
their homes left in ruins.
They won't get to live
in the houses they build,
or drink wine from the grapes
in their own vineyards.
A Terrible Day
14 The great day of the Lord
is coming soon, very soon.
On that terrible day,
fearsome shouts of warriors
will be heard everywhere.
15 It will be a time of anger—
of trouble and torment,
of disaster and destruction,
of darkness and despair,
of storm clouds and shadows,
16 of trumpet calls
and battle cries
against fortified cities
and mighty fortresses.
17 The Lord warns everyone
who has sinned against him,
“I'll strike you blind!
Then your blood and your insides
will gush out like vomit.
18 Not even your silver or gold
can save you on that day
when I, the Lord, am angry.
My anger will flare up
like a furious fire
scorching the earth
and everyone on it.”
Footnotes
- 1.1 Hezekiah: Ruled 716–687 b.c.
- 1.1 Josiah … king of Judah: Ruled 640–609 b.c.
- 1.3 Everyone … ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 1.4 Baal: A Canaanite fertility god.
- 1.5 Milcom: An Ammonite fertility god.
- 1.8 follow foreign customs: Hebrew “wear foreign clothes.”
- 1.9 worshipers … gods: The Hebrew text has “all who jump over the threshold,” which was a Philistine religious practice (see 1 Samuel 5.5).
- 1.10,11 Fish Gate, New Town, and Upper Hills … Lower Hollow: Names for different sections of Jerusalem: Fish Gate was probably the main gate on the north side of the city; New Town was a newer section; Upper Hills may have been a suburb north of the city; Lower Hollow was probably on the southern edge of town.
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