Zephaniah 1-2

New International Version

1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah^(A) son of Amon^(B) king of Judah:

Judgment on the Whole Earth in the Day of the Lord

²“I will sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,”^(C)
declares the Lord.
³“I will sweep away both man and beast;^(D)
    I will sweep away the birds in the sky^(E)
    and the fish in the sea—
    and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.”^[a]

“When I destroy all mankind
    on the face of the earth,”^(F)
declares the Lord,^(G)
⁴“I will stretch out my hand^(H) against Judah
    and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,^(I)
    the very names of the idolatrous priests^(J)—
⁵those who bow down on the roofs
    to worship the starry host,^(K)
those who bow down and swear by the Lord
    and who also swear by Molek,^[b]^(L)
⁶those who turn back from following^(M) the Lord
    and neither seek^(N) the Lord nor inquire^(O) of him.”

⁷Be silent^(P) before the Sovereign Lord,
for the day of the Lord^(Q) is near.
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;^(R)
he has consecrated those he has invited.

⁸“On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
    I will punish^(S) the officials
    and the king’s sons^(T)
and all those clad
    in foreign clothes.
⁹On that day I will punish
    all who avoid stepping on the threshold,^[c]^(U)
who fill the temple of their gods
    with violence and deceit.^(V)

¹⁰“On that day,^(W)”
    declares the Lord,
“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,^(X)
    wailing^(Y) from the New Quarter,
    and a loud crash from the hills.
¹¹Wail,^(Z) you who live in the market district^[d];
    all your merchants will be wiped out,
    all who trade with^[e] silver will be destroyed.^(AA)
¹²At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
    and punish those who are complacent,^(AB)
    who are like wine left on its dregs,^(AC)
who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,^(AD)
    either good or bad.’^(AE)
¹³Their wealth will be plundered,^(AF)
    their houses demolished.
Though they build houses,
    they will not live in them;
though they plant vineyards,
    they will not drink the wine.”^(AG)

¹⁴The great day of the Lord^(AH) is near^(AI)—
    near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;
    the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.
¹⁵That day will be a day of wrath—
    a day of distress and anguish,
        a day of trouble and ruin,
    a day of darkness^(AJ) and gloom,
        a day of clouds and blackness^(AK)—
¹⁶    a day of trumpet and battle cry^(AL)
against the fortified cities
    and against the corner towers.^(AM)

¹⁷“I will bring such distress^(AN) on all people
    that they will grope about like those who are blind,^(AO)
    because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out^(AP) like dust
    and their entrails like dung.^(AQ)
¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold
    will be able to save them
    on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”^(AR)

In the fire of his jealousy^(AS)
the whole earth will be consumed,^(AT)
for he will make a sudden end
of all who live on the earth.^(AU)

Judah and Jerusalem Judged Along With the Nations

Judah Summoned to Repent

2 Gather together,^(AV) gather yourselves together,
    you shameful^(AW) nation,
²before the decree takes effect
    and that day passes like windblown chaff,^(AX)
before the Lord’s fierce anger^(AY)
    comes upon you,
before the day of the Lord’s wrath^(AZ)
    comes upon you.
³Seek^(BA) the Lord, all you humble of the land,
    you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness,^(BB) seek humility;^(BC)
    perhaps you will be sheltered^(BD)
    on the day of the Lord’s anger.

Philistia

⁴Gaza^(BE) will be abandoned
    and Ashkelon^(BF) left in ruins.
At midday Ashdod will be emptied
    and Ekron uprooted.
⁵Woe to you who live by the sea,
    you Kerethite^(BG) people;
the word of the Lord is against you,^(BH)
    Canaan, land of the Philistines.
He says, “I will destroy you,
    and none will be left.”^(BI)
⁶The land by the sea will become pastures
    having wells for shepherds
    and pens for flocks.^(BJ)
⁷That land will belong
    to the remnant^(BK) of the people of Judah;
    there they will find pasture.
In the evening they will lie down
    in the houses of Ashkelon.
The Lord their God will care for them;
    he will restore their fortunes.^[f]^(BL)

Moab and Ammon

⁸“I have heard the insults^(BM) of Moab^(BN)
    and the taunts of the Ammonites,^(BO)
who insulted^(BP) my people
    and made threats against their land.^(BQ)
⁹Therefore, as surely as I live,”
    declares the Lord Almighty,
    the God of Israel,
“surely Moab^(BR) will become like Sodom,^(BS)
    the Ammonites^(BT) like Gomorrah—
a place of weeds and salt pits,
    a wasteland forever.
The remnant of my people will plunder^(BU) them;
    the survivors^(BV) of my nation will inherit their land.^(BW)”

¹⁰This is what they will get in return for their pride,^(BX)
    for insulting^(BY) and mocking
    the people of the Lord Almighty.^(BZ)
¹¹The Lord will be awesome^(CA) to them
    when he destroys all the gods^(CB) of the earth.^(CC)
Distant nations will bow down to him,^(CD)
    all of them in their own lands.

Cush

¹²“You Cushites,^[g]^(CE) too,
will be slain by my sword.^(CF)”

Assyria

¹³He will stretch out his hand against the north
    and destroy Assyria,^(CG)
leaving Nineveh^(CH) utterly desolate
    and dry as the desert.^(CI)
¹⁴Flocks and herds^(CJ) will lie down there,
    creatures of every kind.
The desert owl^(CK) and the screech owl^(CL)
    will roost on her columns.
Their hooting will echo through the windows,
    rubble will fill the doorways,
    the beams of cedar will be exposed.
¹⁵This is the city of revelry^(CM)
    that lived in safety.^(CN)
She said to herself,
    “I am the one! And there is none besides me.”^(CO)
What a ruin she has become,
    a lair for wild beasts!^(CP)
All who pass by her scoff^(CQ)
    and shake their fists.^(CR)

Footnotes

Zephaniah 1:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
Zephaniah 1:5 Hebrew Malkam
Zephaniah 1:9 See 1 Samuel 5:5.
Zephaniah 1:11 Or the Mortar
Zephaniah 1:11 Or in
Zephaniah 2:7 Or will bring back their captives
Zephaniah 2:12 That is, people from the upper Nile region

Revelation 9

New International Version

9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.^(A) The star was given the key^(B) to the shaft of the Abyss.^(C) ²When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.^(D) The sun and sky were darkened^(E) by the smoke from the Abyss.^(F) ³And out of the smoke locusts^(G) came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions^(H) of the earth. ⁴They were told not to harm^(I) the grass of the earth or any plant or tree,^(J) but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.^(K) ⁵They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months.^(L) And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion^(M) when it strikes. ⁶During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.^(N)

⁷The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle.^(O) On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.^(P) ⁸Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.^(Q) ⁹They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.^(R) ¹⁰They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.^(S) ¹¹They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss,^(T) whose name in Hebrew^(U) is Abaddon^(V) and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

¹²The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.^(W)

¹³The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns^(X) of the golden altar that is before God.^(Y) ¹⁴It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels^(Z) who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”^(AA) ¹⁵And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released^(AB) to kill a third^(AC) of mankind.^(AD) ¹⁶The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.^(AE)

¹⁷The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths^(AF) came fire, smoke and sulfur.^(AG) ¹⁸A third^(AH) of mankind was killed^(AI) by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur^(AJ) that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

²⁰The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent^(AK) of the work of their hands;^(AL) they did not stop worshiping demons,^(AM) and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.^(AN) ²¹Nor did they repent^(AO) of their murders, their magic arts,^(AP) their sexual immorality^(AQ) or their thefts.

Psalm 144:12-15

New International Version

¹²Then our sons in their youth
    will be like well-nurtured plants,^(A)
and our daughters will be like pillars^(B)
    carved to adorn a palace.
¹³Our barns will be filled^(C)
    with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
    by tens of thousands in our fields;
¹⁴    our oxen^(D) will draw heavy loads.^[a]
There will be no breaching of walls,^(E)
    no going into captivity,
    no cry of distress in our streets.^(F)
¹⁵Blessed is the people^(G) of whom this is true;
    blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.