Be silent(A) before the Sovereign Lord,
    for the day of the Lord(B) is near.
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;(C)
    he has consecrated those he has invited.

“On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
    I will punish(D) the officials
    and the king’s sons(E)
and all those clad
    in foreign clothes.
On that day I will punish
    all who avoid stepping on the threshold,[a](F)
who fill the temple of their gods
    with violence and deceit.(G)

10 “On that day,(H)
    declares the Lord,
“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,(I)
    wailing(J) from the New Quarter,
    and a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail,(K) you who live in the market district[b];
    all your merchants will be wiped out,
    all who trade with[c] silver will be destroyed.(L)
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
    and punish those who are complacent,(M)
    who are like wine left on its dregs,(N)
who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,(O)
    either good or bad.’(P)
13 Their wealth will be plundered,(Q)
    their houses demolished.
Though they build houses,
    they will not live in them;
though they plant vineyards,
    they will not drink the wine.”(R)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 1:9 See 1 Samuel 5:5.
  2. Zephaniah 1:11 Or the Mortar
  3. Zephaniah 1:11 Or in

The day of the Lord

Hush before the Lord God,
        for the day of the Lord is near!
        The Lord has established a sacrifice;
            he has made holy those he has summoned.
On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
        I will punish the princes, the king’s sons,
            and all those wearing foreign clothes.
I will punish the one leaping on the threshold on that day,
            those filling the house of their master with violence and deceit.
10 On that day—says the Lord
        an outcry will resound from the Fish Gate,
        wailing from the second quarter,
        a loud crash from the hills.
11 The ones who grind the grain[a] will wail;
        all the merchants will be silenced.
        I will eliminate all those weighing out silver.
12 At that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps;
        I will punish the men growing fat on the sediment in their wine,
            those saying to themselves, The Lord won’t do good or evil.
13         Their wealth will be looted and their houses destroyed.
        They will rebuild houses, but not live in them;
        they will plant vineyards, but not drink the wine.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 1:11 Or keeper of the mortar