Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,
    (A)the oppressing city!
She listens to no voice;
    (B)she accepts no correction.
(C)She does not trust in the Lord;
    she does not draw near to her God.

(D)Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;
her judges are (E)evening wolves
    that leave nothing till the morning.
(F)Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men;
(G)her priests (H)profane what is holy;
    they do violence to the law.
The Lord within her (I)is righteous;
    he does no injustice;
every morning he shows forth his justice;
    each dawn he does not fail;
    but (J)the unjust knows no shame.

(K)“I have cut off nations;
    their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
    (L)so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
    without a man, without an inhabitant.
(M)I said, ‘Surely you will fear me;
    (N)you will accept correction.
Then your[a] dwelling would not be cut off
    according to all that I have appointed against you.’[b]
But (O)all the more they were eager
    to make all their deeds corrupt.

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Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 3:7 Hebrew her
  2. Zephaniah 3:7 Hebrew her

Jerusalem

Woe to the city of oppressors,(A)
    rebellious(B) and defiled!(C)
She obeys(D) no one,
    she accepts no correction.(E)
She does not trust(F) in the Lord,
    she does not draw near(G) to her God.
Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;(H)
her rulers are evening wolves,(I)
    who leave nothing for the morning.(J)
Her prophets are unprincipled;
    they are treacherous people.(K)
Her priests profane the sanctuary
    and do violence to the law.(L)
The Lord within her is righteous;(M)
    he does no wrong.(N)
Morning by morning(O) he dispenses his justice,
    and every new day he does not fail,(P)
    yet the unrighteous know no shame.(Q)

Jerusalem Remains Unrepentant

“I have destroyed nations;
    their strongholds are demolished.
I have left their streets deserted,
    with no one passing through.
Their cities are laid waste;(R)
    they are deserted and empty.
Of Jerusalem I thought,
    ‘Surely you will fear me
    and accept correction!’(S)
Then her place of refuge[a] would not be destroyed,
    nor all my punishments come upon[b] her.
But they were still eager
    to act corruptly(T) in all they did.

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Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 3:7 Or her sanctuary
  2. Zephaniah 3:7 Or all those I appointed over