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

The Wickedness of Jerusalem

Woe, soiled, defiled,
    oppressing city!(A)
It has listened to no voice;
    it has accepted no correction.
It has not trusted in the Lord;
    it has not drawn near to its God.(B)

The officials within it
    are roaring lions;
its judges are evening wolves
    that leave nothing until the morning.(C)
Its prophets are reckless,
    faithless persons;
its priests have profaned what is sacred;
    they have done violence to the law.(D)
The Lord within it is righteous;
    he does no wrong.
Every morning he renders his judgment,
    each dawn without fail,
    but the unjust knows no shame.(E)

I have cut off nations;
    their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
    so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
    without people, without inhabitants.(F)
I said, “Surely the city[a] will fear me;
    it will accept correction;
it will not lose sight[b]
    of all that I have brought upon it.”
But they were the more eager
    to make all their deeds corrupt.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 3.7 Heb it
  2. 3.7 Gk Syr: Heb its dwelling will not be cut off