Zephaniah 1
Christian Standard Bible
1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah,(A) in the days of Josiah(B) son of Amon,(C) king of Judah.
The Great Day of the Lord
2 I will completely sweep away everything
from the face of the earth(D)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
3 I will sweep away people and animals;(E)
I will sweep away the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea,
and the ruins[a] along with the wicked.(F)
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
4 I will stretch out my hand(G) against Judah
and against all the residents of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every vestige of Baal(H)
from this place,
the names of the pagan priests(I)
along with the priests;
5 those who bow in worship on the rooftops(J)
to the stars in the sky;
those who bow and pledge loyalty to the Lord(K)
but also pledge loyalty to Milcom;[b](L)
6 and those who turn back from following the Lord,
who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.
7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord God,(M)
for the day of the Lord is near.(N)
Indeed, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;(O)
he has consecrated his guests.(P)
8 On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials, the king’s sons,
and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.
9 On that day(Q) I will punish
all who skip over the threshold,[c](R)
who fill their master’s house
with violence and deceit.
10 On that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
there will be an outcry from the Fish Gate,(S)
a wailing from the Second District,(T)
and a loud crashing from the hills.
11 Wail, you residents of the Hollow,[d]
for all the merchants[e] will be silenced;
all those loaded with silver will be cut off.
12 And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who settle down comfortably,[f](U)
who say to themselves:
The Lord will do nothing—good or bad.(V)
13 Their wealth will become plunder
and their houses a ruin.
They will build houses but never live in them,
plant vineyards but never drink their wine.(W)
14 The great day of the Lord is near,(X)
near and rapidly approaching.
Listen, the day of the Lord—
then the warrior’s cry is bitter.
15 That day is a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of destruction and desolation,
a day of darkness(Y) and gloom,
a day of clouds and total darkness,(Z)
16 a day of ram’s horn and battle cry
against the fortified cities,
and against the high corner towers.
17 I will bring distress on mankind,
and they will walk like the blind(AA)
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.
18 Their silver and their gold
will be unable to rescue them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.(AB)
The whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of his jealousy,(AC)
for he will make a complete,
yes, a horrifying end
of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Zephaniah 1
International Standard Version
The Imminent Destruction of Judah
1 This message from the Lord came to Cushi’s son Zephaniah,[a] the grandson of Gedaliah and great-grandson of Hezekiah’s son Amariah, during the reign[b] of Amon’s son Josiah, king of Judah:
2 “I’ll utterly sweep away everything from[c] the land,”
declares the Lord.
3 “I’ll consume both human beings and animals—
I’ll consume the birds of the sky,
the fish in the sea,
and the wicked along with their sin,[d]
when I eliminate human beings from the land,”
declares the Lord.
4 “I will also stretch out my hand against Judah,
and upon all inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I’ll wipe out every trace of Baal from this place,
and the name[e] of the pagan priests[f],
along with my own[g] priests.
5 I’ll wipe out[h] those who worship the stars
that they view[i] from their housetops,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
and who also swear by Milcom,[j]
6 those who turn away from the Lord,
don’t seek the Lord,
and never ask for his help.[k]”
The Approaching Day of the Lord
7 Remain silent in the presence of the Lord God,
because the Day of the Lord approaches,
and because the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
for those whom he has invited to be consecrated.
8 “It will come about during[l] the Lord’s sacrifice
that I’ll punish the officials,[m] the royal descendants,
and all who wear foreign clothing.[n]
9 At the same time, I’ll punish every idol worshipper,[o]
especially those who are filling their master’s temple with violence and deceit.
10 When all of this happens,”[p] declares the Lord,
“a loud shriek will come[q] from the Fish Gate,
and howling from the Mishneh[r] Quarter,
along with great destruction from the hills.”
Divine Judgment on the Business Community
11 “Wail, you who live in the market district,
because all of the merchants will be crushed
and all of their customers[s] will be eliminated.[t]
12 And it will come about that I will search Jerusalem with candles,[u]
punishing the self-satisfied and complacent,
who say to themselves,
‘The Lord will do neither good nor evil.’
13 Therefore their possessions will be seized as plunder
and their homes left in ruins.
They may build houses,
but they won’t live in them.
They may plant vineyards,
but they won’t drink their wine.”
Zephaniah’s Description of the Day of the Lord
14 “The great Day of the Lord approaches—
How it comes, hurrying faster and faster!
The sound of the Day of the Lord there
includes the bitter cry of the mighty soldier.
15 That day will be filled with wrath,
a day of trouble and tribulation,
a day of desolation and devastation,
a day of doom and gloom,
a day of clouds and shadows,[v]
16 a day of trumpet and battle cry
against fortified cities and watch[w] towers.
17 “And I’ll bring so much distress to people
that they will walk around like the blind.
Because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood will be poured out like dust
and their intestines will spill out[x] like manure.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold will deliver them
in the Day of the Lord’s wrath;
but the entire land will be consumed
by the fire of his jealousy,
for he will bring the inhabitants of the land to a sudden end.”
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:1 The Heb. name Zephaniah means The Lord has treasured
- Zephaniah 1:1 Lit. in the days of
- Zephaniah 1:2 Lit. from the face of
- Zephaniah 1:3 Lit. with the heap of rubble
- Zephaniah 1:4 Or authority
- Zephaniah 1:4 Lit. the Chemarim; i.e. idol worshiping priests
- Zephaniah 1:4 The Heb. lacks my own
- Zephaniah 1:5 The Heb. lacks I’ll wipe out
- Zephaniah 1:5 The Heb. lacks that they view
- Zephaniah 1:5 I.e. the national idol of the Ammonites
- Zephaniah 1:6 Lit. and don’t inquire of him
- Zephaniah 1:8 Lit. in the day of
- Zephaniah 1:8 Lit. princes
- Zephaniah 1:8 Or wear cultic vestments
- Zephaniah 1:9 Lit. everyone who leaps over the threshold; cf. 1Sam 5:5
- Zephaniah 1:10 Lit. It will come about in that day
- Zephaniah 1:10 The Heb. lacks will come
- Zephaniah 1:10 Or from The Second; i.e. a section of Jerusalem
- Zephaniah 1:11 Lit. all who carry silver
- Zephaniah 1:11 Lit. be cut off
- Zephaniah 1:12 Or with oil lamps
- Zephaniah 1:15 Cf. Joel 2:2a
- Zephaniah 1:16 Lit. corner
- Zephaniah 1:17 The Heb. lacks will spill out
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