Zephaniah 1
Holman 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, in the days of Josiah(A) son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Great Day of the Lord
2 I will completely sweep away everything
from the face of the earth(B)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
3 I will sweep away man and animal;(C)
I will sweep away the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea,
and the ruins[a] along with the wicked.(D)
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
4 I will stretch out My hand(E) against Judah
and against all the residents of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every vestige of Baal(F)
from this place,
the names of the pagan priests(G)
along with the priests;
5 those who bow in worship on the rooftops(H)
to the heavenly host;
those who bow and pledge loyalty to the Lord(I)
but also pledge loyalty to Milcom;[b](J)
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,(K)
for the Day of the Lord is near.(L)
Indeed, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;(M)
He has consecrated His guests.(N)
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(O) I will punish
all who skip over the threshold,[c](P)
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,(Q)
a wailing from the Second District,(R)
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 the men who settle down comfortably,[f](S)
who say to themselves:
The Lord will not do good or evil.
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.(T)
14 The great Day of the Lord is near,(U)
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(V) and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,(W)
16 a day of trumpet blast 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(X)
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 not be able to rescue them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.(Y)
The whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of His jealousy.(Z)
For He will make a complete,
yes, a horrifying end
of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:3 Perhaps objects connected with idolatry
- Zephaniah 1:5 Some LXX mss, Syr, Vg; MT, other LXX mss read their king
- Zephaniah 1:9 Hb obscure
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or the market district
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or Canaanites
- Zephaniah 1:12 Lit who thicken on their dregs
Zephaniah 1
Common English Bible
1 The Lord’s word that came to Zephaniah, Cushi’s son, Gedaliah’s grandson, Amariah’s great-grandson, and Hezekiah’s great-great-grandson in the days of Judah’s King Josiah, Amon’s son.
Judgment on the world and Judah
2 I will wipe out everything from the earth, says the Lord.
3 I will destroy humanity and the beasts;
I will destroy the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea.
I will make the wicked into a heap of ruins;
I will eliminate humanity from the earth, says the Lord.
4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will eliminate what’s left of Baal from this place
and the names of the priests of foreign gods,[a]
5 those bowing down to the forces of heaven on the rooftops,
those swearing by the Lord along with those swearing by Milcom,
6 those turning away from the Lord,
those who don’t seek the Lord and don’t pursue him.
The day of the Lord
7 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.
8 On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
I will punish the princes, the king’s sons,
and all those wearing foreign clothes.
9 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[b] 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.
14 The great day of the Lord is near;
it is near and coming very quickly.
The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter.
A warrior screams there.
15 That day is a day of fury,
a day of distress and anxiety,
a day of desolation and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and deep darkness,
16 a day for blowing the trumpet and alarm against their invincible cities
and against their high towers.
17 I will make humanity suffer;
they will walk like the blind
because they sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their intestines like manure.
18 Moreover, their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them
on the day of the Lord’s fury.
His jealousy will devour the entire land with fire;
he will make an end,
a truly horrible one,
for all the inhabitants of the land.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:4 Or the name of the priests of foreign gods along with the priests
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or keeper of the mortar
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