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 to her that is rebellious and defiled,
    the oppressing city!
She listens to no voice,
    she accepts no correction.
She does not trust in the Lord,
    she does not draw near to her God.

Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;
her judges are evening wolves
    that leave nothing till the morning.
Her prophets are wanton,
    faithless men;
her priests profane what is sacred,
    they do violence to the law.
The Lord within her is righteous,
    he does no wrong;
every morning he shows forth his justice,
    each dawn he does not fail;
    but the unjust knows no shame.

“I have cut off nations;
    their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
    so that none walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
    without a man, without an inhabitant.
I said, ‘Surely she will fear me,
    she will accept correction;
she will not lose sight[a]
    of all that I have enjoined upon her.’
But all the more they were eager
    to make all their deeds corrupt.”

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Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 3:7 Gk Syr: Heb and her dwelling will not be cut off