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Judah’s Impending Judgment
1 The word of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 “I will surely destroy everything
from the face of the earth”—a declaration of Yahweh.
3 “I will destroy humanity and beast;
I will destroy the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea,
and the stumbling blocks[a] with the wicked.
And I will cut off humankind
from the face of the earth”—a declaration of Yahweh.
4 “And I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will cut off from this place
the remnant of Baal,
and the name of idolatrous priests with the priests,[b]
5 and those who bow down on the rooftops
to the host of heaven,
and those who bow down, swearing to Yahweh
but also swearing by Milkom,[c]
6 and those who turned back from following[d] Yahweh,
and who did not seek Yahweh,
and did not inquire of him.”
7 Be silent before the Lord Yahweh,
for the day of Yahweh draws near,
for Yahweh has provided a sacrifice
and has consecrated his guests.
8 And it shall be that on the day of the sacrifice of Yahweh,
I will punish the officials
and the sons of the king
and those who dress in foreign clothing.
9 And on that day I will punish
all who leap over the threshold,
who fill up the house of their master
with violence and deceit.
10 “And there shall be on that day”—a declaration of Yahweh—
“a loud outcry[e] from the Fish Gate,
and a wailing from the Second District,
and a loud[f] crashing from the hills.
11 The inhabitants of the Mortar shall wail,
for all the traders have perished;
all who trade with silver have been cut off.
12 And it shall be that at that time
I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
whose senses are dulled from drinking,[g]
who say in their hearts,
‘Yahweh will not do good, nor will he do evil.’
13 Then their wealth shall be as plunder,
and their homes as desolation.
And they shall build their houses and not inhabit them,
and they shall plant vineyards and not drink their wine.”
14 The great day of Yahweh draws near;
it is near and coming very swiftly.
The sound of the day of Yahweh is bitterness;
there, a warrior cries out!
15 That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of disaster and ruination,
a day of darkness and deep gloom,
a day of clouds[h] and thick clouds,[i]
16 a day of trumpet and trumpet blast
against the fortified cities
and against the high corner towers.
17 And I will bring distress to all humankind,
and they shall walk about like the blind,
for they sinned against Yahweh;
their blood shall be poured out like dust
and their entrails like dung.
18 Moreover, their silver and their gold
will not be able to save them
on the day of the wrath of Yahweh.
And in the fire of his zeal,
the whole land shall be consumed,
for a terrifying end he shall make
for all the inhabitants of the land.
Judgment of Judah’s Enemies
2 Gather yourselves together! Now gather together,
O nation having no shame!
2 Before the birth of the decree,
the day flies away like chaff;
before the fierce anger of Yahweh overtakes you;
before the day of the anger of Yahweh overtakes you.
3 Seek Yahweh, all you afflicted of the land
who have fulfilled his law;
seek righteousness;
seek humility.
Perhaps you will be concealed
on the day of the anger of Yahweh.
4 For Gaza will be abandoned,
and Ashkelon as a desolation.
As for Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you, inhabitants of the region of the sea,
people of the Kerethites!
The word of Yahweh is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines.
I will destroy you until there is no inhabitant.[j]
6 And you, O region of the sea, shall become
pastures and meadows for shepherds
and sheep pens for the flocks.
7 And it shall become a region
for the remnant of the house of Judah;
upon them they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down in the evening.
For Yahweh their God shall be mindful of them,
and he will restore their fortunes.
8 I have heard the reproaches of Moab
and the scorning of the Ammonites,[k]
with which they have taunted my nation
and made boasts against their territory.
9 “Therefore, as I live”—a declaration of Yahweh of hosts,
the God of Israel—
“Moab shall be as Sodom,
and the Ammonites[l] like Gomorrah,
a place of weeds and salt pits
and a desolation forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the remainder of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be for them in place of their pride
because they mocked and boasted
against the people of Yahweh of hosts.
11 Yahweh will be awesome against them,
for he will destroy all the gods of the earth
and all the lands[m] of the nations;
each in its place will bow down to him.
12 You also, O Cushites,
they shall be killed by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north,
and he will destroy Assyria
and will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry wasteland like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,
every wild animal of a nation;
even the desert owl and the screech owl
shall lodge on her capitals.
A voice shall hoot in the window;
rubble[n] on the threshold;
for the cedar is laid bare.
15 This is the city of rejoicing
that lived securely;
the one saying in her heart,
“I am, and there is none besides me.”[o]
How she has become a desolation,
a lair for wild animals!
Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.
Judgment of Jerusalem and the Nations
3 Woe to you, O rebellious and defiled one!
The oppressing city!
2 She listens to no voice;
she does not accept correction.
In Yahweh she does not trust;
to her God she does not draw near.
3 Her officials in her midst are roaring lions;
her judges are evening wolves;
they leave nothing until the morning.
4 Her prophets are arrogant men of treachery;
her priests have defiled that which is holy;
they do violence to the law.
5 Yahweh is righteous in her midst;
he does not do wickedness.
Morning by morning[p] he renders his judgment;
at dawn he does not fail,
but an evil one knows no shame.
6 “I have cut off nations;
their strongholds are deserted.
I have laid waste their streets,
so that none pass through.
Their cities have been destroyed
and are without a man, without an inhabitant.
7 I have said, ‘Surely she will fear me;
she will accept discipline.
Then her dwelling place will not be cut down,
nor all that I have brought upon her.’
Surely they rise early;
they make all their deeds corrupt.
8 “Therefore, wait for me”—a declaration of Yahweh—
“for the day of my rising as a witness.
For my decision is to gather nations,
to assemble[q] kingdoms,
to pour out my wrath upon them, all my burning anger.
For by the fire of my anger all the land shall be consumed.
9 Because then I will make the speech of the nations pure;[r]
that all of them might call on the name of Yahweh,
to serve him in unison.[s]
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
my worshipers and the daughter of my scattered ones
shall bring my offering.
11 On that day you shall not be humiliated
on account of all your deeds
by which you have rebelled against me.
For then I shall remove from your midst
those exulting in your pride,
and you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.[t]
12 And I will leave in your midst
a people afflicted and poor,
and they shall take refuge
in the name of Yahweh.
13 The remnant of Israel
shall not do wickedness;
they shall not speak deception,
nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth.
For they shall graze and lie down,
and none shall frighten them.”
14 Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!
Cry aloud, O Israel!
Rejoice and be jubilant with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 Yahweh has annulled your judgments;
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, Yahweh, is in your midst;
you shall no longer fear misfortune.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem,
“Fear not, O Zion;
your hands shall not hang limp.
17 Yahweh your God is in your midst;
a mighty warrior who saves.
He shall rejoice over you with joy;
he renews[u] you in his love;
he will exult over you with singing.
18 I will gather those of you grieving on account of the feast;
they were raising against her a reproach.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors;
I will save the lame and gather the outcast.
I will change[v] them from shame
to glory and renown[w] throughout the whole world.
20 At that time I will bring you in;
at the time of my gathering you together.
For I will make you renowned[x] and praised
among all the nations of the earth
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,”
says Yahweh.
The Angel and the Little Scroll
10 And I saw another powerful angel descending from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, and a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire,[a] 2 and holding in his hand a little scroll that was opened. And he put his right foot on the sea and his[b] left on the land. 3 And he cried out with a loud voice like a lion roars, and when he cried out, the seven thunders sounded[c] their own voices. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke,[d] I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them!”
5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by the one who lives forever and ever[e], who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, “There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, whenever he is about to blow the trumpet, then[f] the mystery of God is completed, as he announced to his own slaves the prophets.”
8 And the voice that I had heard from heaven was speaking with me again and saying, “Go, take the opened scroll in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 And I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll, and he said to me, “Take and eat it up, and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it up, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth, and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 And they said to me, “It is necessary for you to prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s Goodness
Of David.[a]
138 I give you thanks with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise.
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name,
because of your loyal love and faithfulness,
for you have magnified your word[b] according to all your name.[c]
3 When[d] I called and you answered me,
you emboldened me in my soul with strength.
4 All the kings of the earth
will praise you, O Yahweh,
when they have heard the words[e] of your mouth,
5 and they will sing of the ways of Yahweh,
because Yahweh’s glory is great.
6 Though Yahweh is high, yet he sees the lowly,
but the proud he perceives[f] at a distance.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me alive.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my enemies,
and you save me with your right hand.
8 Yahweh accomplishes things for my benefit.
O Yahweh, your loyal love endures forever;
do not abandon the works of your hands.
11 There is a generation that will curse its father,
and its mother it will not bless.
12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
but from its filthiness it will not be cleansed.
13 There is a generation—how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids they will lift.
14 There is a generation whose teeth are swords,
and its jawbones, knives,
in order to devour the poor from the earth[a]
and the needy from humankind.
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