Historical
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 Temple Lies in Ruins
1 In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day, the word of Yahweh came through[a] Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, 2 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘This people says, “The time has not come to rebuild the temple of Yahweh.’” [b] 3 And the word of Yahweh came through[c] Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your houses that have been paneled while this house[d] is desolate?” 5 And so then, thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Consider your ways![e] 6 You have sown much but have harvested little. You have eaten without being satisfied; you have drunk without being satiated;[f] you have worn clothes without being warm; the one who earns wages puts it in a pouch with holes.’[g] 7 Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Consider your ways![h] 8 Go up the mountain and bring wood and build the house[i] so that I may be pleased with it and honored,’ says Yahweh. 9 ‘You have looked for much, and look! It came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?’ declares[j] Yahweh of hosts. ‘Because my house is desolate and you are running each to your own house! 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 I have called for a drought on the land and the hills,[k] on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, on what the soil produces, on human beings and wild animals,[l] and on all their labor.’”[m]
12 Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the remnant of the people gave heed to the voice of Yahweh their God and to the words of Haggai the prophet, as Yahweh their God had sent him, and the people feared Yahweh.[n] 13 And Haggai the messenger of Yahweh spoke to the people with the message of Yahweh, saying, “‘I am with you’ declares[o] Yahweh.” 14 And Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and did the work on the house of Yahweh of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.
A Promise to Rebuild
2 In the seventh month on the twenty-first day, the word of Yahweh came through[p] Haggai the prophet, saying, 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 3 ‘Who among you is left that saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it seem like nothing to you?[q] 4 ‘But now take courage,[r] Zerubbabel,’ declares[s] Yahweh. ‘Take courage,[t] Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and take courage,[u] all the people of the land,’ declares[v] Yahweh. ‘Do the work, because I am with you,’ declares[w] Yahweh of hosts, 5 ‘according to the promise[x] that I covenanted[y] with you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit is with you;[z] do not be afraid.’ 6 For thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations so that the treasure of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house[aa] with glory,’ says Yahweh of hosts. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares[ab] Yahweh of hosts. 9 ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says Yahweh of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace’ declares[ac] Yahweh of hosts.’”
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to the prophet Haggai, saying, 11 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘Ask now the priests for a ruling:[ad] 12 If a man carries[ae] consecrated meat in the hem of his garment, and his hem touches bread, or stew, or wine, or olive oil, or any kind of food, will it become holy?’” The priests answered, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean from contact with a corpse touches any of these, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “Yes, it will be become unclean.” 14 And Haggai answered and said, “‘So it is with this people, and with this nation before me,’ declares[af] Yahweh, ‘and so it is with every kind of work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean. 15 But now, please consider[ag] from this day forward, before one stone was placed on another in the temple of Yahweh, 16 from that time when[ah] one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten, and when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures,[ai] there were only twenty. 17 I struck you with blight, and with plant mildew, and hail, all the work of your hands. But you did not come back to me,’[aj] declares[ak] Yahweh. 18 ‘Please consider[al] from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was laid,[am] consider:[an] 19 Is there still seed in the store chamber? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still produce nothing? From this day forward I will bless you.’”
The Coming Kingdom
20 And the word of Yahweh came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month saying, 21 “Say to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah: I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the military strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, every one by the sword of another! 23 ‘On that day,’ declares[ao] Yahweh of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’ declares[ap] Yahweh, ‘and I will make you a signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares[aq] Yahweh of hosts.”
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