Historical
Chapter 1
1 This is the word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days when Josiah, the son of Amon, was king of Judah.
I Extend My Hand over Judah
2 I will completely sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,
says the Lord.
3 I will sweep away both men and animals,
the birds of the air and the fish of the sea.
I will force the wicked to their knees
and wipe out all people from the face of the earth,
says the Lord.
4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will wipe out from this place every remnant of Baal,
the very name of his idolatrous priests:
5 those who bow down on the roofs
to worship the host of the heavens,
and those who prostrate themselves before the Lord
but swear by Milcom,
6 and those who have turned their backs on the Lord,
and those who do not seek him.
7 Keep silent in the presence of the Lord God,
for the day of the Lord is near.
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
he has consecrated his guests.
8 On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
I will punish the officials and the king’s sons,
and all those who clothe themselves in foreign apparel.
9 On that day I will punish
all who leap over the threshold[a]
and fill the house of their master
with violence and deceit.
10 [b]On that day, says the Lord,
crying will be heard from the Fish Gate,
wailing from the New Quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar,
for all the merchants will perish,
and all those who weigh out silver will be ruined.
12 At that time
I will search Jerusalem by lantern-light
and punish all those people
who have become complacent,
like wine thickening in its sediment,
and who say in their hearts,
“The Lord will do nothing,
either good or bad.”
13 As a result, their wealth will be plundered
and their houses will lie in ruins.
Though they build houses,
they will not dwell in them;
though they plant vineyards,
they will not drink their wine.
14 The great day of the Lord is near,
near and coming quickly.
The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter
when the warrior shouts his cry of war.
15 That day is a day of wrath,
a day of anguish and distress,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and heavy darkness,
16 a day of trumpet blasts and battle cries
against the fortified cities
and against lofty battlements.
17 I will bring such dire distress on the people
that they will walk like the blind
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their entrails like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath,
when by the fire of his jealousy
the entire earth will be consumed.
For he will make a sudden and terrible end
of all who dwell on the earth.
Anger Will Strike at the Four Corners of the World
Chapter 2
1 Gather together, gather yourselves together,
O shameless nation,
2 before you are driven away
and disappear like chaff,
before you are forced to confront
the fierce anger of the Lord,
before you are overtaken
by the day of the Lord’s anger.
3 Seek the Lord,
all you humble of the land[c]
who obey his commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
then perhaps you may find shelter
on the day of the Lord’s anger.
4 [d]For Gaza will be deserted
and Ashkelon will be reduced to ruins.
The people of Ashdod will be driven out at midday,
and Ekron will be uprooted.[e]
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of the Cherethites.
This is the word of the Lord against you:
“I will destroy you, land of the Philistines,
until not a single inhabitant remains.”
6 The coastland of the Cretans
will be reduced to pastures,
to grazing grounds for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 And the coastland will become the possession
of the remnant of the house of Judah.
They will pasture their flocks there,
and when evening arrives
they will lie down in the houses at Ashkelon.
For the Lord, their God, will be mindful of them
and restore their fortunes.
8 [f]“I have heard the insults of Moab
and the taunts of the Ammonites
when they reviled my people
and threatened their frontiers.
9 Therefore, as I live,” says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab will become like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah:
a land filled with nettles and salt pits,
a wasteland forevermore.
The remnant of my people will plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation will dispossess them.”
10 This will be the price they pay for their pride,
inasmuch as they insulted and mocked
the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will fill them with fear
when he causes all the gods of the earth
to waste away.
Then all the coasts and the islands of the nations[g]
shall worship him,
each from its own territory.
12 You also, O Ethiopians,
will be killed by the sword of the Lord.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria.
He will make Nineveh a wasteland,
as arid as the desert.
14 Flocks and herds will lie down there,
creatures of every kind.
The desert owl and the screech owl
will roost on her columns;
will hoot at the window
while the raven croaks at the doorway.
15 Is this the exultant city
that once took pride in its security,
that said to itself,
“I am supreme, without an equal”?
And what now has it come to?
It is nothing but a desolate waste,
a lair for wild animals,
at which every passer-by
will hiss and shake his fist.
Woe to Jerusalem, the Rebel
Chapter 3
1 Woe to the city of tyrants,
rebellious and defiled.
2 It has not heeded any warning voice,
it has not accepted any correction.
It has not placed its trust in the Lord;
it has not drawn near to its God.
3 The officials within it
are roaring lions;
its judges are wolves of the wasteland
that leave nothing in reserve for the morning.
4 Its prophets are arrogant;
they are treacherous men.
Its priests have profaned what is holy
and done violence to the law.
5 The Lord within this city is just;
he does no wrong.
Morning after morning he renders judgment
unfailingly at dawn.
6 I have cut off nations;
their strongholds lie in ruins.
I have laid waste their streets
so that no one walks along them.
Their cities have been laid waste,
and now they are deserted,
without inhabitants.
7 I thought, “Surely you will now fear me
and be willing to accept correction.
You will not fail to realize
how I have inflicted punishments on you.”
However, they only seemed more eager
to make all their deeds corrupt.
8 Therefore, wait for me, says the Lord;
wait for the day when I stand up to accuse you.
For I am determined to gather nations
and assemble kingdoms
in order to pour forth my wrath upon them,
all the heat of my anger.
The entire earth will be consumed
by the fire of my jealousy.
Toward a Tomorrow of Exultance[h]
9 Then I will purify
the lips of my people,
so that all may call on
the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
my suppliants, my scattered ones,
will bring offerings to me.
11 On that day you will not be put to shame
as a result of all the deeds
by which you have rebelled against me.
For then I will remove from your midst
those who are proud and arrogant,
and then you will never again flaunt your pride
on my holy mountain.
12 For I will leave in your midst
those who are meek and humble;
they will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.
13 This remnant of Israel will do no wrong
and utter no lies.
Nor will a deceitful tongue
be found in their mouths.
They will eat and lie down,
and no one will cause them to be afraid.
14 Cry out with joy, daughter of Zion;
shout aloud, O Israel.
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter, Jerusalem.
15 The Lord has canceled the punishments against you;
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you need never again fear any harm.
16 On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior and a savior.
He will rejoice over you with gladness
and renew you through his love.
He will exult over you with shouts of joy
18 as on a day of festival.
I will remove your misfortune
so that you no longer will need to endure reproach.
19 At that time I will deal
with all those who oppress you.
I will rescue the lame
and gather the dispersed.
I will win for them praise and renown
throughout the whole world.
20 At that time I will gather you together
and bring you home.
For I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes, says the Lord.
Consider Your Situation[a]
Chapter 1
1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord was communicated by the prophet Haggai to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua, the son of Jehozadak: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘This people says that the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’ ” 3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is this a time for you to live in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins?”
5 Now the Lord of hosts has this to say:
Reflect on your way of life.
6 You have sown much but harvested little;
you have eaten, but never enough to satisfy you.
You drink, but never enough to cheer you;
you are clothed, but never experience warmth.
And the one who earns wages
puts them into a bag with a hole in it.
7 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts:
Consider carefully how you have fared.
8 Go up into the hill country,
collect timber, and build the house
so that I may take pleasure in it
and manifest my glory,
says the Lord.
9 You expected much,
but it proved to be little.
When you brought in the harvest,
I blew it away.
And why did I do this?
asks the Lord of hosts.
Because my house lies in ruins,
while each of you is concerned
only about your own house.
10 Therefore, the heavens have withheld their rain
and the earth has withheld its crops.
11 And I have called for a drought
to afflict the land and the mountains,
the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
and everything that the soil produces,
and to afflict, as well, men and animals,
and all the products of their labor.
12 Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and the high priest Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, and the entire remnant of the people listened to the voice of the Lord, their God, and to the words of the prophet Haggai that the Lord, their God, had sent him to deliver. As a result, the people were filled with fear because of the Lord.
13 Thereupon Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, proclaimed to the people the Lord’s message: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. 14 Then the Lord stirred up the spirit of the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and the spirit of the high priest Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
Courage, I Am with You[b]
Chapter 2
In the second year of King Darius, 1 on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 2 Speak to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, and to the remnant of the people, and say:
3 Is there anyone left among you
who beheld this house in its former glory?
How does it appear to you now?
Does it not seem to you
as though it were not even there?
4 But now take courage, Zerubbabel,
says the Lord.
Take courage, Joshua, the high priest,
son of Jehozadak.
Take courage, all you people of the land,
says the Lord.
Begin the work,
for I am with you,
says the Lord of hosts.
5 This is the promise that I made to you
when you came out of Egypt.
My Spirit is present among you.
Do not be afraid.
6 For thus says the Lord of hosts:
In a little while from now
I will shake the heavens and the earth,
the sea and the dry land.
7 I will shake all the nations,
and the treasures of all the nations will flow in.
And I will fill this house with glory,
says the Lord of hosts.
8 Mine is the silver, mine is the gold,
says the Lord of hosts.
9 The glory of this new house
will surpass that of the former,
says the Lord of hosts.
And in this place I will grant peace,
says the Lord of hosts.
What They Offer Me Is Unclean[c]
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai. 11 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests to give a ruling on this. 12 If a man is carrying consecrated meat in the fold of his garment and he allows the fold to come in contact with bread or broth or wine or oil or food of any kind, will that also become consecrated? The priests answered, “No.”
13 Haggai then asked, “If anyone who has been defiled by contact with a corpse touches any of those, does that become unclean?” The priests replied, “It will become unclean.” 14 Then Haggai continued,
So it is with this people and this nation
in my view, says the Lord.
So also are all the works of their hands;
whatever they offer here is unclean.
15 But now, think back to recent times as you ponder the future. Before one stone was laid upon another in the temple of the Lord, how did you fare?
16 When you came to a heap
of twenty measures of grain,
you would find only ten.
When you came to a wine vat
to draw fifty measures,
you would find only twenty.
17 I struck you and all the products of your toil
with blight and mildew and hail.
Even so, you would not return to me,
says the Lord.
18 Now consider from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. From the day on which the foundations of the temple of the Lord was laid, consider:
19 Previously the seed had not sprouted,
and the vine and the fig tree,
the pomegranate and the olive tree,
had borne no fruit.
From this day forward
I intend to bless you.
Promise to the Descendants of David[d]
20 On the twenty-fourth day of the month, the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai: 21 Tell this to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah:
I will shake the heavens and the earth;
22 I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms
and destroy the power of the kings of the nations.
I will overthrow the chariots and their riders;
both the horses and their riders will fall,
every one of them by the sword of a comrade.
23 On that day,
says the Lord of hosts,
I will take you, Zerubbabel,
my servant, son of Shealtiel, says the Lord,
and I will make you like a signet ring,
for I have chosen you,
says the Lord of hosts.
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