Zephaniah Prophesies Judgment on Judah
1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 I will utterly sweep away
everything from the face of the earth, declares the Lord.
3 I will sweep away man and animal.
I will sweep away the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea
and the piles of rubble with the wicked.
I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth, declares the Lord.
4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place:
the names of the idolatrous and pagan priests,
5 those who worship the stars in the sky from the housetops,
those who worship and swear by both the Lord and by Malcam,
6 those who have turned back from following the Lord
and those who have not sought the Lord
nor inquired after him.
The Day of the Lord
7 Be silent at the presence of the Lord God,
for the day of the Lord is at hand.
For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice.
He has consecrated his guests.
8 It will happen on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons,
and all those who are clothed with foreign clothing.
9 In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold in pagan rituals,
who fill their master’s house with violence and deceit.
10 In that day, declares the Lord:
There will be an uproar from the fish gate,
a wailing from the second quarter
and a great crashing from the hills.
11 Wail, you inhabitants of the market district,
for all the merchants will be destroyed!
All those who were loaded with silver will be destroyed.
12 It will happen at that time,
that I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men who are stagnant in their secure places,
saying in their heart,
“The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do evil.”
13 Their wealth will become plunder
and their houses laid waste.
Yes, they will build houses,
but will not live in them.
They will plant vineyards,
but will not drink their wine.
14 The great day of the Lord is near.
It is near and coming soon,
the sound of the day of the Lord,
when the mighty will cry bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of trouble and ruin,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 a day of the trumpet and battle cry,
against the fortified cities,
and against high towers.
17 I will bring distress on men,
that they will walk like blind men,
because they have sinned against the Lord,
and their blood will be poured out like dust,
and their flesh like excrement.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to deliver them
in the day of the Lord’s wrath,
but the whole land will be devoured
by the fire of his jealousy,
for he will make an end,
yes, a terrible end,
of all those who dwell in the land.