1The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah, the son of Hushai, son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 “Let him bring it to an end by abandonment from the face of the land,” says the Lord. 3 “Let human and livestock bring it to an end; let the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea bring it to an end. And the ungodly will be weak, and I will lift up the lawless from the face of the land,” says the Lord. 4 “And I will stretch out my hand upon Judah, and upon all those dwelling in Jerusalem, and I will lift up from this place the names of Baal, and the names of the priests, 5 and those worshiping the host of the heavens upon the houses, and those bowing down, and those swearing by the Lord, and those swearing by their king, 6 and those turning from the Lord, and those not seeking the Lord, and those not clinging to the Lord.” 7 Be discreet before the face of the Lord God, because the day of the Lord is near, because the Lord has prepared his sacrifice; he has sanctified his called ones. 8 “And it will be on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice that I will avenge against the rulers, and the house of the king, and all those putting on foreign garments. 9 And I will publicly avenge against the gateways in that day, those filling the house of the Lord, their God, with ungodliness and deceit. 10 And it will be in that day,” says the Lord, “a sound of crying from the gate of piercing, and a loud crying from the second quarter, and a great ruin from the hills. 11 Lament, you who are dwelling in what was destroyed, because it was made like all the people of Canaan; all who were elated by silver were utterly destroyed. 12 And it will be in that day, I will search out Jerusalem with a lamp, and I will avenge against the men who despise their obligations, and those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he mistreat. 13 And their power will become plunder, and their houses extermination; and they will build houses but not dwell in them, and they will plant vineyards but not drink their wine.” 14 Because the day of the Lord is near, very near, and very swift; the sound of the day of the Lord is cruel and hard; it has been appointed as mighty. 15 That day will be a day of anger, a day of affliction and torture, a day of darkness and extermination, a day of gloom and darkness, a day of cloud and fog, 16 a day of trumpet and crying in the fortified cities and in the high corners. 17 And I will afflict the people, and they will walk like the blind, because they sinned with respect to the Lord, and he will pour out their blood like dust, and their flesh like cow dung. 18 And their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them on the day of the anger of the Lord, and by fire his jealousies will be spent upon all the land, because he will prepare consummation and haste upon all those dwelling in the land.
2Gather together and unite, O uneducated nation, 2 before you become like a flower that withers, before the Lord’s anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you. 3 Seek the Lord, all you low ones of the land; perform judgment, and seek righteousness, and answer the things, in order that you may be covered on the day of the Lord’s anger. 4 Because Gaza will be plundered, and Ashkelon will be for extermination, and Ashdod will be spread abroad at noon, and Ekron will be rooted out. 5 Woe to those dwelling in the allotment by the sea, sojourners of the Cherethites; a word of the Lord is upon you, O Canaan, land of foreigners, and I will destroy you from a settlement. 6 And Crete will be a pasture for flocks and a fold for sheep. 7 And the allotment by the sea will be for those remaining of the house of Judah; by themselves they will tend in the houses of Ashkelon; in the evening, they will be destroyed from the face of the sons of Judah, because the Lord, their God, has visited them, and he has returned their captives. 8 “I heard the insults of Moab and the cruel acts of the sons of Ammon by which they reviled my people and boasted against my borders. 9 On account of this I live,” says the Lord of power, the God of Israel. “Because Moab will be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah, and Damascus will be forsaken like a heap on the threshing floor and will be removed for eternity. And the rest of my people—they will tear them to pieces, and the rest of my nation will inherit them.” 10 This will be for them instead of their insolence, because they taunted and boasted against the Lord, the Almighty. 11 The Lord will appear against them, and he will utterly destroy all the gods of the nations of the land, and each person from his place. All the islands of the nations will worship him. 12 “And you, O Ethiopians, are wounded from my sword.” 13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and he will utterly destroy the Assyrian and will ordain Nineveh for extermination, waterless like a desert. 14 And flocks will graze in the middle of it, and all the wild beasts of the land. And chameleons and hedgehogs will rest in its rafters, and wild beasts will cry out in its canals, ravens in its gates, because its height is cedar.
3This is the contemptuous city that dwells on hope, that says in her heart, “I am, and there is no longer anyone with me.” How it has become for extermination, a pasture of wild beasts; everyone walking through it will hiss and shake his hands. 2 O the famous and ransomed, the city, the dove. She did not heed his voice; she did not accept correction; she had not trusted in the Lord, and she did not draw near to her God. 3 Her rulers in her are like roaring lions; her judges are like the wolves of Arabia; they did not leave anything for the morning. 4 Her prophets are spirit bearers, men despisers; her priests profane the sacred things and act profanely against the law. 5 But the Lord is righteous in the middle of her, and he will do no injustice. Morning by morning he will give his judgment into light, and he did not hide, and he did not learn injustice by exhortation and not in unjust quarrel. 6 “I pulled down the arrogant in destruction; their corners were removed. I will make their roads completely desolate, so that they might not travel through. Their cities came to an end, because nothing exists or dwells there. 7 I said, ‘However, fear me, and receive instruction, and you will not be utterly destroyed from her eyes, everything for which I punished her. Prepare yourself! Rise early! All their gleaning has been destroyed! 8 On account of this, wait for me,” says the Lord, “for the day of my rising up for a testimony, because my judgment is for the gathering of nations, in order to gather the kings, in order to pour upon them all my angry wrath, because in the fire of my zeal all the earth will be consumed.” 9 “Because at that time I will change the tongue upon peoples for their generation, so that they all might call upon the name of the Lord, so that they might serve him under one yoke. 10 From the ends of the rivers of Ethiopia, I will take in my scattered ones; they shall carry my sacrifices. 11 In that day you will not be disgraced because of all of your habits that you have sinfully committed against me, because then I will take away from you your contemptible acts of pride, and you will no longer add to boasting upon my sacred mountain. 12 And I will leave among you a people meek and low, and they will reverence the name of the Lord, 13 the remnant of Israel; and they will not do injustice, and they will not speak pointless things, and there will not be found a deceitful tongue in their mouth; because they will pasture and cause to rest, and there will not be one who frightens them.” 14 Rejoice, O daughter of Zion! Make a proclamation, O daughter of Jerusalem! Rejoice and enjoy yourself from your whole heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The Lord has taken away your injustices; he has ransomed you from the hand of your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in the middle of you; you shall not see evil any longer. 16 In that time the Lord will say to Jerusalem, “Take courage, Zion! Do not let your hands get weak. 17 The Lord your God is among you; the Mighty One will save you. And he will bring upon you the festivity and renew you in his affection, and he will rejoice because of you in delight as in a day of festival. 18 And I will gather together those who are crushed. Alas, who took up a reproach against her? 19 Behold, I will act among you for your sake in that time,” says the Lord. “And I will save the oppressed one and the rejected one. I will gather them for a boast, and they will be renowned in all the earth. 20 And they will be ashamed in that time when I do well for you, and in the time when I will gather you, because I will give you renowned ones, and for a boast among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before you,” says the Lord.