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The word of the Lord, that was made to Zephaniah, son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.

I gathering shall gather all things from the face of (the) earth, saith the Lord;

I gathering man and beast, I gathering volatiles of (the) heaven(s), and fishes of the sea; and fallings of unpious men shall be, and I shall lose men from the face of [the] earth, saith the Lord. (I shall gather people and beasts, and I shall gather the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea; and I shall bring the unrighteous, or the wicked, unto their downfall, or unto their knees, and I shall destroy all the people from off the face of the earth, saith the Lord.)

And I shall stretch out mine hand on Judah, and on all the dwellers of Jerusalem; and I shall lose from this place the remnants of Baal, and the names of keepers of [the] houses, with [the] priests; (And I shall stretch out my hand over Judah, and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I shall destroy from this place the last remnants of Baal, and the very names of the heathen priests;)

and them that worship on roofs the knighthood of heaven, and worship, and swear in the Lord, and swear in Malcham; (and those who worship upon rooftops the host of the heavens, and who worship, and swear by the Lord, and then also swear by Molech, or by Milcom;)

and which be turned away behind the back of the Lord, and which sought not the Lord, neither ensearched him. (and those who be turned away behind the back of the Lord, and those who did not seek the Lord, nor consulted him.)

Be ye still from the face of the Lord God, for nigh is the day of the Lord; for the Lord made ready a sacrifice, he hallowed his called men. (Be ye still before the face of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near; for the Lord hath made ready a sacrifice, and he hath consecrated, or hath dedicated, his chosen people.)

And it shall be, in the day of sacrifice of the Lord, I shall visit on princes, and on sons of the king, and on all that be clothed with pilgrims’, either strange, clothing. (And it shall be, on the day of the sacrifice of the Lord, I shall punish the leaders, and the king’s sons, and all those who be clothed in foreign, or in strange, clothing.)

And I shall visit on each that proudly entereth on the threshold in that day, which fill the house of their Lord God with wickedness and guile. (And I shall punish all who proudly enter onto the threshold on that day, they who fill their lord’s house with wickedness and deceit.)

10 And there shall be in that day, saith the Lord, a voice of cry from the gate of fishes, and yelling from the second gate, and great defouling from little hills. (And there shall be on that day, saith the Lord, loud cries from the Fish Gate, and yelling from the second gate, or from the second quarter, and great defiling from the little hills.)

11 Yell ye, dwellers of Pila; all the people of Canaan was still together, all men wrapped in silver perished. (Yell, ye inhabitants of Maktesh; and then all the merchant people were altogether silent, or perished, and also all those dealing in silver perished.)

12 And it shall be, in that time, I shall seek (throughout) Jerusalem with lanterns, and I shall visit on all men pitched in their dregs, which say in their hearts, The Lord shall not do well, and he shall not do evil. (And it shall be, at that time, I shall seek throughout Jerusalem with lanterns, and I shall punish all those pitched in their dregs, yea, those who say in their hearts, The Lord shall not do good, and he shall not do evil.)

13 And the strength of them shall be into ravishing, and the houses of them into desert; and they shall build houses, and shall not inhabit; and they shall plant vineyards, and they shall not drink the wine of them. (And their wealth shall be robbed, and their houses shall be made desolate, or deserted; and they shall build houses, but shall not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but they shall not drink their wine.)

14 Nigh is the great day of the Lord, nigh and swift full much; the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter, a strong man shall be in tribulation there. (The great day of the Lord is near, near and coming very swiftly, or very soon; the day of the Lord shall be bitter, the strong shall cry out in tribulation there.)

15 That day is a day of wrath, day of tribulation and anguish, day of neediness and wretchedness, day of darknesses and mist, day of cloud and whirlwind, (That day shall be a day of anger, a day of tribulation and anguish, a day of neediness and wretchedness, a day of darknesses and mist, a day of cloud and whirlwind,)

16 day of trump and of noise on strong cities and on high corners. (a day of trumpets and of battle cries against the fortified cities and the high towers.)

17 And I shall trouble men, and they shall walk as blind, for they have sinned against the Lord; and the blood of them shall be shed out as earth, and the bodies of them shall be as turds. (And I shall trouble people, and they shall walk as if they be blind, for they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their bodies shall be like turds.)

18 But the silver of them, and [the] gold of them, shall not be able to deliver them in the day of wrath of the Lord; in fire of his fervor all earth shall be devoured, for he shall make end with hasting to all men inhabiting the earth. (But their silver, and their gold, shall not be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s anger; in the fire of his fervor all the earth shall be devoured, for he shall make a hasty end to all those who inhabit the earth.)

The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah(A) son of Amon(B) king of Judah:

Judgment on the Whole Earth in the Day of the Lord

“I will sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,”(C)
declares the Lord.
“I will sweep away both man and beast;(D)
    I will sweep away the birds in the sky(E)
    and the fish in the sea—
    and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.”[a]

“When I destroy all mankind
    on the face of the earth,”(F)
declares the Lord,(G)
“I will stretch out my hand(H) against Judah
    and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,(I)
    the very names of the idolatrous priests(J)
those who bow down on the roofs
    to worship the starry host,(K)
those who bow down and swear by the Lord
    and who also swear by Molek,[b](L)
those who turn back from following(M) the Lord
    and neither seek(N) the Lord nor inquire(O) of him.”

Be silent(P) before the Sovereign Lord,
    for the day of the Lord(Q) is near.
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;(R)
    he has consecrated those he has invited.

“On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
    I will punish(S) the officials
    and the king’s sons(T)
and all those clad
    in foreign clothes.
On that day I will punish
    all who avoid stepping on the threshold,[c](U)
who fill the temple of their gods
    with violence and deceit.(V)

10 “On that day,(W)
    declares the Lord,
“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,(X)
    wailing(Y) from the New Quarter,
    and a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail,(Z) you who live in the market district[d];
    all your merchants will be wiped out,
    all who trade with[e] silver will be destroyed.(AA)
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
    and punish those who are complacent,(AB)
    who are like wine left on its dregs,(AC)
who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,(AD)
    either good or bad.’(AE)
13 Their wealth will be plundered,(AF)
    their houses demolished.
Though they build houses,
    they will not live in them;
though they plant vineyards,
    they will not drink the wine.”(AG)

14 The great day of the Lord(AH) is near(AI)
    near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;
    the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.
15 That day will be a day of wrath—
    a day of distress and anguish,
        a day of trouble and ruin,
    a day of darkness(AJ) and gloom,
        a day of clouds and blackness(AK)
16     a day of trumpet and battle cry(AL)
against the fortified cities
    and against the corner towers.(AM)

17 “I will bring such distress(AN) on all people
    that they will grope about like those who are blind,(AO)
    because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out(AP) like dust
    and their entrails like dung.(AQ)
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
    will be able to save them
    on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”(AR)

In the fire of his jealousy(AS)
    the whole earth will be consumed,(AT)
for he will make a sudden end
    of all who live on the earth.(AU)

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 1:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
  2. Zephaniah 1:5 Hebrew Malkam
  3. Zephaniah 1:9 See 1 Samuel 5:5.
  4. Zephaniah 1:11 Or the Mortar
  5. Zephaniah 1:11 Or in

The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.

I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.

I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;

And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham;

And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him.

Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.

And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.

10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.

11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.

13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.