Zephaniah

¹ The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah:

² From the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.

³ I will end the birds of the sky And the fish of the sea And the ruins along with the wicked; And I will cut off man from the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.

⁴ And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, And the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,

⁵ And those who worship and swear to Yahweh and yet swear by Milcom,

⁶ And those who have not sought Yahweh or inquired of Him.”

⁷ Be silent before Lord Yahweh! For the day of Yahweh is near, For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice; He has set apart His guests.

⁸ That I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, And all who clothe themselves with foreign garments.

⁹ Who fill the house of their Lord with violence and deceit.

¹⁰ “That there will be the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate And a wail from the Second Quarter And a great destruction from the hills.

¹¹ For all the people of Canaan will be silenced; All who weigh out silver will be cut off.

¹² That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, ‘Yahweh will not do good or evil!’

¹³ And their houses desolate; Indeed, they will build houses but not inhabit them, And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”

¹⁴ Near and coming very quickly; O the sound, the day of Yahweh! In it the mighty man cries out bitterly.

¹⁵ A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of clouds and dense gloom,

¹⁶ Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers.

¹⁷ So that they will walk like the blind Because they have sinned against Yahweh; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung.

¹⁸ Will be able to deliver them On the day of the fury of Yahweh; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete destruction, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.