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14 Like a hunted gazelle,
    or a flock that no one gathers,
They shall turn each to their own people
    and flee each to their own land.(A)

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14 Like a hunted(A) gazelle,
    like sheep without a shepherd,(B)
they will all return to their own people,
    they will flee(C) to their native land.(D)

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14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.

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I will stretch out my hand against Judah,
    and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
I will eliminate from this place
    the last vestige of Baal,
    the name of the idolatrous priests.
And those who bow down on the roofs
    to the host of heaven,[a]
And those who bow down to the Lord
    but swear by Milcom;(A)
And those who have turned away from the Lord,
    and those who have not sought the Lord,
    who have not inquired of him.

Silence in the presence of the Lord God!
    for near is the day of the Lord,
Yes, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
    he has consecrated his guests.[b](B)
    On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials and the king’s sons,
    and all who dress in foreign apparel.
I will punish, on that day,
    all who leap over the threshold,[c]
Who fill the house of their master
    with violence and deceit.
10     On that day—oracle of the Lord
A cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
    a wail from the Second Quarter,[d]
    loud crashing from the hills.
11 Wail, O inhabitants of Maktesh!
    for all the merchants are destroyed,
    all who weigh out silver, done away with.

12     At that time,
I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
    I will punish the people
    who settle like dregs in wine,[e]
Who say in their hearts,
    “The Lord will not do good,
    nor will he do harm.”
13 Their wealth shall be given to plunder
    and their houses to devastation;
They will build houses,
    but not dwell in them;
They will plant vineyards,
    but not drink their wine.(C)
14 Near is the great day of the Lord,
    near and very swiftly coming.
The sound of the day of the Lord! Piercing—
    there a warrior shrieks!
15 A day of wrath is that day,
    a day of distress and anguish,
    a day of ruin and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
    a day of thick black clouds,(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 1:5 The host of heaven: the sun, moon, planets, and stars, the worship of which became widespread in Judah under Assyrian influence. Milcom: the god of the Ammonites; cf. 1 Kgs 11:5, 7, 33; 2 Kgs 23:13.
  2. 1:7 He has consecrated his guests: God has consecrated the troops, presumably foreign, who have been invited to share in the spoil on the day of slaughter.
  3. 1:9 Leap over the threshold: the reference may be to a religious ritual like that practiced by the priests of the Philistine deity Dagon (1 Sm 5:5).
  4. 1:10–11 The Second Quarter…Maktesh: sections of Jerusalem (cf. 2 Kgs 22:14).
  5. 1:12 Settle like dregs in wine: those who are overconfident because, like the sediment that settles to the bottom of a bottle of wine, they have remained at peace and undisturbed for a long time.

“I will stretch out my hand(A) against Judah
    and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,(B)
    the very names of the idolatrous priests(C)
those who bow down on the roofs
    to worship the starry host,(D)
those who bow down and swear by the Lord
    and who also swear by Molek,[a](E)
those who turn back from following(F) the Lord
    and neither seek(G) the Lord nor inquire(H) of him.”

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

“On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
    I will punish(L) the officials
    and the king’s sons(M)
and all those clad
    in foreign clothes.
On that day I will punish
    all who avoid stepping on the threshold,[b](N)
who fill the temple of their gods
    with violence and deceit.(O)

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

14 The great day of the Lord(AA) is near(AB)
    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(AC) and gloom,
        a day of clouds and blackness(AD)

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Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 1:5 Hebrew Malkam
  2. Zephaniah 1:9 See 1 Samuel 5:5.
  3. Zephaniah 1:11 Or the Mortar
  4. Zephaniah 1:11 Or in

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,

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