1 This is the Word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Godaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.

The Day of the Lord Is Near

² “I will take away everything from the earth,” says the Lord. ³ “I will take away man and animal. I will take away the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea. I will destroy the sinful. And I will take man from off the earth,” says the Lord. ⁴ “I will put out My hand against Judah and against all the people of Jerusalem. I will destroy from this place the rest of the people who worship Baal, and the names of the religious leaders who worship false gods. ⁵ I will destroy those who bow down on the roofs to the stars of heaven, and those who bow down and make promises to the Lord and yet promise in the name of Milcom. ⁶ I will destroy those who have turned back from following the Lord, and those who have not looked for the Lord or prayed to Him.”

⁷ Be quiet before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has made a gift ready for the altar. He has made holy those whom He has asked to come. ⁸ “On the day of the Lord’s gift, I will punish the leaders, the king’s sons, and all who dress themselves with strange clothes. ⁹ On that day I will punish everyone who is quick to jump through the door, who fill the house of their owner with angry actions and lies. ¹⁰ On that day,” says the Lord, “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate. A cry of sorrow will be heard from the new part of the city, and a loud noise from the hills. ¹¹ Cry in a loud voice, you people who live in the part of the city where people buy and sell. For all the traders of Canaan will be destroyed. All who weigh out silver will be cut off. ¹² At that time I will look through Jerusalem with a light and will punish those who take it easy and do not care what happens. They say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good or bad.’ ¹³ Their riches will be taken from them and their houses will be laid waste. They will build houses but not live in them. They will plant grape-fields but not drink their wine.”

¹⁴ The great day of the Lord is near. It is near and coming soon. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord! The man of war will cry out with a bitter cry. ¹⁵ That day is a day of anger, a day of trouble and suffering, a day when much will be destroyed, a day of darkness, a day of clouds and much darkness. ¹⁶ It is a day of the sound of a horn and the cry of battle against the strong cities and the high towers. ¹⁷ I will bring trouble to men so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like body waste. ¹⁸ Their silver and gold will not be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s anger. All the earth will be destroyed in the fire of His jealousy. For all at once He will make an end of all the people of the earth.