Font Size
Zephaniah 1
New King James Version
Zephaniah 1
New King James Version
The Great Day of the Lord(A)
1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of (B)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Great Day of the Lord
2 “I will [a]utterly consume everything
From the face of the land,”
Says the Lord;
3 “I(C) will consume man and beast;
I will consume the birds of the heavens,
The fish of the sea,
And the [b]stumbling blocks along with the wicked.
I will cut off man from the face of the [c]land,”
Says the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out My hand against Judah,
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
[d]I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,
The names of the (D)idolatrous[e] priests with the pagan priests—
5 Those (E)who worship the host of heaven on the housetops;
Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord,
But who also swear (F)by [f]Milcom;
6 (G)Those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And (H)have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.”
7 (I)Be silent in the presence of the Lord God;
(J)For the day of the Lord is at hand,
For (K)the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
He has [g]invited His guests.
8 “And it shall be,
In the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
That I will punish (L)the princes and the king’s children,
And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.
9 In the same day I will punish
All those who (M)leap over the threshold,
Who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
10 “And there shall be on that day,” says the Lord,
“The sound of a mournful cry from (N)the Fish Gate,
A wailing from the Second Quarter,
And a loud crashing from the hills.
11 (O)Wail, you inhabitants of [h]Maktesh!
For all the merchant people are cut down;
All those who handle money are cut off.
12 “And it shall come to pass at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
And punish the men
Who are (P)settled[i] in complacency,
(Q)Who say in their heart,
‘The Lord will not do good,
Nor will He do evil.’
13 Therefore their goods shall become booty,
And their houses a desolation;
They shall build houses, but not inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards, but (R)not drink their wine.”
14 (S)The great day of the Lord is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter;
There the mighty men shall cry out.
15 (T)That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of (U)trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.
17 “I will bring distress upon men,
And they shall (V)walk like blind men,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
Their blood shall be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like refuse.”
18 (W)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 will make speedy riddance
Of all those who dwell in the land.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:2 Lit. make a complete end of, Jer. 8:13
- Zephaniah 1:3 Idols
- Zephaniah 1:3 ground
- Zephaniah 1:4 Fulfilled in 2 Kin. 23:4, 5
- Zephaniah 1:4 Heb. chemarim
- Zephaniah 1:5 Or Malcam, an Ammonite god, 1 Kin. 11:5; Jer. 49:1; Molech, Lev. 18:21
- Zephaniah 1:7 Lit. set apart, consecrated
- Zephaniah 1:11 A market district of Jerusalem, lit. Mortar
- Zephaniah 1:12 Lit. on their lees; like the dregs of wine
Zephaniah 1
New American Standard Bible
Zephaniah 1
New American Standard Bible
Day of Judgment on Judah
1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of (A)Josiah son of (B)Amon, king of Judah:
2 “I will completely (C)remove all things
From the face of the [a]earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will remove (D)human and animal life;
I will remove the (E)birds of the sky
And the fish of the sea,
And the [b](F)ruins along with the wicked;
And I will eliminate mankind from the face of the [c]earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “So I will (G)stretch out My hand against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will (H)eliminate the remnant of Baal from this place,
And the names of the (I)idolatrous priests along with the other priests.
5 And those who bow down on the (J)housetops to the heavenly [d]lights,
And those who bow down and (K)swear to the Lord, but also swear by [e](L)Milcom,
6 And those who have (M)turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have (N)not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him.”
7 [f](O)Be silent before the Lord [g]God!
For the (P)day of the Lord is near,
Because the Lord has prepared a (Q)sacrifice,
He has (R)consecrated His guests.
8 “Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
That I will (S)punish the princes, the king’s sons,
And all who clothe themselves with (T)foreign garments.
9 And on that day I will punish all who leap on the temple threshold,
Who fill the house of their [h]lord with (U)violence and deceit.
10 And on that day,” declares the Lord,
“There will be the sound of a cry from the (V)Fish Gate,
Wailing from the [i](W)Second Quarter,
And a loud crash from the (X)hills.
11 Wail, you inhabitants of the [j]Mortar,
Because all the [k]people of (Y)Canaan will be destroyed;
All who weigh out (Z)silver will be eliminated.
12 And it will come about at that time
That I will (AA)search Jerusalem with lamps,
And I will punish the people
Who are [l](AB)stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will (AC)not do good nor harm!’
13 Their wealth will become (AD)plunder,
And their houses desolate;
Yes, (AE)they will build houses but not inhabit them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”
14 The (AF)great (AG)day of the Lord is near,
Near and coming very quickly;
Listen, the day of the Lord!
[m]In it the warrior (AH)cries out bitterly.
15 That day is a day of anger,
A day of (AI)trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of (AJ)darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of (AK)trumpet and battle cry
Against the (AL)fortified cities
And the high corner towers.
17 I will bring (AM)distress on mankind
So that they will walk (AN)like those who are blind,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
And their (AO)blood will be poured out like dust,
And their (AP)flesh like dung.
18 Neither their (AQ)silver nor their gold
Will be able to save them
On the day of the Lord’s anger;
And (AR)all the earth will be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will (AS)make a complete end,
Indeed a horrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:2 Lit ground
- Zephaniah 1:3 Or stumbling blocks
- Zephaniah 1:3 Lit ground
- Zephaniah 1:5 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
- Zephaniah 1:5 Or their king; MT Malcam, prob. a variant spelling of Milcom, the Ammonite god
- Zephaniah 1:7 Lit Hush
- Zephaniah 1:7 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Zephaniah 1:9 Or Lord
- Zephaniah 1:10 I.e., a district of Jerusalem
- Zephaniah 1:11 I.e., a district of Jerusalem
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or merchant people will
- Zephaniah 1:12 Lit thickening on their dregs
- Zephaniah 1:14 Lit There
Zephaniah 1
Amplified Bible
Zephaniah 1
Amplified Bible
Day of Judgment on Judah
1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of [a]Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah:
2
“I will completely consume and sweep away all things
From the face of the earth [in judgment],” says the Lord.
3
“I will consume and sweep away man and beast;
I will consume and sweep away the birds of the air
And the fish of the sea,
And the [b]stumbling blocks (idols) along with the wicked;
And I will cut off and destroy man from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4
“I will also stretch out My hand [in judgment] against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will cut off and destroy the remnant of [c]Baal from this place,
And the names and remembrance of the idolatrous priests along with the [false] priests,
5
And those who bow down and worship the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, and the stars] [d]on their housetops
And those who bow down and swear [oaths] to [and pretend to worship] the Lord and [yet also] swear by [the pagan god called] Milcom [god of the Ammonites],
6
And those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have not sought the Lord [as their most important need] or inquired of Him.”
7
[Hush!] Be silent before the Lord God [there is no acceptable excuse to offer]!
For the day [of the vengeance] of the Lord is near,
For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice (Judah),
He has set apart [for His use] those who have accepted His invitation [the Chaldeans who rule Babylon].(A)
8
“Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
That I will punish the princes and the king’s sons
And all who are clothed in [lavish] foreign apparel [reflecting their paganism].(B)
9
“On that day I will also punish all those who [e]leap over the temple threshold,
Who fill their [pagan] lord’s temple with violence and deceit.
10
“On that day,” declares the Lord,
“There will be the sound of crying from the Fish (Damascus) Gate [in the northern wall of Jerusalem where invaders enter]
And wailing from the [f]Second Quarter [of the city],
And a loud crash from the hills.
11
“Wail [in anguish], you inhabitants of the [g]Mortar (Valley of Siloam),
For all the merchants of Canaan will be silenced and destroyed;
All who weigh out silver will be cut off.
12
“It will come about at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps
And I will punish the men
Who [like old wine] are stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.’
13
“Furthermore, their wealth will become plunder
And their houses a desolation.
Yes, they will build houses but not live in them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”(C)
14
The great [judgment] day of the Lord is near,
Near and coming very quickly.
Listen! The [voice of the] day of the Lord!
The warrior cries out bitterly [unable to fight or to flee].
15
That day is a day of [the outpouring of the] wrath [of God],
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and devastation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,(D)
16
A day of trumpet and the battle cry [of invaders]
Against the fortified cities
And against the high corner towers (battlements).
17
I will bring distress on men
So that they will walk like the blind [unable to find a way of escape],
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
Their blood will be poured out like dust [and trampled underfoot],
And their flesh like dung.
18
Neither their silver nor their gold
Will be able to rescue them
On the day of the Lord’s indignation and wrath.
And the whole earth will be consumed
In the fire of His jealous [h]wrath,
For He shall make a full and complete end,
Indeed a terrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.(E)
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:1 Zephaniah’s great-great-grandfather, Hezekiah, ruled Judah (the Southern Kingdom) from 715-686 b.c. He was a godly king who restored the temple and abolished pagan worship. He was also notable as the great warrior who defended Jerusalem from the attacking Assyrians, and the great builder who developed the Siloam tunnel and reservoir to enhance the fresh water supply of Jerusalem.
- Zephaniah 1:3 MT reads ruins.
- Zephaniah 1:4 One of the major male gods of Canaan. His female consort was Asherah.
- Zephaniah 1:5 The flat roofs of the houses were often used as convenient places of planetary worship (i.e. Sabeanism, astrology).
- Zephaniah 1:9 This may have a connection to the pagan custom mentioned in 1 Sam 5:5, or to the pagan belief that spirits resided in the threshold.
- Zephaniah 1:10 I.e. the lower, newer part of the city.
- Zephaniah 1:11 A shallow hollow that was a district in Jerusalem.
- Zephaniah 1:18 God’s judgment and God’s mercy are the twin themes of the prophets. In this dramatic passage, the Lord describes the destruction that will sweep the earth in the day of His wrath. Yet the Lord is true to His promises: the remnant will be restored (Zeph 3:18-20); the last day is also “the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30). See also Matt 24:31; John 14:3; 1 Thess 4:15-17.
Zephaniah 1
New International Version
Zephaniah 1
New International Version
1 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
2 “I will sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,”(C)
declares the Lord.
3 “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)
4 “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)—
5 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)
6 those who turn back from following(M) the Lord
and neither seek(N) the Lord nor inquire(O) of him.”
7 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.
8 “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.
9 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)
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
- Zephaniah 1:5 Hebrew Malkam
- Zephaniah 1:9 See 1 Samuel 5:5.
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or the Mortar
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or in
Zephaniah 1
King James Version
Zephaniah 1
King James Version
1 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.
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.
3 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.
4 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;
5 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;
6 And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.