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

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

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

14 The great day of the Lord(S) is near(T)
    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(U) and gloom,
        a day of clouds and blackness(V)
16     a day of trumpet and battle cry(W)
against the fortified cities
    and against the corner towers.(X)

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Footnotes

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

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