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Zephaniah 1
Contemporary English Version

1 (A) I am Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, the great-grandson of Amariah, and the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah.[a]

When Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah,[b] the Lord gave me this message.

Judgment on Judah

2 I, the Lord, now promise
to destroy everything
    on this earth—
3 people and animals,
    birds and fish.
Everyone who is evil
    will crash to the ground,[c]
and I will wipe out
    the entire human race.
4 I will reach out to punish
    Judah and Jerusalem—
nothing will remain
    of the god Baal;[d]
nothing will be remembered
    of his pagan priests.
5 Not a trace will be found
of those who worship stars
    from their rooftops,
or bow down to the god Milcom,[e]
while claiming loyalty
    to me, the Lord.
6 Nothing will remain of anyone
who has turned away
    and rejected me.

7 Be silent! I am the Lord God,
    and the time is near.
I am preparing
to sacrifice my people
    and to invite my guests.
8 On that day I will punish
national leaders
    and sons of the king,
along with all who follow
    foreign customs.[f]
9 I will punish worshipers
    of pagan gods[g]
and cruel palace officials
    who abuse their power.

10 I, the Lord, promise
    that on that day
noisy crying will be heard
from Fish Gate, New Town,
    and Upper Hills.
11 Everyone in Lower Hollow[h]
    will mourn loudly,
because merchants
and money changers
    will be wiped out.
12 I'll search Jerusalem with lamps
    and punish those people
who sit there unworried
    while thinking,
“The Lord won't do anything,
    good or bad.”
13 Their possessions will be taken,
    their homes left in ruins.
They won't get to live
    in the houses they build,
or drink wine from the grapes
    in their own vineyards.

A Terrible Day

14 The great day of the Lord
    is coming soon, very soon.
On that terrible day,
fearsome shouts of warriors
    will be heard everywhere.
15 It will be a time of anger—
    of trouble and torment,
of disaster and destruction,
    of darkness and despair,
of storm clouds and shadows,
16 of trumpet calls
    and battle cries
against fortified cities
    and mighty fortresses.

17 The Lord warns everyone
    who has sinned against him,
“I'll strike you blind!
Then your blood and your insides
    will gush out like vomit.
18 Not even your silver or gold
can save you on that day
    when I, the Lord, am angry.
My anger will flare up
    like a furious fire
scorching the earth
    and everyone on it.”

Footnotes

  1. 1.1 Hezekiah: Ruled 716–687 b.c.
  2. 1.1 Josiah … king of Judah: Ruled 640–609 b.c.
  3. 1.3 Everyone … ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 1.4 Baal: A Canaanite fertility god.
  5. 1.5 Milcom: An Ammonite fertility god.
  6. 1.8 follow foreign customs: Hebrew “wear foreign clothes.”
  7. 1.9 worshipers … gods: The Hebrew text has “all who jump over the threshold,” which was a Philistine religious practice (see 1 Samuel 5.5).
  8. 1.10,11 Fish Gate, New Town, and Upper Hills … Lower Hollow: Names for different sections of Jerusalem: Fish Gate was probably the main gate on the north side of the city; New Town was a newer section; Upper Hills may have been a suburb north of the city; Lower Hollow was probably on the southern edge of town.
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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)

In the fire of his jealousy(AS)
    the whole earth will be consumed,(AT)
for he will make a sudden end
    of all who live on the earth.(AU)

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 1:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
  2. Zephaniah 1:5 Hebrew Malkam
  3. Zephaniah 1:9 See 1 Samuel 5:5.
  4. Zephaniah 1:11 Or the Mortar
  5. Zephaniah 1:11 Or in
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Zephaniah 2
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