Zephaniah 1

¹The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, ^a in the days of Josiah ^b son of Amon, ^c king of Judah.

The Great Day of the Lord

²I will completely sweep away everything

from the face of the earth ^d —

this is the Lord’s declaration.

³I will sweep away people and animals; ^e

I will sweep away the birds of the sky

and the fish of the sea,

and the ruins ^f along with the wicked. ^g

I will cut off mankind

from the face of the earth.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁴I will stretch out my hand ^h against Judah

and against all the residents of Jerusalem.

I will cut off every vestige of Baal ⁱ

from this place,

the names of the pagan priests ^j

along with the priests;

⁵those who bow in worship on the rooftops ^k

to the stars in the sky;

those who bow and pledge loyalty to the Lord^l

but also pledge loyalty to Milcom; ^m,ⁿ

⁶and those who turn back from following the Lord,

who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.

⁷Be silent in the presence of the Lord God, ^o

for the day of the Lord is near. ^p

Indeed, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice; ^q

he has consecrated his guests. ^r

⁸On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice

I will punish the officials, the king’s sons,

and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.

⁹On that day ^s I will punish

all who skip over the threshold, ^t,^u

who fill their master’s house

with violence and deceit.

¹⁰On that day —

this is the Lord’s declaration —

there will be an outcry from the Fish Gate, ^v

a wailing from the Second District, ^w

and a loud crashing from the hills.

¹¹Wail, you residents of the Hollow, ^x

for all the merchants ^y will be silenced;

all those loaded with silver will be cut off.

¹²And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps

and punish those who settle down comfortably, ^z,^aa

who say to themselves:

The Lord will do nothing #— #good or bad. ^ab

¹³Their wealth will become plunder

and their houses a ruin.

They will build houses but never live in them,

plant vineyards but never drink their wine. ^ac

¹⁴The great day of the Lord is near, ^ad

near and rapidly approaching.

Listen, the day of the Lord —

then the warrior’s cry is bitter.

¹⁵That day is a day of wrath,

a day of trouble and distress,

a day of destruction and desolation,

a day of darkness ^ae and gloom,

a day of clouds and total darkness, ^af

¹⁶a day of ram’s horn and battle cry

against the fortified cities,

and against the high corner towers.

¹⁷I will bring distress on mankind,

and they will walk like the blind ^ag

because they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dust

and their flesh like dung.

¹⁸Their silver and their gold

will be unable to rescue them

on the day of the Lord’s wrath. ^ah

The whole earth will be consumed

by the fire of his jealousy, ^ai

for he will make a complete,

yes, a horrifying end

of all the inhabitants of the earth.