The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, ain the days of bJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Coming Judgment on Judah
2 a“I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away aman and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and athe fish of the sea,
and bthe rubble with the wicked.
I will ccut off mankind
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
aand I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 athose who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
bthose who bow down and swear to the Lord
and yet swear by cMilcom,
6 athose who have turned back from following the Lord,
bwho do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”
The Day of the Lord Is Near
7 aBe silent before the Lord God!
For bthe day of the Lord is near;
cthe Lord has prepared a sacrifice
and dconsecrated his guests.
8 And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice—
a“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons
and ball who array themselves in foreign attire.
9 On that day I will punish
everyone awho leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master’s house
with violence and fraud.
10 “On that day,” declares the Lord,
“a cry will be heard from athe Fish Gate,
ba wail from cthe Second Quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.
11 aWail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
For all the traders are no more;
all who weigh out silver are cut off.
12 At that time aI will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
bwho are complacent,
cthose who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do ill.’
13 Their goods shall be aplundered,
and their houses laid waste.
bThough they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
cthough they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.”
14 aThe great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
bthe mighty man cries aloud there.
15 aA day of wrath is that day,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of bruin and devastation,
ca day of darkness and gloom,
ca day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 aa day of trumpet blast and battle cry
bagainst the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
17 aI will bring distress on mankind,
so that they shall walk blike the blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord;
ctheir blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh dlike dung.
18 aNeither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them
on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
bIn the fire of his jealousy,
call the earth shall be consumed;
dfor a full and sudden end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.