Yahweh Will End All Things
The word of Yahweh which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of aJosiah son of bAmon, king of Judah:
2 “I will completely aend all things
From the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.
3 “I will end aman and beast;
I will end the bbirds of the sky
And the fish of the sea
And the cruins along with the wicked;
And I will cut off man from the face of the ground,” declares Yahweh.
4 “So I will astretch out My hand against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will bcut off the remnant of Baal from this place,
And the names of the cidolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 And those who worship on the ahousetops the host of heaven,
And those who worship and bswear to Yahweh and yet swear by cMilcom,
6 And those who have aturned back from following Yahweh,
And those who have bnot sought Yahweh or inquired of Him.”
The Day of Yahweh Is Near
7 aBe silent before Lord Yahweh!
For the bday of Yahweh is near,
For Yahweh has prepared a csacrifice;
He has dset apart His guests.
8 “Then it will be on the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice
That I will apunish the princes, the king’s sons,
And all who clothe themselves with bforeign garments.
9 And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold,
Who fill the house of their Lord with aviolence and deceit.
10 And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,
“That there will be the sound of a cry from the aFish Gate
And a wail from the bSecond Quarter
And a great destruction from the chills.
11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar,
For all the people of aCanaan will be silenced;
All who weigh out bsilver will be cut off.
12 And it will be at that time
That I will asearch Jerusalem with lamps,
And I will punish the men
Who are bstagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘Yahweh will cnot do good or evil!’
13 And it will be that their wealth will become aspoil
And their houses desolate;
Indeed, bthey will build houses but not inhabit them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”
14 Near is the agreat bday of Yahweh,
Near and coming very quickly;
O the sound, the day of Yahweh!
In it the mighty man ccries out bitterly.
15 A day of fury is that day,
A day of atrouble and distress,
A day of destruction and desolation,
A day of bdarkness and thick darkness,
A day of clouds and dense gloom,
16 A day of atrumpet and loud shouting
Against the bfortified cities
And the high corner towers.
17 I will bring adistress on men
So that they will walk blike the blind
Because they have sinned against Yahweh;
And their cblood will be poured out like dust
And their dflesh like dung.
18 Neither their asilver nor their gold
Will be able to deliver them
On the day of the fury of Yahweh;
And ball the earth will be devoured
In the fire of His jealousy,
For He will cmake a complete destruction,
Indeed a terrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.