Zephaniah 3
1 Woe to the provocatrix and the redeemed city, the dove.
Woe [to] the rebelling and defiling, The oppressing city!
2 She has not heeded the voice, nor has she accepted discipline. She has not trusted in the Lord; she did not draw near to her God.
She has not listened to the voice, She has not accepted instruction, In YHWH she has not trusted, She has not drawn near to her God.
3 Her leaders are in her midst like roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves; they leave nothing for the morning.
Her heads in her midst [are] roaring lions, Her judges [are] wolves [as in] evening, They have not gnawn the bone in the morning.
4 Her prophets are crazed; men without faith. Her priests have polluted what is holy; they have acted unjustly against the law.
Her prophets unstable—men of treachery, Her priests have defiled the sanctuary, They have violated the Law.
5 The just Lord is in their midst; he will not do iniquity. In the morning, in the morning, he will bring his judgment into the light, and it will not be hidden. But the impious one has not known shame.
YHWH [is] righteous in her midst, He does not do perverseness, Morning by morning His judgment He gives to the light, It has not been lacking, And the perverse do not know shame.
6 I have dispersed the nations, and their towers have been torn down. I have made their ways deserts, until there were none who passed through. Their cities have become desolate, with no man remaining, nor any inhabitant.
“I have cut off nations, Desolated have been their chief ones, I have laid waste their out-places without any passing by, Destroyed have been their cities, Without man, without inhabitant.
7 I said: Nevertheless, you will fear me; you will accept discipline. And her dwelling place will not perish, despite all the things about which I have visited her. Yet truly, they arose with the dawn and corrupted all their thoughts.
I have said: Only, you fear Me, You accept instruction, And her habitation is not cut off, All that I have appointed for her, But they have risen early, They have corrupted all their doings.
8 Because of this, expect me, says the Lord, in the day of my resurrection in the future, for my judgment is to gather together the Gentiles, and to collect the kingdoms, and to pour out over them my indignation, all the fury of my anger. For by the fire of my zeal, all the earth will be devoured.
Therefore, wait for Me,” A declaration of YHWH, “For the day of My rising for prey, For My judgment [is] to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them My indignation, All the heat of My anger, For by the fire of My jealousy all the earth is consumed.
9 For then I will restore to the people a chosen lip, so that all may invoke the name of the Lord and may serve him with one shoulder.
For then I turn a pure lip to peoples, To call all of them by the Name of YHWH, To serve Him [with] one shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my supplicants, the sons of my diaspora, will carry a gift to me.
From beyond the rivers of Cush, My supplicants, The daughter of My scattered ones, Bring My present.
11 In that day, you will not be ashamed over all of your inventions, by which you have transgressed against me. For then I will take away from your midst your arrogant boasters, and you will no longer be exalted on my holy mountain.
In that day you are not ashamed because of any of your actions, With which you have transgressed against Me, For then I turn aside from your midst The exulting ones of your excellence, And you are to be haughty no longer, In My holy mountain.
12 And I will bequeath into your midst a poor and needy people, and they will hope in the name of the Lord.
And I have left in your midst a people humble and poor, And they have trusted in the Name of YHWH.
13 The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity, nor speak lies, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth. For they will pasture and will recline, and there will be no one to strike them with terror.
The remnant of Israel does no perversity, nor speaks lies, Nor is a deceitful tongue found in their mouth, For they have delight, and have lain down, And there is none troubling.”
14 Give praise, daughter of Zion. Shout joyfully, Israel. Rejoice and exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem.
Cry aloud, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, Rejoice and exult with the whole heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15 The Lord has taken away your judgment; he has turned aside your foes. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall no longer fear evil.
YHWH has turned aside your judgments, He has faced your enemy, The King of Israel, YHWH, [is] in your midst, You see evil no more.
16 In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Do not be afraid,” and to Zion, “Do not let your hands be weakened.”
In that day it is said to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion, Do not let your hands be feeble.
17 The Lord your God is the strength in your midst; he will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. In his love, he will be silent. He will exult over you with praise.
Your God YHWH [is] in your midst, A mighty one [to] save, He rejoices over you with joy, He works in His love, He delights over you with singing.”
18 The triflers who withdrew from the law, I will gather together, because they were from you, so that you may no longer suffer disgrace over them.
“I have gathered My afflicted from the appointed place, They have been bearing reproach from you for her sake.
19 Behold, I will execute all who have afflicted you in that time, and I will save those who are lame, and I will gather together her who had been cast out. And I will place them in praise and in renown, in all the land where they had been put to shame,
Behold, I am dealing with all afflicting you at that time, And I have saved the halting one, And I gather the ones driven out, And have set them for a praise and for a name, In all the land of their shame.
20 in that time, when I will lead to you, and in the time when I will gather for you. For I will deliver you into renown and into praise, among all the peoples of the earth, when I will have converted your captivity before your very eyes, says the Lord.
At that time I bring you in, Even at the time of My assembling you, For I give you for a name, and for a praise, Among all peoples of the land, In My turning back [to] your captivity before your eyes,” said YHWH!
