Zephaniah 1

1 The word of the Lord which came unto Zephanyah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedalyah, the son of Amaryah, the son of Chizkiyah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon the king of Judah.

The word of Jehovah, which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.

2 I will remove, utterly remove all things from off the face of the earth, saith the Lord.

I will utterly consume all things from the face of the land, saith Jehovah;

3 I will remove man and beast; I will remove the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks together with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the earth, saith the Lord.

I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the sea, And the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; And I will cut off man from the face of the land, saith Jehovah.

4 And I will stretch out my hand over Judah, and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Ba'al from this place, the name of his ministers with his priests;

I will stretch out my hand over Judah, And over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, And I will cut off from this place the residue of Baal, The name of the idol-sacrificers with the priests,

5 And those that bow themselves down on the roofs of houses to the host of heaven; and those that bow themselves down that are sworn [to be true] to the Lord and still swear by Malkom;

And those who bow themselves on the house-tops to the host of heaven, And those who bow themselves and swear by Jehovah, And also swear by their idol,

6 And those that are turned away from following the Lord; and those that have not sought for the Lord, and have not inquired of him.

And those that turn back from Jehovah, And those that seek not Jehovah, nor inquire for him.

7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord Eternal; for nigh is the day of the Lord; for the Lord hath prepared a slaughter, he hath bidden his invited guests.

Be silent before the Lord Jehovah! For the day of Jehovah is near; For Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice; He hath appointed his guests.

8 And it shall come to pass on the day of the Lord's slaughter, that I will inflict punishment on the princes, and on the king's sons, and on all such as are clothed in garments of a foreign land.

And in the day of the sacrifice of Jehovah it shall come to pass That I will punish the princes and the sons of the king, And all that are clothed with foreign apparel.

9 And I will inflict punishment on all those that leap over the threshold on that day, who fill the house of their master with violence and deceit.

In that day also will I punish all that leap over the threshold, That fill the houses of their master with violence and deceit.

10 And it shall come to pass on that day, saith the Lord, that there shall be a loud cry of lamentation from the fish-gate, and a wailing from the second, and [that of] a great breach from the hills.

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, That there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish-gate, And of a howling from the other part of the city, And of great destruction from the hills.

11 Wail, ye inhabitants of the mortar-street, for destroyed are all the trading people; cut off are all that were laden with silver.

Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh! For all the trafficking people are cut down; All they that bear silver are destroyed.

12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem through with lights; and I will inflict punishment on the men that are at rest on their lees, that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil.

And it shall come to pass at that time, That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men that are settled on their lees; That say in their hearts, “Jehovah doeth neither good nor evil.”

13 And their wealth shall become a booty, and their houses shall be made desolate; and they will build houses, but they shall not inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, but they shall not drink their wine.

Their substance shall become a spoil, And their houses a desolation; They shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; And shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

14 Nigh is the great day of the Lord, it is nigh, and hasteneth greatly, [there is] the noise of the day of the Lord: bitterly crieth there the mighty man.

The day of Jehovah is near, the great day; It is near, and hasteth greatly; The day of Jehovah shall resound; Bitterly shall the mighty man cry for help.

15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anxiety, a day of wasting and desolation, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and tempestuous gloom,

That day is a day of wrath, A day of distress and anguish, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness,

16 A day of the cornet and alarm, against the fenced cities, and against the high battlements.

A day of the trumpet and the war-shout, Against the fenced cities, And against the high towers.

17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk about like the blind, because against the Lord have they sinned: and their blood shall be poured out like the dust, and their flesh like the dung.

And I will distress the men, so that they shall walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against Jehovah. And their blood shall be poured out as dust, And their flesh as dung.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord's wrath; through the fire of whose zeal the whole land shall be devoured; for destruction, yea, quite sudden, will he prepare for all the inhabitants of the land.

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Jehovah, But by the fire of his indignation shall the whole land be devoured; For destruction, and that a speedy one, will he bring Upon all that dwell in the land.