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.

This is the word of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah 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 destroy everything from off the surface of the earth—this is Yahweh's declaration.

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 destroy man and beast; I will destroy the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, the ruins along with the wicked. For I will cut off man from the surface of the earth—this is Yahweh's declaration.

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 reach out with my hand over Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every remnant of Baal from this place and the names of the idolatrous people among 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;

the people who on the housetops worship the heavenly bodies, and the people who worship and swear to Yahweh but who also swear by their king.

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.

I will also cut off those who have turned away from following Yahweh, those who neither seek Yahweh nor ask for his guidance.”

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 Yahweh! For the day of Yahweh is near; Yahweh has prepared the sacrifice and set apart 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.

“It will come about on the day of Yahweh's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes and the king's sons, and everyone dressed in foreign clothes.

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.

On that day I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, those who fill their master's house 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.

So it will be on that day—this is Yahweh's declaration— that a cry of distress will come from the Fish Gate, wailing from the Second District, and a great crashing sound 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.

Wail, inhabitants of the Market District, for all the merchants will be ruined; all those who weigh out silver will be cut off.

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.

It will come about at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men who have settled into their wine and say in their heart, 'Yahweh will not do anything, either good or 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 wealth will become plunder, and their houses will be an abandoned devastation! They will build houses but not live in them, and plant vineyards but not drink their wine.

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 great day of Yahweh is near, near and hurrying quickly! The sound of the day of Yahweh will be that of a warrior crying bitterly!

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 will be a day of fury, a day of distress and anguish, a day of storm and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.

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

It will be a day of trumpets and alarms against the fortified cities and the high battlements.

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.

For I will bring distress upon mankind, so that they will walk about like blind men since they have sinned against Yahweh. Their blood will be poured out like dust, and their inner parts like 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 will be able to save them on the day of Yahweh's fury. In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed, for he will bring a complete, a terrible end of all the inhabitants of the earth.”