Zephaniah 1

1 A word of YHWH that has been to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezikiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amoz, king of Judah:

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.

2 “I utterly consume all from off the face of the ground,” A declaration of YHWH.

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

3 “I consume man and beast, I consume bird of the heavens, and fishes of the sea, And the stumbling-blocks—the wicked, And I have cut off man from the face of the ground,” A declaration of YHWH,

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.

4 “And I have stretched out My hand against Judah, And against all inhabiting Jerusalem, And cut off from this place the remnant of Ba‘al, The name of the idolatrous priests, with the priests,

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;

5 And those bowing themselves On the roofs to the host of the heavens, And those bowing themselves, Swearing to YHWH, and swearing by Malcham,

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;

6 And those removing from after YHWH, And who have not sought YHWH, nor implored Him.”

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.

7 Hush! Because of Lord YHWH, For near [is the] Day of YHWH, For YHWH has prepared a sacrifice, He has sanctified His invited ones.

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.

8 “And it has come to pass, In the day of the sacrifice of YHWH, That I have laid a charge on the heads, And on sons of the king, And on all putting on strange clothing.

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.

9 And I have laid a charge on everyone Who is leaping over the threshold in that day, Who are filling the house of their masters [With] violence and deceit.

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.

10 And there has been in that day,” A declaration of YHWH, “The noise of a cry from the Fish Gate, And of a howling from the Second [Quarter], And of great destruction from the hills.

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.

11 Howl, you inhabitants of the hollow place, For all the merchant people have been cut off, All carrying silver have been cut off.

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

12 And it has come to pass at that time, I search Jerusalem with lights, And I have laid a charge on the men Who are hardened on their preserved things, Who are saying in their heart: YHWH does no good, nor does He do evil.

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.

13 And their wealth has been for a spoil, And their houses for desolation, And they have built houses, and do not inhabit, And they have planted vineyards, And they do not drink their wine.”

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.

14 Near [is] the Great Day of YHWH, Near, and hastening exceedingly, The noise of the Day of YHWH, There a mighty one bitterly shrieks.

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.

15 A day of wrath [is] that day, A day of adversity and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of cloud and thick darkness,

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,

16 A day of horn and shouting against the fortified cities, And against the high corners.

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

17 “And I have sent distress to men, And they have walked as the blind, For against YHWH they have sinned, And poured out is their blood as dust, And their flesh [is] as dung.”

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.

18 Even their silver, even their gold, is not able to deliver them in a day of the wrath of YHWH, and in the fire of His jealousy is the whole land consumed, for He makes only a hurried end of all the inhabitants of the land!

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.