Zephaniah 3

1 Woe [to] the rebelling and defiling, The oppressing city!

Sorrow to her who is uncontrolled and unclean, the cruel town!

2 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.

She gave no attention to the voice, she had no use for teaching, she put no faith in the Lord, she did not come near to her God.

3 Her heads in her midst [are] roaring lions, Her judges [are] wolves [as in] evening, They have not gnawn the bone in the morning.

Her rulers are like loud-voiced lions in her; her judges are wolves of the evening, crushing up the bones before the morning.

4 Her prophets unstable—men of treachery, Her priests have defiled the sanctuary, They have violated the Law.

Her prophets are good-for-nothing persons, full of deceit: her priests have made the holy place unclean and have gone violently against the law.

5 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.

The Lord in her is upright; he will not do evil; every morning he lets his righteousness be seen, he is unchanging; but the evil-doer has no sense of shame.

6 “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.

I have had the nations cut off, their towers are broken down; I have made their streets a waste so that no one goes through them: destruction has overtaken their towns, so that there is no man living in them.

7 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.

I said, Certainly you will go in fear of me, and come under my training, so that whatever I may send on her may not be cut off before her eyes: but they got up early and made all their works evil.

8 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.

For this reason, go on waiting for me, says the Lord, till the day when I come up as a witness: for my purpose is to send for the nations and to get the kingdoms together, so that I may let loose on them my passion, even all my burning wrath: for all the earth will be burned up in the fire of my bitter passion.

9 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.

For then I will give the people a clean language, so that they may all make prayer to the Lord and be his servants with one mind.

10 From beyond the rivers of Cush, My supplicants, The daughter of My scattered ones, Bring My present.

From over the rivers of Ethiopia, and from the sides of the north, they will come to me with an offering.

11 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.

In that day you will have no shame on account of all the things in which you did evil against me: for then I will take away from among you those who were lifted up in pride, and you will no longer be lifted up with pride in my holy mountain.

12 And I have left in your midst a people humble and poor, And they have trusted in the Name of YHWH.

But I will still have among you a quiet and poor people, and they will put their faith in the name of the Lord.

13 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.”

The rest of Israel will do no evil and say no false words; the tongue of deceit will not be seen in their mouth: for they will take their food and their rest, and no one will be a cause of fear to them.

14 Cry aloud, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, Rejoice and exult with the whole heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

Make melody, O daughter of Zion; give a loud cry, O Israel; be glad and let your heart be full of joy, O daughter of Jerusalem.

15 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.

The Lord has taken away those who were judging you, he has sent your haters far away: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is among you: you will have no more fear of evil.

16 In that day it is said to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion, Do not let your hands be feeble.

In that day it will be said to Jerusalem, Have no fear: O Zion, let not your hands be feeble.

17 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.”

The Lord your God is among you, as a strong saviour: he will be glad over you with joy, he will make his love new again, he will make a song of joy over you as in the time of a holy feast.

18 “I have gathered My afflicted from the appointed place, They have been bearing reproach from you for her sake.

I will take away your troubles, lifting up your shame from off you.

19 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.

See, at that time I will put an end to all who have been troubling you: I will give salvation to her whose steps are uncertain, and get together her who has been sent in flight; and I will make them a cause of praise and an honoured name in all the earth, when I let their fate be changed.

20 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!

At that time I will make you come in, at that time I will get you together: for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth when I let your fate be changed before your eyes, says the Lord.