Zephaniah 1

1 The word of Yahweh which came unto Zephaniah, son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, —in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.

The word of the LORD which came unto 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 take clean away everything from off the face of the ground, Declareth Yahweh.

I will utterly consume all [things] from off the land, saith the LORD.

3 I will take away man and beast, I will take away the bird of the heavens and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks, even them who are lawless, —and will cut off mankind, from off the face of the ground, Declareth Yahweh.

I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.

4 And I will stretch out my hand—over Judah, and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, —and will cut off out of this place, the name of Baal, the name of the priestlings, with the priests;

I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, [and] the name of the Chemarims with the priests;

5 And them who bow down upon the housetops to the host of the heavens, —and them who bow down—who swear to Yahweh, and swear by Milcom;

And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship [and] that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;

6 And them who turn away from following Yahweh, —and have neither sought Yahweh, nor enquired for him.

And them that are turned back from the LORD; and [those] that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.

7 Hush! at the presence of My Lord, Yahweh, —for, near, is the day of Yahweh, for Yahweh hath prepared his sacrifice, hath hallowed his guests.

Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD [is] at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.

8 And it shall come to pass, in the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice, that I will punish the rulers, and the sons of the king, —and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel;

And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

9 And I will punish every one who leapeth over the threshold, in that day, —those who fill the house of their lords with violence and deceit.

In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

10 And there shall come to be, in that day, declareth Yahweh, The noise of an outcry from the fish-gate, and of a howling out of the new city, —and of a great crashing, from the hills.

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, [that there shall be] the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.

11 Howl, ye inhabitants of the lower city, —because destroyed are all the people of traffic, cut off are all they who were laden with silver.

Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

12 And it shall come to pass, at that time, that I will search through Jerusalem, with lamps, —and will punish the men who are thickened upon their lees, who are saying in their heart, Yahweh, will not give blessing, neither will he bring calamity.

And it shall come to pass at that time, [that] I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

13 Therefore shall their goods become a booty, and their houses, a desolation, —and they shall build houses, but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit [them; ] and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

14 Near is the great day of Yahweh, near, and very speedy, —The noise of the day of Yahweh, a strong man—there!—bitterly crying out!

The great day of the LORD [is] near, [it is] near, and hasteth greatly, [even] the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

15 A day of indignation, —that day! day of danger and distress, day of rush, and of crash, day of obscurity, and deep gloom, day of cloud, and thick darkness;

That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

16 day of horn, and war-shout, —against the fortified cities, and against the high towers.

A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

17 And I will bring distress to mankind, and they shall walk like them who are blind, because, against Yahweh, have they sinned, —and their blood, shall be poured out, as dust, and their bowels like dung.

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

18 Neither their silver nor yet their gold, shall be able to deliver them, in the day of the indignation of Yahweh, but, in the fire of his jealousy, shall the whole earth be consumed; For, a destruction, surely a terrible one, will he make, with all them who dwell in the earth.

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.