Zephaniah 1

1 word LORD which to be to(wards) Zephaniah son: child Cushi son: child Gedaliah son: child Amariah son: child Hezekiah in/on/with day Josiah son: child Amon king Judah

[I am] Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, and the great-grandson of Amariah, whose father was [King] Hezekiah. Yahweh gave this message to me during the time when [King] Amon’s son Josiah was the King of Judah.

2 to gather to cease all from upon face: surface [the] land: planet utterance LORD

Yahweh says, “I will (sweep away/destroy) everything [HYP] that is on the earth.

3 to cease man and animal to cease bird [the] heaven and fish [the] sea and [the] ruins with [the] wicked and to cut: eliminate [obj] [the] man from upon face: surface [the] land: planet utterance LORD

I will sweep away people and animals. I will sweep away birds and fish. I will get rid of wicked people; there will be no more [wicked] [HYP] people on the earth.”

4 and to stretch hand my upon Judah and upon all to dwell Jerusalem and to cut: cut from [the] place [the] this [obj] remnant [the] Baal [obj] name [the] pagan priest with [the] priest

“[These are some of the things that I will do]: I will punish the people who live in Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah. I will destroy everything that has been used in the worship of Baal. I will cause [people] to no longer remember the names of the pagan priests or the [other] priests [who have turned away from me].

5 and [obj] [the] to bow upon [the] roof to/for army [the] heaven and [obj] [the] to bow [the] to swear to/for LORD and [the] to swear in/on/with Milcom

[I will get rid of] those who go up on the roofs [of their houses] and worship the sun and moon and stars, those who claim that they worship me but [also] worship [their god] Molech.

6 and [obj] [the] to turn from after LORD and which not to seek [obj] LORD and not to seek him

I will get rid of all those who previously worshiped me but no longer do, those who no [longer] seek my [help or ask me to tell them what they should do.”]

7 to silence from face: before Lord YHWH/God for near day LORD for to establish: prepare LORD sacrifice to consecrate: consecate to call: call to his

Be silent in front of Yahweh the Lord, because it will soon be the time/day when Yahweh [will judge and punish people]. Yahweh has prepared to get rid of [the people of Judah]; they will be like [MET] animals that are slaughtered for sacrifices, and he has chosen [their enemies] to be the ones who will get rid of them.

8 and to be in/on/with day sacrifice LORD and to reckon: punish upon [the] ruler and upon son: child [the] king and upon all [the] to clothe garment foreign

Yahweh says, “On that day when I will get rid of [the people of Judah], [I will punish] their officials and the king’s sons, and [I will punish] all those who worship foreign gods [MTY].

9 and to reckon: punish upon all [the] to leap upon [the] threshold in/on/with day [the] he/she/it [the] to fill house: home lord their violence and deceit

I will punish those who [show that they revere their god Dagan] by avoiding stepping on the threshold [of his temple], and those who do violent things and tell lies in the temples of their gods.”

10 and to be in/on/with day [the] he/she/it utterance LORD voice cry from gate [the] Fish (Gate) and wailing from [the] Second [Quarter] and breaking great: large from [the] hill

Yahweh [also] says, “On that day, people will cry [out] at the Fish Gate [of Jerusalem]. People will wail in the newer part of the city, and [people will hear] a loud crash [of buildings collapsing] in the hills.

11 to wail to dwell [the] Mortar for to cease all people merchant to cut: eliminate all laden silver: money

[So, all you] people who live in the market area [of Jerusalem] should wail, because all those who sell goods and weigh out silver will be slaughtered.

12 and to be in/on/with time [the] he/she/it to search [obj] Jerusalem in/on/with lamp and to reckon: punish upon [the] human [the] to congeal upon dreg their [the] to say in/on/with heart their not be good LORD and not be evil

[It will be as though] I will light lanterns to search in [dark places in] Jerusalem for those who have become very satisfied with their behavior and complacent [about their sins]. They think that [I], Yahweh, will do nothing to them, neither good things nor bad things.

13 and to be strength: rich their to/for plunder and house: home their to/for devastation and to build house: home and not to dwell and to plant vineyard and not to drink [obj] wine their

[But I say that] their valuable possessions will be plundered/stolen [by their enemies], and their houses will be destroyed. They will build [new] homes, but they will not live in them; they will plant vineyards, but they will never drink [any] wine [made from grapes that grow there].”

14 near day LORD [the] great: large near and quick much voice: sound day LORD bitter to cry there mighty man

It will soon be the day/time when Yahweh [will punish people]. It will be here quickly. It will be a time [when people cry] bitterly, a time when [even] brave soldiers will cry loudly.

15 day fury [the] day [the] he/she/it day distress and distress day devastation and desolation day darkness and darkness day cloud and cloud

It will be a time when [God shows that he is] very angry, a time when [people experience much] distress/suffering and trouble. [It will be] a time [when many things are] ruined and destroyed [DOU]. It will be a time when it is very gloomy and dark [DOU], when the clouds are very black.

16 day trumpet and shout upon [the] city [the] to gather/restrain/fortify and upon [the] corner [the] high

It will be a time when [soldiers] will blow trumpets [to call other soldiers] to battle. [Your enemies] will tear down the walls around your cities and the high towers [at the corners of those walls].

17 and to constrain to/for man and to go: walk like/as blind for to/for LORD to sin and to pour: pour blood their like/as dust and intestine their like/as dung

Because you sinned against Yahweh, he will cause you to experience great distress; you will walk [around groping] like [SIM] blind people do. Your blood will flow [from your bodies] like [SIM] water, and your corpses will lie on the ground and rot [SIM].

18 also silver: money their also gold their not be able to/for to rescue them in/on/with day fury LORD and in/on/with fire jealousy his to eat all [the] land: country/planet for consumption surely to dismay to make with all to dwell [the] land: country/planet

At the time that [Yahweh shows that he] is very angry [with you], you will not be able to save yourselves by [giving] silver or gold [to your enemies]. Because Yahweh (is very jealous/does not want people to worship any other god), he will send a fire to burn up the entire world, and he will suddenly get rid of all the [wicked] people who live on the earth.