Zephaniah 3
1 Woe [to] the rebellious and polluted, The oppressing city!
What disaster is coming to corrupted, rebellious Jerusalem, you who oppress people!
2 She hath not hearkened to the voice, She hath not accepted instruction, In Jehovah she hath not trusted, Unto her God she hath not drawn near.
You don't listen to anybody, you don't accept correction, you don't trust in the Lord, you don't ask for God's help.
3 Her heads in her midst [are] roaring lions, Her judges [are] evening wolves, They have not gnawn the bone in the morning.
Your leaders are as greedy as roaring lions; your judges are ravenous wolves that leave nothing behind by morning.
4 Her prophets unstable — men of treachery, Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, They have violated the law.
Your prophets are arrogant, deceitful men who defile what is sacred and who openly break the law.
5 Jehovah [is] righteous in her midst, He doth not do perverseness, Morning by morning His judgment he giveth to the light, It hath not been lacking, And the perverse doth not know shame.
But the Lord who does right is still among you, he does no wrong. Every morning he gives his judgment, every day without fail. But those who act unjustly have no 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 destroyed nations. Their fortresses are deserted; their streets are empty; their cities are destroyed—there are no survivors, not one.
7 I have said: Only, ye do fear Me, Ye do 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 told myself, “Surely they will respect me now and accept my correction. Then their homes would not be destroyed to teach them a lesson.” But instead you're just as eager to go on doing evil.
8 Therefore, wait for Me — an affirmation of Jehovah, For the day of My rising for prey, For My judgment [is] to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them Mine indignation, All the heat of Mine anger, For by the fire of My jealousy consumed is all the earth.
You just wait, declares the Lord. The day is coming when I will rise to give evidence. For I have decided to gather together all the nations and kingdoms and to pour out on them my anger, my fury and my rage. The whole earth will be burned up by the fire of my jealous anger.
9 For then do I turn unto peoples a pure lip, To call all of them by the name of Jehovah, To serve Him [with] one shoulder.
For then I will give the nations pure speech so they can all pray and worship the Lord together.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush, my supplicants, The daughter of My scattered ones, Do bring My present.
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my scattered people, my worshipers, will come to bring their offerings to me.
11 In that day thou art not ashamed because of any of thine actions, Wherewith thou hast transgressed against Me, For then do I turn aside from thy midst The exulting ones of thine excellency, And thou dost add no more to be haughty, In My holy mountain.
On that day you won't be ashamed because of what you did in rebelling against me, for I will remove from among you those who are proud and boastful. Never again will you be conceited on my holy mountain.
12 And I have left in thy midst a people humble and poor, And they have trusted in the name of Jehovah.
I will leave among you those who are meek and humble, those who trust in the name of the Lord.
13 The remnant of Israel do no perversity, nor speak lies, Nor found in their mouth is a deceitful tongue, For they have delight, and have lain down, And there is none troubling.
The people of Israel who remain will not act wickedly nor will they tell lies. They will not deceive one another. They will be able to eat in peace and sleep in safety for there will be nothing to frighten them.
14 Cry aloud, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, Rejoice and exult with the whole heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Sing out, Jerusalem! Shout aloud, Israel! Jerusalem, be happy and celebrate with all your heart!
15 Jehovah hath turned aside thy judgments, He hath faced thine enemy, The king of Israel, Jehovah, [is] in thy midst, Thou seest evil no more.
For the Lord has turned aside from punishing you, and he has turned back your enemies. The Lord, the king of Israel, is with you, and you will never again have to fear disaster.
16 In that day it is said to Jerusalem, 'Fear not, O Zion, let not thy hands be feeble.
On that day the message to the people of Jerusalem will be, “Don't be afraid; don't be discouraged!”
17 Jehovah thy God [is] in thy midst, A mighty one doth save, He rejoiceth over thee with joy, He doth work in His love, He joyeth over thee with singing.'
The Lord your God is among you as a mighty warrior who saves. He will be so happy with you. He will renew his love for you. He will celebrate over you with loud singing.
18 Mine afflicted from the appointed place I have gathered, from thee they have been, Bearing for her sake reproach.
I will gather those of you who mourn for the religious festivals—you will no longer have to bear the disgrace.
19 Lo, I am dealing with all afflicting thee at that time, And I have saved the halting one, And the driven out ones I do gather, And have set them for a praise and for a name, In all the land of their shame.
Look at what I am going to do! At that time I am going to deal with all those who have oppressed you. I will save those who are helpless and bring back those who were scattered, and I will turn their shame into praise, and all the world will respect them.
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 Jehovah!
At that time I will bring you home, gathering you together. I will give you a good reputation, and you will be praised by all the peoples of the earth when I restore your status before your very eyes, says the Lord.
