Zephaniah 1

The word of God that was to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 “Removing, I will exterminate everything from upon the face of the ground”—the declaration of God. 3 “I will take away man and beast; I will take away the birds of the skies and the fish of the sea and the stumbling blocks with the wicked, and I will cut off man from upon the face of the ground” —the declaration of God. \* 4 “And I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all of the ones living in Jerusalem, and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, the name of the idol-priests with the priests, 5 and the ones bowing down on the housetops to the army of the skies, and the ones bowing down, swearing to God but swearing by their king, 6 and the ones turning back from after God, and who do not search for God and do not seek him.” \* 7 Hush from the face of Lord God, for the day of God {is} near. For God has prepared a sacrifice, he has sanctified his invited ones. 8 “And it will happen on the day of the sacrifice of God that I will visit upon the princes and upon the sons of the king and upon all the ones wearing foreign clothing, 9 and on that day I will visit upon all the ones leaping over the threshold, the ones filling the house of their lords {with} violence and fraud. \* 10 And it will happen on that day” —the declaration of God— “the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate and a wailing from the Second {District} and a great ruin from the hills. 11 Wail, inhabitants of the Maktesh, for all of the people of Canaan will be destroyed, all of the ones weighing silver will be cut off. \* 12 And it will happen at that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will visit upon the men thickening on their sediment, the ones saying in their heart, ‘God will not do good, and he will not do bad,’ 13 and their wealth will become plunder and their houses a ruin, and they will build houses, but they will not inhabit {them}, and they will plant vineyards, but they will not drink their wine. \* 14 The great day of God {is} near, near and hastening quickly! The sound of the day of God {is} bitter; the warrior cries out then! 15 That day {will be} a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and overcast, 16 a day of horn and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the high corners. \* 17 For I will bring distress to man, and they will walk like the blind, for they have sinned against God. And their blood will be poured out like dust, and their innards like dung. 18 Even their silver, even their gold, will not be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of God.” For in the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be consumed. For he will make all of the inhabitants of the earth a consummation, indeed, a hastened one. \*