Zephaniah 1
1
The Lord’s Judgment
1This is the message of the Lord that came through Zephaniah. It came while Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, who was the son of Gedaliah. Gedaliah was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Hezekiah.
2“I will destroy everything
on earth,” says the Lord.
3“I will destroy the people and animals.
I will destroy the birds in the air
and the fish of the sea.
I will ruin the evil people.
I will remove all the people from the earth,” says the Lord.
The Future of Judah
4“I will punish Judah
and all the people living in Jerusalem.
I will remove from this place
all signs of Baal and his priests.
5I will destroy those who worship
the stars from the roofs.# In Bible times houses were built with flat roofs. The roof was used for drying things such as flax and fruit. And it was used as an extra room, as a place for worship and as a place to sleep in the summer.
I will destroy those who worship and make promises
by both the Lord and the god Molech.
6I will destroy those who turned away from the Lord.
They quit following the Lord and consulting him.
7Be silent before the Lord God.
His day for judging people is coming soon.
The Lord has prepared to sacrifice Judah.
He has appointed the invited guests to feast on Judah.
8On that day the Lord will sacrifice Judah.
I, the Lord, will punish the princes and the king’s sons.
And I will punish all
those who wear foreign clothes.
9On that day I will punish those who worship Dagon.
I will punish those who hurt others
and tell lies in the temples of their gods.
10“On that day this will happen,” says the Lord.
“A cry will be heard at the Fish Gate.
A wail will come from the new area of the city.
A loud crash will echo from the hills.
11The people living in the market area will wail.
All the merchants will be dead.
All the silver traders will be gone.
12At that time I, the Lord, will search Jerusalem with lamps.
I will punish those who are settled and satisfied with themselves.
They are like wine left to settle.
They think, ‘The Lord never does anything.
He won’t help us or punish us.’
13Their wealth will be stolen.
Their houses will be destroyed.
They may build houses,
but they will never live in them.
They may plant vineyards,
but they will never drink any wine from them.
The Lord’s Day of Judging
14“The Lord’s day of judging is coming soon.
That great day is near and coming fast.
The cry will be very sad on that day.
Even soldiers will cry.
15That day will be a day of anger.
It will be a day of terror and trouble.
It will be a day of destruction and ruin.
It will be a day of darkness and gloom.
It will be a day of clouds and blackness.
16It will be a day of alarms and battle cries.
‘Attack the strong, walled cities!
Attack the corner towers!’
17I will make life hard on the people.
They will walk around like blind men.
This is because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust.
And their bodies will be dumped like trash.
18On that day God will show his anger.
Then neither their silver nor gold will save them.
The Lord’s anger will be like fire.
And the whole world will be burned up.
Suddenly he will bring an end
to everyone on earth.”
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Zephaniah 1: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Zephaniah 1
1
1 #
2 K 22.1—23.30; 2 Ch 34.1—35.27. I am Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, the great-grandson of Amariah, and the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah.#1.1 Hezekiah: Ruled 716–687 b.c.
When Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah,#1.1 Josiah … king of Judah: Ruled 640–609 b.c. the Lord gave me this message.
Judgment on Judah
2I, the Lord, now promise
to destroy everything
on this earth—
3people and animals,
birds and fish.
Everyone who is evil
will crash to the ground,#1.3 Everyone … ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and I will wipe out
the entire human race.
4I will reach out to punish
Judah and Jerusalem—
nothing will remain
of the god Baal;#1.4 Baal: A Canaanite fertility god.
nothing will be remembered
of his pagan priests.
5Not a trace will be found
of those who worship stars
from their rooftops,
or bow down to the god Milcom,#1.5 Milcom: An Ammonite fertility god.
while claiming loyalty
to me, the Lord.
6Nothing will remain of anyone
who has turned away
and rejected me.
7Be silent! I am the Lord God,
and the time is near.
I am preparing
to sacrifice my people
and to invite my guests.
8On that day I will punish
national leaders
and sons of the king,
along with all who follow
foreign customs.#1.8 follow foreign customs: Hebrew “wear foreign clothes.”
9I will punish worshipers
of pagan gods#1.9 worshipers … gods: The Hebrew text has “all who jump over the threshold,” which was a Philistine religious practice (see 1 Samuel 5.5).
and cruel palace officials
who abuse their power.
10I, the Lord, promise
that on that day
noisy crying will be heard
from Fish Gate, New Town,
and Upper Hills.
11Everyone in Lower Hollow#1.10,11 Fish Gate, New Town, and Upper Hills … Lower Hollow: Names for different sections of Jerusalem: Fish Gate was probably the main gate on the north side of the city; New Town was a newer section; Upper Hills may have been a suburb north of the city; Lower Hollow was probably on the southern edge of town.
will mourn loudly,
because merchants
and money changers
will be wiped out.
12I'll search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those people
who sit there unworried
while thinking,
“The Lord won't do anything,
good or bad.”
13Their possessions will be taken,
their homes left in ruins.
They won't get to live
in the houses they build,
or drink wine from the grapes
in their own vineyards.
A Terrible Day
14The great day of the Lord
is coming soon, very soon.
On that terrible day,
fearsome shouts of warriors
will be heard everywhere.
15It will be a time of anger—
of trouble and torment,
of disaster and destruction,
of darkness and despair,
of storm clouds and shadows,
16of trumpet calls
and battle cries
against fortified cities
and mighty fortresses.
17The Lord warns everyone
who has sinned against him,
“I'll strike you blind!
Then your blood and your insides
will gush out like vomit.
18Not even your silver or gold
can save you on that day
when I, the Lord, am angry.
My anger will flare up
like a furious fire
scorching the earth
and everyone on it.”
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.