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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Zephaniah 1: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Tsephanyah (Zephaniah) 1
1
1The word of יהוה which came to Tsephanyah son of Kushi, son of Geḏalyah, son of Amaryah, son of Ḥizqiyah, in the days of Yoshiyahu son of Amon, sovereign of Yehuḏah.
2“I shall snatch away all from the face of the earth,” declares יהוה –
3“I snatch away man and beast, I snatch away the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks, with the wrong, when I shall cut off man from the face of the earth,” declares יהוה.
4“And I shall stretch out My hand against Yehuḏah, and against all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, and cut off every trace of Ba‛al from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests, with the priests,
5and those bowing down to the host of the heavens on the house-tops, and those bowing themselves, swearing by יהוה and swearing by Malkam;
6and those who turn away from following יהוה, and who have not sought יהוה or inquired of Him.”
7Hush! in the presence of the Master יהוה. For the day of יהוה is near, for יהוה has prepared a slaughter, He has set apart His invited ones.
8“And it shall be, in the day of the slaughter of יהוה, that I shall punish the rulers and the sons of the sovereign, and all such as are clad in foreign garments.
9“And I shall punish on that day all who leap over the threshold, who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
10“And on that day there shall be,” declares יהוה, “the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate, and of a howling from the Second Quarter, and of a great crashing from the hills.
11“Howl, you inhabitants of Maḵtĕsh, for all the merchant people shall be silenced, all those weighing out silver shall be cut off.
12“And at that time it shall be, that I search Yerushalayim with lamps and punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, ‘יהוה does no good, nor does He evil.’
13“And their wealth shall become plunder, and their houses laid waste. And they shall build houses but not inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”
14Near is the great day of יהוה, near and hurrying greatly, the noise of the day of יהוה. Let the mighty man then bitterly cry out!
15That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and trouble, a day of waste and ruin, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16a day of a shophar and sounding – against the walled cities and against the corner towers.
17“And I shall bring distress on men, and they shall walk like blind men – because they have sinned against יהוה, and their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.”
18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of יהוה. And by the fire of His jealousy all the earth shall be consumed, for He makes a sudden end of all those who dwell in the earth.
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