Zephaniah 1
1
The Day of the Lord's Wrath
1 #
2 Kgs 22.1—23.30; 2 Chr 34.1—35.27. The word of the Lord which came unto Zephani´ah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedali´ah, the son of Amari´ah, the son of Hizki´ah, in the days of Josi´ah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord. 3I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord. 4I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Ba´al from this place, and the name of the Chem´arim with the priests; 5and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham; 6and them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him.
7Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. 8And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. 9In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.
10And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and a howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. 11Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off. 12And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. 13Therefore, their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
14The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
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Zephaniah 1: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Zephaniah 1
1
1The Lord gave this message to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah.
Coming Judgment against Judah
2“I will sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.
3“I will sweep away people and animals alike.
I will sweep away the birds of the sky and the fish in the sea.
I will reduce the wicked to heaps of rubble,#1:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
and I will wipe humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.
4“I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist
and destroy every last trace of their Baal worship.
I will put an end to all the idolatrous priests,
so that even the memory of them will disappear.
5For they go up to their roofs
and bow down to the sun, moon, and stars.
They claim to follow the Lord,
but then they worship Molech,#1:5 Hebrew Malcam, a variant spelling of Molech; or it could possibly mean their king. too.
6And I will destroy those who used to worship me
but now no longer do.
They no longer ask for the Lord’s guidance
or seek my blessings.”
7Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign Lord,
for the awesome day of the Lord’s judgment is near.
The Lord has prepared his people for a great slaughter
and has chosen their executioners.#1:7 Hebrew has prepared a sacrifice and sanctified his guests.
8“On that day of judgment,”
says the Lord,
“I will punish the leaders and princes of Judah
and all those following pagan customs.
9Yes, I will punish those who participate in pagan worship ceremonies,
and those who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
10“On that day,” says the Lord,
“a cry of alarm will come from the Fish Gate
and echo throughout the New Quarter of the city.#1:10 Or the Second Quarter, a newer section of Jerusalem. Hebrew reads the Mishneh.
And a great crash will sound from the hills.
11Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area,#1:11 Or in the valley, a lower section of Jerusalem. Hebrew reads the Maktesh.
for all the merchants and traders will be destroyed.
12“I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners
to punish those who sit complacent in their sins.
They think the Lord will do nothing to them,
either good or bad.
13So their property will be plundered,
their homes will be ransacked.
They will build new homes
but never live in them.
They will plant vineyards
but never drink wine from them.
14“That terrible day of the Lord is near.
Swiftly it comes—
a day of bitter tears,
a day when even strong men will cry out.
15It will be a day when the Lord’s anger is poured out—
a day of terrible distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,
16a day of trumpet calls and battle cries.
Down go the walled cities
and the strongest battlements!
17“Because you have sinned against the Lord,
I will make you grope around like the blind.
Your blood will be poured into the dust,
and your bodies will lie rotting on the ground.”
18Your silver and gold will not save you
on that day of the Lord’s anger.
For the whole land will be devoured
by the fire of his jealousy.
He will make a terrifying end
of all the people on earth.#1:18 Or the people living in the land.
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