Zephaniah 3:1-13

Doomed is the filthy and foul city— the city of oppression! Her people do not listen to the voice of God and will not accept correction. They do not trust in YAHWEH anymore and do not want a close relationship with their God. Her rulers are roaring lions, and her judges are ravenous wolves who hunt in the evening, too greedy to leave even a bone till the morning. Her prophets are proud, reckless impostors. Her priests profane the holy place and openly break the Law. In spite of all this, YAHWEH the Righteous resides in Jerusalem, and all he does is just and true. Morning by morning, he brings justice to light, and day by day, he never fails. Yet the wicked are shameless. YAHWEH “I have destroyed proud nations and toppled their high towers. I filled their streets with rubble so no one walks through them. Their cities have been demolished. Everyone is gone. Not one is left. I thought, ‘Certainly, now you will revere me. Now you will yield to my correction.’ Then I would not need to punish them again and destroy their homes. But no, they were just as eager to do whatever was evil. “So wait patiently for me,” declares YAHWEH. “Wait for the day when I rise to seize the prey. For I have determined to gather the nations and assemble the kingdoms so that they will experience my fury and know how great my anger is. For the land will be consumed by the fire of my avenging zeal.” “For then I will change the impure speech of all the people to the pure speech of praise so that all may worship my name together and serve me shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my worshipers from distant lands will bring me gifts.” “When that day comes, you will never again be put to shame over your former acts of rebellion. For I will remove from your midst all who are arrogant and who boast in their self-importance. You will never again strut about in pride on my holy mountain. But I will leave a remnant among you: a humble and lowly people who will find their hiding place in the beautiful name of YAHWEH. They will do no wrong and only speak the truth, nor will they use any form of deceit. They will be content like grazing sheep. They will rest, and no one will frighten them.”