The Book of the Prophet Zephaniah 1 Threats against Judah and Jerusalem

 The Book of the Prophet Zephaniah 1

Threats against Judah and Jerusalem

1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah, son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah.

2 “I will utterly consume everything from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

3 “I will sweep away man and beast; I will consume the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

4 “And I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, and the name of the Chemarins with the priests;

5 And those who bow down on the housetops to the host of heaven; and those who bow down swearing to the Lord, and swear by Malcam;

6 And those who turn away from following the Lord, and those who do not seek the Lord, nor inquire of him.

7 Be silent before the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, and has consecrated his guests.

8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s sons, and all who are clothed in strange apparel.

9 I will also punish in that day all those who leap over the threshold, who fill the house of their masters with violence and deceit.

10 And in that day, says the Lord, there shall be heard a voice of crying from the Fish Gate, and a howling from the Second Quarter, and great breaking forth from the hills.

11 Howl, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are ruined, all those laden with money are destroyed.

12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men that are settled upon their dung, that say in their heart, The Lord will do neither good, nor will he do evil.

13 Therefore shall their substance be plundered, and their houses laid waste: and they shall build houses, but they shall not dwell in them; and they shall plant vineyards, but they shall not drink the wine thereof.

14 The great day of the Lord is at hand, it is at hand, and hastens greatly: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.

16 A day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers,

17 And I will bring distress on mankind, and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s wrath, but in the fire of his zeal the whole earth will be consumed, for he will make a complete and swift end of all the inhabitants of the earth.