Zephaniah Chapter 1

1:1 The word of Yãhweh which was to Şe·phan·yah son of Cushi, son of Ge.dal.yah, son of ’A.mar.yah, son of Ĥiz.qiy.yah, in the days of Yo.shiy·yahu son of ’Amon, king of Ye.hu.dah, 2 “Gathering, I will end all manner of things from upon the face of the ground,” declares Yãhweh. 3 “I will make an end of man and beast; I will make an end of birds of the heavens and fishes of the sea, and the ruins with the wicked; so, I maketh to be cut off: the man (as a class) from the face of the ground,” declares Yãhweh. 4 “And, I will stretch out my hand over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, when I causeth to be cut off from this place the remnant of the Ba‘al, with the name of the idolatrous ones among the priests. 5 “And the ones bowing down upon the housetops to the host of heavens, and the ones bowing down, and swearing to Yãhweh but also swearing by their ruler, 6 and those being backslidden from following Yãhweh, and who have not made to be sought Yãhweh and do not consult him.” 7 Silence before the face of my Lõrd Yãhweh! when the day of Yãhweh is near, when Yãhweh causeth to be fixed a sacrifice, he causeth to be set apart those called by him. 8 “Then it will come about on the day of the Yãhweh’s sacrifice, that I will attend upon the princes, even upon the sons of the ruler, even upon all who clothe themselves with alien clothes. 9 “And I will attend upon all those leaping over the threshold in that day, who fill the house of their master with violence and deceit. 10 “And it be-eth in that day,” declares Yãhweh, “—the voice of an out-cry from the gate of the fishes, a howling from the Second Quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. 11 “Wail, inhabitants of the Mortar, for all the people of Canaan will be silenced; all who weigh out silver will be cut off. 12 “And it will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are stagnant in spirit, who say in their hearts, Yãhweh will not do good or evil!’ 13 “Moreover, their wealth will become plunder, and their houses desolate; yes, they will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but not drink their wine.” 14 Near is the great day of Yãhweh, near and coming very quickly; listen, the day of Yãhweh! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. 15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 A day of trumpet and battle cry, against the fortified cities and the high corner towers. 17 And I will bring distress on men, so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against Yãhweh; and 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 Yãhweh’s wrath; and all the earth will be devoured In the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zephaniah Chapter 2

2:1 Gather yourselves together and gather the nation not being desired2 Before the decree is begotten—(the day of escape goes by like chaff); before the burning anger of Yãhweh comes upon you, before the day of the Yãhweh’s anger comes upon you. 3 Seek Yãhweh, all you afflicted-poor of the earth who have done his judgments; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the Yãhweh’s anger. 4 For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon a desolation; Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted. 5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of Cretians! The word of Yãhweh is upon you, Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you, so that there will be no inhabitant. 6 So the seacoast will be pastures, with caves for shepherds and folds for flocks. 7 And the coast will be For the remnant of the house of Judah, they will pasture on it. In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening; for Yãhweh their Almĩghty will care for them and restore their fortune. 8 “I have heard the taunting of Moab and the revilings of the sons of Ammon, with which they have taunted my people and become arrogant against their territory. 9 “Therefore, as I live,” declares Yãhweh of hosts, the Almĩghty of Israel, “Moab will be as Sodom, and the sons of ‘Ammon as ‘Gomorah— a possession of weeds and salt pits, and a desolation onward of time immemorial, the remnant of my people will plunder them, and the remainder of my nation will possess them.” 10 This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of Yãhweh of hosts. 11 Yãhweh will be terrifying to them, for he will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to him, everyone from his own place. 12 “You also, Ethiopians, will be slain by my sword.” 13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh a desolation, parched like the wilderness. 14 And flocks will lie down in her midst, all beasts which range in herds; both the pelican and the hedgehog will lodge in the tops of her pillars; birds will sing in the window, desolation will be on the threshold; for he has laid bare the cedar work. 15 This is the exultant city which dwells securely, who says in her heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” How she has become a desolation, a resting place for beasts! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and wave his hand in contempt.

Zephaniah Chapter 3

3:1 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the tyrannical city! 2 She heeded no voice; she accepted no instruction. She did not trust in Yãhweh; she did not draw near to her Almĩghty. 3 Her princes within her are roaring lions, her judges are wolves at setting time; they leave nothing for the daybreak. 4 Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men; her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the Law. 5 Yãhweh is righteous within her; he will do no injustice. Every daybreak he brings his justice to light; he does not fail. But the unjust knows no shame. 6 “I have cut off nations; their corner towers are in ruins. I have made their streets desolate, with no one passing by; their cities are laid waste, without a man, without an inhabitant. 7 “I said, ‘Surely you will revere me, accept instruction.’ So her dwelling will not be cut off According to all that I have appointed concerning her. But they were eager to corrupt all their deeds. 8 “Therefore, wait for me,” declares Yãhweh, “For the day when I rise up to the prey. Indeed, my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them my indignation, all my burning anger; for all the earth will be devoured by the fire of my zeal. 9 “For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, that all of them may call on the name of Yãhweh, to serve him shoulder to shoulder. 10 “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my worshipers, my dispersed ones, will bring my offerings. 11 “In that day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proud, exulting ones, and you will never again be haughty on my holy mountain. 12 “But I will leave among you a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the name of Yãhweh. 13 “The remnant of Israel will do no wrong and tell no lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths; for they shall feed and lie down with no one to make them tremble.” 14 Shout for joy, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! 15 Yãhweh has taken away his judgments against you, he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, Yãhweh, is in your midst; you will fear disaster no more. 16 In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, Zion; do not let your hands fall limp. 17 “Yãhweh your Almĩghty is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, he will be quiet in his love, he will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. 18 “I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts— they came from you, Zion; the reproach of exile is a burden on them. 19 “Behold, I am going to deal at that time with all your oppressors, I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will turn their shame into praise and renown In all the earth. 20 “At that time I will bring you in, even at the time when I gather you together; indeed, I will give you renown and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” Says Yãhweh.