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  Zephaniah

1 The word of Jehovah which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Ged-a-li-ah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Jo-si-ah the son of Amon, king of Judah. ²I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, says Jehovah. ³I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the ground, says Jehovah. ⁴And I will stretch out my hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarim with the priests; ⁵and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship, that swear to Jehovah and swear by Malcam; ⁶and them that are turned back from following Jehovah; and those that have not sought Jehovah, nor inquired after him.

⁷Hold your peace at the presence of the Lord Jehovah; for the day of Jehovah is at hand: for Jehovah has prepared a sacrifice, he has consecrated his guests. ⁸And it shall come to pass in the day of Jehovah’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s sons, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel. ⁹And in that day I will punish all those that leap over the threshold, that fill their master’s house with violence and deceit. ¹⁰And in that day, says Jehovah, there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. ¹¹Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh; for all the people of Canaan are undone; all they that were laden with silver are cut off. ¹²And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps; and I will punish the men that are settled on their lees, that say in their heart, Jehovah will not do good, neither will he do evil. ¹³And their wealth shall become a plunder, and their houses a desolation: yes, they shall build houses, but shall not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink the wine thereof.

¹⁴The great day of Jehovah is near, it is near and hastens greatly, even the voice of the day of Jehovah; the mighty man cries there bitterly. ¹⁵That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, ¹⁶a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements. ¹⁷And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung. ¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all them that dwell in the land.

2 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O nation that has no shame; ²before the decree is brought forth, before the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah comes upon you, before the day of Jehovah’s anger comes upon you. ³Seek Jehovah, all you meek of the earth, that have kept his ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be you will be hid in the day of Jehovah’s anger.

⁴For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ash-ke-lon a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up. ⁵Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast, the nation of the Cher-eth-ites! The word of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will destroy you, that there shall be no inhabitant. ⁶And the sea-coast shall be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks. ⁷And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed their flocks thereupon; in the houses of Ash-ke-lon shall they lie down in the evening; for Jehovah their God will visit them, and bring back their captivity.

⁸I have heard the reproach of Mo-ab, and the revilings of the children of Am-mon, wherewith they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. ⁹Therefore as I live, says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Mo-ab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Am-mon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall make a prey of them, and the remnant of my nation shall inherit them. ¹⁰This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah of hosts. ¹¹Jehovah will be terrible unto them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the nations.

¹²You E-thi-o-pi-ans also, you shall be slain by my sword. ¹³And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness. ¹⁴And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the capitals thereof; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he has laid bare the cedar-work. ¹⁵This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passes by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.

3 Woe to her that is rebellious and polluted! to the oppressing city! ²She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in Jehovah; she drew not near to her God. ³Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they leave nothing till the morrow. ⁴Her prophets are light and treacherous persons; her priests have profaned the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. ⁵Jehovah in the midst of her is righteous; he will not do iniquity; every morning does he bring his justice to light, he fails not; but the unjust knows no shame. ⁶I have cut off nations; their battlements are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that none passes by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant. ⁷I said, Only fear me; receive correction; so her dwelling shall not be cut off, according to all that I have appointed concerning her: but they rose early and corrupted all their doings.

⁸Therefore wait for me, says Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them my indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. ⁹For then will I turn to the peoples of a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent. ¹⁰From beyond the rivers of E-thi-o-pi-a my worshipers, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring my offering. ¹¹In that day shall you not be put to shame for all your doings, wherein you have transgressed against me; for then I will take away out of the midst of you your proudly exulting ones, and you shall no more be haughty in my holy mountain. ¹²But I will leave in the midst of you an afflicted and poor people, and they shall take refuge in the name of Jehovah. ¹³The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.