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

‏ Zephaniah 1

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

The Coming Judgment on Judah

2 ^c“I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away ^dman and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and ^ethe fish of the sea,
and ^fthe rubble ^{▼▼Or stumbling blocks (that is, idols)} with the wicked.
I will ^hcut off mankind
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
ⁱand I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 ^jthose who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
^kthose who bow down and swear to the Lord
and yet swear by ^lMilcom,
6 ^mthose who have turned back from following the Lord,
ⁿwho do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

The Day of the Lord Is Near

7 ^oBe silent before the Lord God!
For ^pthe day of the Lord is near;
^qthe Lord has prepared a sacrifice
and ^rconsecrated his guests.
8 And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice—
^s“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons
and ^tall who array themselves in foreign attire.
9 On that day I will punish
everyone ^uwho leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master’s ^{▼▼Or their Lord’s} house
with violence and fraud.
10 “On that day,” declares the Lord,
“a cry will be heard from ^wthe Fish Gate,
^xa wail from ^ythe Second Quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.
11 ^zWail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
For all the traders ^{▼▼Or all the people of Canaan} are no more;
all who weigh out silver are cut off.
12 At that time ^abI will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
^acwho are complacent, ^{▼▼Hebrew are thickening on the dregs [of their wine]}
^aethose who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do ill.’
13 Their goods shall be ^afplundered,
and their houses laid waste.
^agThough they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
^ahthough they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.”
14 ^aiThe great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
^ajthe mighty man cries aloud there.
15 ^akA day of wrath is that day,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ^alruin and devastation,
^ama day of darkness and gloom,
^ana day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 ^aoa day of trumpet blast and battle cry
^apagainst the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
17 ^aqI will bring distress on mankind,
so that they shall walk ^arlike the blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord;
^astheir blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh ^atlike dung.
18 ^auNeither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them
on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
^avIn the fire of his jealousy,
^awall the earth shall be consumed;
^axfor a full and sudden end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.