Online Bible in Modern English The Book of the Twelve Zephaniah
Coming Day of the Lord’s Judgment on Judah *Outline Headers are added as a study aid only, and should not be considered as part of the actual Biblical text
The word of Yahweh Yahweh is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.
I will utterly sweep away everything
off of the surface of the
earth, says Yahweh.
I will sweep away man and animal.
I will sweep away the birds of
the sky,
the fish of the sea,
and the heaps of rubble with the
wicked.
I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says
Yahweh.
I will stretch out my hand against Judah,
and against all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will cut off the remnant of Baal
from this place:
the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests,
those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops,
those
who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam,
those who have turned back from following Yahweh,
and those who
haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.
Be silent at the presence of the Lord
The Hebrew word translated “Lord” is “Adonai”
Yahweh,
for the day of Yahweh is at hand.
For Yahweh has
prepared a sacrifice.
He has consecrated his guests.
It will happen in the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice,
that I will
punish the princes, the king’s sons,
and all those who are
clothed with foreign clothing.
In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the
threshold,
who fill their master’s house with violence and
deceit.
In that day, says Yahweh,
there will be the noise of a cry from
the fish gate,
a wailing from the second quarter,
and a great
crashing from the hills.
Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh,
for all the people of Canaan
are undone!
All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.
It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with
lamps,
and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs,
who say in their heart,
“Yahweh will not do good, neither will
he do evil.”
Their wealth will become a spoil,
and their houses a desolation.
Yes, they will build houses,
but won’t inhabit them.
They will
plant vineyards,
but won’t drink their wine.
The great day of Yahweh is near.
It is near, and hurries
greatly,
the voice of the day of Yahweh.
The mighty man cries
there bitterly.
That day is a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day
of trouble and ruin,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of
clouds and blackness,
a day of the trumpet and alarm,
against the fortified cities,
and against the high battlements.
I will bring distress on men,
that they will walk like blind
men,
because they have sinned against Yahweh,
and their blood
will be poured out like dust,
and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to deliver them
in the day of Yahweh’s wrath,
but the whole land will be
devoured
by the fire of his jealousy;
for he will make an end,
yes, a terrible end,
of all those who dwell in the land.
A Call to Repentance
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together,
you nation
that has no shame,
before the appointed time
when the day passes as the chaff,
before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you,
before the day
of Yahweh’s anger comes on you.
Seek Yahweh,
all you humble of the land,
who have kept his
ordinances.
Seek righteousness. Seek humility.
It may be that
you will be hidden
in the day of Yahweh’s anger.
Coming Judgment on Judah’s Enemies
For Gaza will be forsaken,
and Ashkelon a desolation.
They will
drive out Ashdod at noonday,
and Ekron will be rooted up.
Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast,
the nation of the
Cherethites!
The word of Yahweh is against you,
Canaan, the land
of the Philistines.
I will destroy you,
that there will be no
inhabitant.
The sea coast will be pastures,
with cottages for shepherds and
folds for flocks.
The coast will be
for the remnant of the house of Judah.
They
will find pasture.
In the houses of Ashkelon,
they will lie down
in the evening,
for Yahweh, their God
The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “Elohim”, will
visit them,
and restore them.
I have heard the reproach of Moab,
and the insults of the
children of Ammon,
with which they have reproached my people,
and magnified themselves against their border.
Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies,
the God of Israel,
surely Moab will be as Sodom,
and the children of Ammon as
Gomorrah,
a possession of nettles, and salt pits,
and a
perpetual desolation.
The remnant of my people will plunder
them,
and the survivors of my nation will inherit them.
This they will have for their pride,
because they have
reproached and magnified themselves
against the people of Yahweh
of Armies.
Yahweh will be awesome to them,
for he will famish all the gods
of the land.
Men will worship him, everyone from his place,
even
all the shores of the nations.
You Cushites also,
you will be killed by my sword.
He will stretch out his hand against the north,
destroy Assyria,
and will make Nineveh a desolation,
as dry as the wilderness.
Herds will lie down in the midst of her,
all the animals of the
nations.
Both the pelican and the porcupine
will lodge in its
capitals.
Their calls will echo through the windows.
Desolation
will be in the thresholds,
for he has laid bare the cedar beams.
This is the joyous city that lived carelessly,
that said in her
heart,
“I am, and there is none besides me.”
How she has become
a desolation,
a place for animals to lie down in!
Everyone who
passes by her
will hiss, and shake their fists.
Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
the oppressing city!
She didn’t obey the voice.
She didn’t receive correction.
She
didn’t trust in Yahweh.
She didn’t draw near to her God.
Her princes in the midst of her
are roaring lions.
Her judges
are evening wolves.
They leave nothing until the next day.
Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people.
Her priests
have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the law.
Yahweh, in the midst of her,
is righteous.
He will do no wrong.
Every morning he brings his justice to light.
He doesn’t fail,
but the unjust know no shame.
I have cut off nations.
Their battlements are desolate.
I have
made their streets waste,
so that no one passes by.
Their cities
are destroyed,
so that there is no man,
so that there is no
inhabitant.
I said, “Just fear me.
Receive correction,
so that her dwelling
won’t be cut off,
according to all that I have appointed
concerning her.”
But they rose early
and corrupted all their
doings.
“Therefore wait for me,” says Yahweh,
“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 on them my
indignation,
even all my fierce anger,
for all the earth will be
devoured
with the fire of my jealousy.
Future Conversion of the Nations
For then I will purify the lips of the peoples,
that they may
all call on the name of Yahweh,
to serve him shoulder to
shoulder.
From beyond the rivers of Cush,
my worshipers, even the daughter
of my dispersed people,
will bring my offering.
In that day you will not be disappointed
for all your doings, in
which you have transgressed against me;
for then I will take
away out of the midst of you
your proudly exulting ones,
and you
will no more be haughty
in my holy mountain.
But I will leave in the midst of you
an afflicted and poor
people,
and they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh.
The remnant of Israel
will not do iniquity,
nor speak lies,
neither will a deceitful tongue
be found in their mouth,
for
they will feed and lie down,
and no one will make them afraid.”
Israel’s Future Joyous Restoration
Sing, daughter of Zion!
Shout, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with
all your heart,
daughter of Jerusalem.
Yahweh has taken away your judgments.
He has thrown out your
enemy.
The King of Israel, Yahweh, is in the midst of you.
You
will not be afraid of evil any more.
In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem,
“Don’t be afraid,
Zion.
Don’t let your hands be weak.”
Yahweh, your God, is in the midst of you,
a mighty one who will
save.
He will rejoice over you with joy.
He will calm you in his
love.
He will rejoice over you with singing.
I will remove those who grieve about the appointed feasts from
you.
They are a burden and a reproach to you.
Behold, at that time I will deal
with all those who afflict you,
and I will save those who are lame,
and gather those who were
driven away.
I will give them praise and honor,
whose shame has
been in all the earth.
At that time will I bring you in,
and at that time will I gather
you;
for I will give you honor and praise
among all the peoples
of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes,
says Yahweh.