1:1 The word of the 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.

1:2 I will take away everything from the face of the earth, says

the Lord.

1:3 I will take away man and beast; I will take away the birds

of the heaven and the fishes of the sea; causing the downfall

of the evil-doers, and cutting man off from the face of the

earth, says the Lord.

1:4 And my hand will be stretched out on Judah and on all the

people of Jerusalem, cutting off the name of the Baal from this

place, and the name of the false priests,

1:5 And the worshippers of the army of heaven on the house-tops,

and the Lord's worshippers who take oaths by Milcom,

1:6 And those who are turned back from going after the Lord, and

those who have not made prayer to the Lord or got directions

from him.

1:7 Let there be no sound before the Lord God: for the day of

the Lord is near: for the Lord has made ready an offering, he

has made his guests holy.

1:8 And it will come about in the day of the Lord's offering,

that I will send punishment on the rulers and the king's sons

and all who are clothed in robes from strange lands.

1:9 And in that day I will send punishment on all those who come

jumping over the doorstep and make their master's house full of

violent behaviour and deceit.

1:10 And in that day, says the Lord, there will be the sound of

a cry from the fish doorway, and an outcry from the new town,

and a great thundering from the hills, and cries of grief from

the people of the Hollow;

1:11 Because of the downfall of all the people of Canaan: all

those who were weighted down with silver have been cut off.

1:12 And it will come about at that time, that I will go

searching through Jerusalem with lights; and I will send

punishment on the men who have become like wine stored

over-long, who say to themselves, The Lord will not do good and

will not do evil.

1:13 And their wealth will be violently taken away, and their

houses will be made waste: they will go on building houses and

never living in them, and planting vine-gardens but not

drinking the wine from them.

1:14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and coming

very quickly; the bitter day of the Lord is near, coming on

more quickly than a man of war.

1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and sorrow, a

day of wasting and destruction, a day of dark night and deep

shade, a day of cloud and thick dark.

1:16 A day of sounding the horn and the war-cry against the

walled towns and the high towers.

1:17 And I will send trouble on men so that they will go about

like the blind, because they have done evil against the Lord:

and their blood will be drained out like dust, and their

strength like waste.

1:18 Even their silver and their gold will not be able to keep

them safe in the day of the Lord's wrath; but all the land will

be burned up in the fire of his bitter wrath: for he will put

an end, even suddenly, to all who are living in the land.

2:1 Come together, make everyone come together, O nation without

shame;

2:2 Before the Lord sends you violently away in flight like the

waste from the grain; before the burning wrath of the Lord

comes on you, before the day of the Lord's wrath comes on you.

2:3 Make search for the Lord, all you quiet ones of the earth,

who have done what is right in his eyes; make search for

righteousness and a quiet heart: it may be that you will be

safely covered in the day of the Lord's wrath.

2:4 For Gaza will be given up and Ashkelon will become waste:

they will send Ashdod out in the middle of the day, and Ekron

will be uprooted.

2:5 Sorrow to the people living by the sea, the nation of the

Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, the

land of the Philistines; I will send destruction on you till

there is no one living in you.

2:6 And the land by the sea will be grass-land, with houses for

keepers of sheep and walled places for flocks.

2:7 The land by the sea will be for the rest of the children of

Judah; by the sea they will give their flocks food: in the

houses of Ashkelon they will take their rest in the evening;

for the Lord their God will take them in hand and their fate

will be changed.

2:8 My ears have been open to the bitter words of Moab and the

words of shame of the children of Ammon, which they have said

against my people, lifting themselves up against the limit of

their land.

2:9 For this cause, by my life, says the Lord of armies, the God

of Israel, truly Moab will become like Sodom and the children

of Ammon like Gomorrah, given up to waste plants and salt pools

and unpeopled for ever: the rest of my people will take their

property, the overflow of my nation will take their heritage.

2:10 This will be their fate because of their pride, because

they have said evil, lifting themselves up against the people

of the Lord of armies.

2:11 The Lord will let himself be seen by them: for he will make

all the gods of the earth feeble; and men will go down before

him in worship, everyone from his place, even all the sea-lands

of the nations.

2:12 And you Ethiopians will be put to death by my sword.

2:13 And his hand will be stretched out against the north, for

the destruction of Assyria; and he will make Nineveh unpeopled

and dry like the waste land.

2:14 And herds will take their rest in the middle of her, all

the beasts of the valley: the pelican and the porcupine will

make their living-places on the tops of its pillars; the owl

will be crying in the window; the raven will be seen on the

doorstep.

2:15 This is the town which was full of joy, living without fear

of danger, saying in her heart, I am, and there is no other:

how has she been made waste, a place for beasts to take their

rest in! everyone who goes by her will make hisses, waving his

hand.

3:1 Sorrow to her who is uncontrolled and unclean, the cruel

town!

3:2 She gave no attention to the voice, she had no use for

teaching, she put no faith in the Lord, she did not come near

to her God.

3:3 Her rulers are like loud-voiced lions in her; her judges are

wolves of the evening, crushing up the bones before the

morning.

3:4 Her prophets are good-for-nothing persons, full of deceit:

her priests have made the holy place unclean and have gone

violently against the law.

3:5 The Lord in her is upright; he will not do evil; every

morning he lets his righteousness be seen, he is unchanging;

but the evil-doer has no sense of shame.

3:6 I have had the nations cut off, their towers are broken

down; I have made their streets a waste so that no one goes

through them: destruction has overtaken their towns, so that

there is no man living in them.

3:7 I said, Certainly you will go in fear of me, and come under

my training, so that whatever I may send on her may not be cut

off before her eyes: but they got up early and made all their

works evil.

3:8 For this reason, go on waiting for me, says the Lord, till

the day when I come up as a witness: for my purpose is to send

for the nations and to get the kingdoms together, so that I may

let loose on them my passion, even all my burning wrath: for

all the earth will be burned up in the fire of my bitter

passion.

3:9 For then I will give the people a clean language, so that

they may all make prayer to the Lord and be his servants with

one mind.

3:10 From over the rivers of Ethiopia, and from the sides of the

north, they will come to me with an offering.

3:11 In that day you will have no shame on account of all the

things in which you did evil against me: for then I will take

away from among you those who were lifted up in pride, and you

will no longer be lifted up with pride in my holy mountain.

3:12 But I will still have among you a quiet and poor people,

and they will put their faith in the name of the Lord.

3:13 The rest of Israel will do no evil and say no false words;

the tongue of deceit will not be seen in their mouth: for they

will take their food and their rest, and no one will be a cause

of fear to them.

3:14 Make melody, O daughter of Zion; give a loud cry, O Israel;

be glad and let your heart be full of joy, O daughter of

Jerusalem.

3:15 The Lord has taken away those who were judging you, he has

sent your haters far away: the King of Israel, even the Lord,

is among you: you will have no more fear of evil.

3:16 In that day it will be said to Jerusalem, Have no fear: O

Zion, let not your hands be feeble.

3:17 The Lord your God is among you, as a strong saviour: he

will be glad over you with joy, he will make his love new

again, he will make a song of joy over you as in the time of a

holy feast.

3:18 I will take away your troubles, lifting up your shame from

off you.

3:19 See, at that time I will put an end to all who have been

troubling you: I will give salvation to her whose steps are

uncertain, and get together her who has been sent in flight;

and I will make them a cause of praise and an honoured name in

all the earth, when I let their fate be changed.

3:20 At that time I will make you come in, at that time I will

get you together: for I will make you a name and a praise among

all the peoples of the earth when I let your fate be changed

before your eyes, says the Lord.