Zephaniah 1

1Yahweh's word that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.

2I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the ground, says Yahweh.

3I will take away people and animals; I will take away birds of the sky and fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked; I will cut off mankind from the surface of the ground, says Yahweh.

4I will extend my hand against Judah and against all who dwell in Jerusalem, and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, the name of the Chemarim with the priests.

5and those who bow down on the rooftops to the host of heaven, and those who bow down and swear by Yahweh, and those who swear by Malcam,

6and those who turn back from following Yahweh, and those who have not sought Yahweh nor inquired of him.

7Be silent before the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is near; for Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated those he has called.

8On the day of Yahweh's sacrifice, I will punish the princes, the king's sons, and all those dressed in foreign garments.

9On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, those who fill their masters' house with violence and deceit.

10On that day, declares Yahweh, the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate, howling from the Second Quarter, and a great crash from the hills.

11Howl, you dwellers in Maktesh, for all the merchant people are silenced; all those carrying silver are cut off.

12At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled on their dregs, who say in their hearts, "Yahweh will not do good, nor will he do evil."

13Their wealth will become plunder, and their houses a desolation. They will build houses but not live in them; they will plant vineyards but not drink their wine.

14The great day of Yahweh is near; it is near and hastens very much, the sound of the day of Yahweh—the mighty man cries bitterly there.

15That day, a day of wrath—a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.

16A day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers.

17I will afflict people, and they will walk like the blind because they have sinned against Yahweh, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.

18Neither their silver nor their gold will avail to rescue them on the day of Yahweh's wrath, but the fire of his jealousy will consume the whole land; for he will bring a full end, even a sudden one, upon all who inhabit the land.