Day of Judgment on Judah
1 The word of the Lordwhich came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son ofHezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah:
2 “I will completely consumeandsweep away allthings
From the face of the earth [in judgment],” says the Lord.
3 “I will consumeandsweep away man and beast;
I will consumeandsweep away the birds of the air
And the fish of the sea,
And thestumbling blocks (idols) along with the wicked;
And I will cut offanddestroy man from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “I will also stretch out My hand [in judgment] against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will cut offanddestroy the remnant ofBaal from this place,
And the namesandremembrance of the idolatrous priests along with the [false] priests,
5 And those who bow downandworship the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, and the stars]on their housetops
And those who bow down and swear [oaths] to [and pretend to worship] the Lordand [yet also] swear by [the pagan god called] Milcom [god of the Ammonites],
6 And those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have not sought the Lord[as their most important need] or inquired of Him.”
7 [Hush!] Be silent before the Lord God[there is no acceptable excuse to offer]!
For the day [of the vengeance] of the Lordis near,
For the Lordhas prepared a sacrifice (Judah),
He has set apart [for His use] those who have accepted His invitation [the Chaldeans who rule Babylon].
8 “Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’ssacrifice
That I will punish the princes and the king’s sons
And all who are clothed in [lavish] foreign apparel [reflecting their paganism].
9 “On that day I will also punish all those wholeap over thetemplethreshold,
Who fill their [pagan] lord’s temple with violence and deceit.
10 “On that day,” declares the Lord,
“There will be the sound of crying from the Fish (Damascus) Gate [in the northern wall of Jerusalem where invaders enter]
And wailing from theSecond Quarter [of the city],
And a loud crash from the hills.
11 “Wail [in anguish], you inhabitants of theMortar (Valley of Siloam),
For all the merchants of Canaan will be silencedanddestroyed;
All who weigh out silver will be cut off.
12 “It will come about at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps
And I will punish the men
Who [like old wine] are stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘The Lordwill not do good, nor will He do evil.’
13 “Furthermore, their wealth will become plunder
And their houses a desolation.
Yes, they will build houses but not live in them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”
14 The great [judgment] day of the Lordis near,
Near and coming very quickly.
Listen! The [voice of the] day of the Lord!
The warrior cries out bitterly [unable to fight or to flee].
15 That day is a day of [the outpouring of the] wrath [of God],
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and devastation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of trumpet and the battle cry [of invaders]
Against the fortified cities
And against the high corner towers (battlements).
17 I will bring distress on men
So that they will walk like the blind [unable to find a way of escape],
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
Their blood will be poured out like dust [and trampled underfoot],
And their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
Will be able to rescue them
On the day of the Lord’sindignationandwrath.
And the whole earth will be consumed
In the fire of His jealouswrath,
For He shall make a fullandcomplete end,
Indeed a terrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.