Zephaniah 1

1 I am Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, the great-grandson of Amariah, and the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah.
When Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah, the Lord gave me this message.

Judgment on Judah

² I, the Lord, now promise
    to destroy everything
        on this earth—
³ people and animals,
        birds and fish.
    Everyone who is evil
        will crash to the ground,
    and I will wipe out
        the entire human race.
⁴ I will reach out to punish
        Judah and Jerusalem—
    nothing will remain
        of the god Baal;
    nothing will be remembered
        of his pagan priests.
⁵ Not a trace will be found
    of those who worship stars
        from their rooftops,
    or bow down to the god Milcom,
    while claiming loyalty
        to me, the Lord.
⁶ Nothing will remain of anyone
    who has turned away
        and rejected me.

⁷ Be silent! I am the Lord God,
        and the time is near.
    I am preparing
    to sacrifice my people
        and to invite my guests.
⁸ On that day I will punish
    national leaders
        and sons of the king,
    along with all who follow
        foreign customs.
⁹ I will punish worshipers
        of pagan gods
    and cruel palace officials
        who abuse their power.

¹⁰ I, the Lord, promise
        that on that day
    noisy crying will be heard
    from Fish Gate, New Town,
        and Upper Hills.
¹¹ Everyone in Lower Hollow
        will mourn loudly,
    because merchants
    and money changers
        will be wiped out.
¹² I’ll search Jerusalem with lamps
        and punish those people
    who sit there unworried
        while thinking,
    “The Lord won’t do anything,
        good or bad.”
¹³ Their possessions will be taken,
        their homes left in ruins.
    They won’t get to live
        in the houses they build,
    or drink wine from the grapes
        in their own vineyards.

A Terrible Day

¹⁴ The great day of the Lord
        is coming soon, very soon.
    On that terrible day,
    fearsome shouts of warriors
        will be heard everywhere.
¹⁵ It will be a time of anger—
        of trouble and torment,
    of disaster and destruction,
        of darkness and despair,
    of storm clouds and shadows,
¹⁶ of trumpet calls
        and battle cries
    against fortified cities
        and mighty fortresses.

¹⁷ The Lord warns everyone
        who has sinned against him,
    “I’ll strike you blind!
    Then your blood and your insides
        will gush out like vomit.
¹⁸ Not even your silver or gold
    can save you on that day
        when I, the Lord, am angry.
    My anger will flare up
        like a furious fire
    scorching the earth
        and everyone on it.”