1The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:

Warning of Coming Destruction

2“I will sweep away everything

from the face of the earth,”

declares the Lord.

3“I will sweep away both men and animals;

I will sweep away the birds of the air

and the fish of the sea.

The wicked will have only heaps of rubble^a

when I cut off man from the face of the earth,”

declares the Lord.

Against Judah

4“I will stretch out my hand against Judah

and against all who live in Jerusalem.

I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal,

the names of the pagan and the idolatrous priests—

5those who bow down on the roofs

to worship the starry host,

those who bow down and swear by the Lord

and who also swear by Molech,^b

6those who turn back from following the Lord

and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him.

7Be silent before the Sovereign Lord,

for the day of the Lord is near.

The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;

he has consecrated those he has invited.

8On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice

I will punish the princes

and the king’s sons

and all those clad

in foreign clothes.

9On that day I will punish

all who avoid stepping on the threshold,^c

who fill the temple of their gods

with violence and deceit.

10“On that day,” declares the Lord,

“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,

wailing from the New Quarter,

and a loud crash from the hills.

11Wail, you who live in the market district^d;

all your merchants will be wiped out,

all who trade with^e silver will be ruined.

12At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps

and punish those who are complacent,

who are like wine left on its dregs,

who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,

either good or bad.’

13Their wealth will be plundered,

their houses demolished.

They will build houses

but not live in them;

they will plant vineyards

but not drink the wine.

The Great Day of the Lord

14“The great day of the Lord is near—

near and coming quickly.

Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter,

the shouting of the warrior there.

15That day will be 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,

16a day of trumpet and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the corner towers.

17I will bring distress on the people

and they will walk like blind men,

because they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dust

and their entrails like filth.

18Neither their silver nor their gold

will be able to save them

on the day of the Lord’s wrath.

In the fire of his jealousy

the whole world will be consumed,

for he will make a sudden end

of all who live in the earth.”