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word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gehaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 “I will utterly consume everything
from the face of the earth,”
declares the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away both man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the air
and the fish of the sea,
and the ruined cities along with the wicked.
I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,”
declares the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out My hand against Judah
and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,
the names of the idolatrous priests along with the priests—
5 those who bow down on the roofs
to worship the starry hosts;
those who bow down and swear by the Lord
and who also swear by Milcom,
6 and those who have turned back from following the Lord
and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of Him.
7 Be silent before the Lord God,
for the day of the Lord is near.
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
He has consecrated His guests.
8 “On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials
and the king’s sons
and all those clad
in foreign clothing.
9 On that day I will punish
all who leap over the threshold,
who fill their master’s house
with violence and deceit.
10 “On that day,” declares the Lord,
“an outcry will go up from the Fish Gate,
a wailing from the Second Quarter,
and a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail, you who live in the market district,
for all the merchants will be wiped out;
all those who weigh out the silver will be cut off.
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish the men who are settled and complacent,
who think in their hearts,
‘The Lord will do nothing,
either good or bad’.
13 Their wealth will be plundered,
and their houses laid waste.
They will build houses
but never live in them;
they will plant vineyards
but never drink the wine.
14 “The great day of the Lord is near—
near and rapidly approaching.
Listen! The cries on the day of the Lord will be bitter,
the shouting of the warriors loud.
15 That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of devastation and ruin,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of cloud and blackness,
16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the high towers.
17 “I will bring distress on the people
and they will walk like the blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and the flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.
In the fire of His passion
the whole earth will be consumed,
for He will make a terrible end
of all the inhabitants of the earth.”