1:1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, the son of
 Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of
 Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of
 Judah.
1:2 I will take away everything from the face of the earth, says
 the Lord.
1:3 I will take away man and beast; I will take away the birds
 of the heaven and the fishes of the sea; causing the downfall
 of the evil-doers, and cutting man off from the face of the
 earth, says the Lord.
1:4 And my hand will be stretched out on Judah and on all the
 people of Jerusalem, cutting off the name of the Baal from this
 place, and the name of the false priests,
1:5 And the worshippers of the army of heaven on the house-tops,
 and the Lord's worshippers who take oaths by Milcom,
1:6 And those who are turned back from going after the Lord, and
 those who have not made prayer to the Lord or got directions
 from him.
1:7 Let there be no sound before the Lord God: for the day of
 the Lord is near: for the Lord has made ready an offering, he
 has made his guests holy.
1:8 And it will come about in the day of the Lord's offering,
 that I will send punishment on the rulers and the king's sons
 and all who are clothed in robes from strange lands.
1:9 And in that day I will send punishment on all those who come
 jumping over the doorstep and make their master's house full of
 violent behaviour and deceit.
1:10 And in that day, says the Lord, there will be the sound of
 a cry from the fish doorway, and an outcry from the new town,
 and a great thundering from the hills, and cries of grief from
 the people of the Hollow;
1:11 Because of the downfall of all the people of Canaan: all
 those who were weighted down with silver have been cut off.
1:12 And it will come about at that time, that I will go
 searching through Jerusalem with lights; and I will send
 punishment on the men who have become like wine stored
 over-long, who say to themselves, The Lord will not do good and
 will not do evil.
1:13 And their wealth will be violently taken away, and their
 houses will be made waste: they will go on building houses and
 never living in them, and planting vine-gardens but not
 drinking the wine from them.
1:14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and coming
 very quickly; the bitter day of the Lord is near, coming on
 more quickly than a man of war.
1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and sorrow, a
 day of wasting and destruction, a day of dark night and deep
 shade, a day of cloud and thick dark.
1:16 A day of sounding the horn and the war-cry against the
 walled towns and the high towers.
1:17 And I will send trouble on men so that they will go about
 like the blind, because they have done evil against the Lord:
 and their blood will be drained out like dust, and their
 strength like waste.
1:18 Even their silver and their gold will not be able to keep
 them safe in the day of the Lord's wrath; but all the land will
 be burned up in the fire of his bitter wrath: for he will put
 an end, even suddenly, to all who are living in the land.
2:1 Come together, make everyone come together, O nation without
 shame;
2:2 Before the Lord sends you violently away in flight like the
 waste from the grain; before the burning wrath of the Lord
 comes on you, before the day of the Lord's wrath comes on you.
2:3 Make search for the Lord, all you quiet ones of the earth,
 who have done what is right in his eyes; make search for
 righteousness and a quiet heart: it may be that you will be
 safely covered in the day of the Lord's wrath.
2:4 For Gaza will be given up and Ashkelon will become waste:
 they will send Ashdod out in the middle of the day, and Ekron
 will be uprooted.
2:5 Sorrow to the people living by the sea, the nation of the
 Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, the
 land of the Philistines; I will send destruction on you till
 there is no one living in you.
2:6 And the land by the sea will be grass-land, with houses for
 keepers of sheep and walled places for flocks.
2:7 The land by the sea will be for the rest of the children of
 Judah; by the sea they will give their flocks food: in the
 houses of Ashkelon they will take their rest in the evening;
 for the Lord their God will take them in hand and their fate
 will be changed.
2:8 My ears have been open to the bitter words of Moab and the
 words of shame of the children of Ammon, which they have said
 against my people, lifting themselves up against the limit of
 their land.
2:9 For this cause, by my life, says the Lord of armies, the God
 of Israel, truly Moab will become like Sodom and the children
 of Ammon like Gomorrah, given up to waste plants and salt pools
 and unpeopled for ever: the rest of my people will take their
 property, the overflow of my nation will take their heritage.
2:10 This will be their fate because of their pride, because
 they have said evil, lifting themselves up against the people
 of the Lord of armies.
2:11 The Lord will let himself be seen by them: for he will make
 all the gods of the earth feeble; and men will go down before
 him in worship, everyone from his place, even all the sea-lands
 of the nations.
2:12 And you Ethiopians will be put to death by my sword.
2:13 And his hand will be stretched out against the north, for
 the destruction of Assyria; and he will make Nineveh unpeopled
 and dry like the waste land.
2:14 And herds will take their rest in the middle of her, all
 the beasts of the valley: the pelican and the porcupine will
 make their living-places on the tops of its pillars; the owl
 will be crying in the window; the raven will be seen on the
 doorstep.
2:15 This is the town which was full of joy, living without fear
 of danger, saying in her heart, I am, and there is no other:
 how has she been made waste, a place for beasts to take their
 rest in! everyone who goes by her will make hisses, waving his
 hand.
3:1 Sorrow to her who is uncontrolled and unclean, the cruel
 town!
3:2 She gave no attention to the voice, she had no use for
 teaching, she put no faith in the Lord, she did not come near
 to her God.
3:3 Her rulers are like loud-voiced lions in her; her judges are
 wolves of the evening, crushing up the bones before the
 morning.
3:4 Her prophets are good-for-nothing persons, full of deceit:
 her priests have made the holy place unclean and have gone
 violently against the law.
3:5 The Lord in her is upright; he will not do evil; every
 morning he lets his righteousness be seen, he is unchanging;
 but the evil-doer has no sense of shame.
3:6 I have had the nations cut off, their towers are broken
 down; I have made their streets a waste so that no one goes
 through them: destruction has overtaken their towns, so that
 there is no man living in them.
3:7 I said, Certainly you will go in fear of me, and come under
 my training, so that whatever I may send on her may not be cut
 off before her eyes: but they got up early and made all their
 works evil.
3:8 For this reason, go on waiting for me, says the Lord, till
 the day when I come up as a witness: for my purpose is to send
 for the nations and to get the kingdoms together, so that I may
 let loose on them my passion, even all my burning wrath: for
 all the earth will be burned up in the fire of my bitter
 passion.
3:9 For then I will give the people a clean language, so that
 they may all make prayer to the Lord and be his servants with
 one mind.
3:10 From over the rivers of Ethiopia, and from the sides of the
 north, they will come to me with an offering.
3:11 In that day you will have no shame on account of all the
 things in which you did evil against me: for then I will take
 away from among you those who were lifted up in pride, and you
 will no longer be lifted up with pride in my holy mountain.
3:12 But I will still have among you a quiet and poor people,
 and they will put their faith in the name of the Lord.
3:13 The rest of Israel will do no evil and say no false words;
 the tongue of deceit will not be seen in their mouth: for they
 will take their food and their rest, and no one will be a cause
 of fear to them.
3:14 Make melody, O daughter of Zion; give a loud cry, O Israel;
 be glad and let your heart be full of joy, O daughter of
 Jerusalem.
3:15 The Lord has taken away those who were judging you, he has
 sent your haters far away: the King of Israel, even the Lord,
 is among you: you will have no more fear of evil.
3:16 In that day it will be said to Jerusalem, Have no fear: O
 Zion, let not your hands be feeble.
3:17 The Lord your God is among you, as a strong saviour: he
 will be glad over you with joy, he will make his love new
 again, he will make a song of joy over you as in the time of a
 holy feast.
3:18 I will take away your troubles, lifting up your shame from
 off you.
3:19 See, at that time I will put an end to all who have been
 troubling you: I will give salvation to her whose steps are
 uncertain, and get together her who has been sent in flight;
 and I will make them a cause of praise and an honoured name in
 all the earth, when I let their fate be changed.
3:20 At that time I will make you come in, at that time I will
 get you together: for I will make you a name and a praise among
 all the peoples of the earth when I let your fate be changed
 before your eyes, says the Lord.
