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ZEPHANIAH
CHAPTER
1
1
¶ The word of the LORD which came unto 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.
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, saith the
LORD.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the
fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off
man from off the face of the ground, saith the LORD.
4 And I will stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, [and] the
name of the Chemarim with the priests;
5 and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that
worship, which swear to the LORD and swear by Malcam;
6 and them that are turned back from following the LORD; and those that have not
sought the LORD, nor inquired after him.
7 ¶ Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is
at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath sanctified his guests.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’S sacrifice, that I will
punish the princes, and the king’s sons, and all such as are clothed with
foreign apparel.
9 And in that day I will punish all those that leap over the threshold, which
fill their master’s house with violence and deceit.
10 And in that day, saith the LORD, there shall be the noise of a cry from the
fish gate, and an howling from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the
hills.
11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone: all
they that were laden with sliver are cut off.
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with
candles; and I will punish the men that are settled on their lees, that say in
their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
13 And their wealth shall become a spoil, and their houses a desolation: yea,
they shall build houses, but shall not inhabit them; and they shall plant
vineyards, but shall not drink the wine thereof.
14 ¶ The great day of the LORD is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, [even]
the voice of the day of the LORD; the mighty man crieth there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness
and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness,
16 a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fenced cities, and against the
high battlements.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men,
because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out
as dust, and their flesh as dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day
of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his
jealousy: for he shall make an end, yea, a terrible end, of all them that dwell
in the land.
CHAPTER
2
1 ¶ Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no
shame;
2 before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass as the chaff, before the
fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger
come upon you.
3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment;
seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the
LORD’S anger.
4 ¶ For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out
Ashdod at the noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The
word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will
destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
6 And the sea coast shall be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for
flocks.
7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed
[their flocks] thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the
evening; for the LORD their God shall visit them, and bring again their
captivity.
8 ¶ I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of
Ammon, wherewith they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves
against their border.
9 Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab
shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of
nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people
shall spoil them, and the remnant of my nation shall inherit them.
10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and
magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the
earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles
of the nations.
12 ¶ Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and
will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.
14 And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations:
both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the chapiters thereof: [their]
voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he
hath laid bare the cedar work.
15 This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am,
and there is none else beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for
beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his
hand.
CHAPTER
3
1 ¶ Woe to her that is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city!
2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the
LORD; she drew not near to her God.
3 Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are evening
wolves; they leave nothing till the morrow.
4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have profaned the
sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
5 The LORD in the midst of her is righteous; he will not do iniquity; every
morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust
knoweth no shame.
6 I have cut off nations, their battlements are desolate; I have made their
streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there
is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive correction; so her
dwelling should not be cut off, [according to] all that I have appointed
concerning her: but they rose early and corrupted all their doings.
8 ¶ Therefore wait ye for me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to
the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the
kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all
the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
9 For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call
upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my
dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast
transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee thy
proudly exulting ones, and thou shalt no more be haughty in my holy mountain.
12 But I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they
shall trust in the name of the LORD.
13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a
deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and
none shall make them afraid.
14 ¶ Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all
the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15 The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the
king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not fear evil
any more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: O Zion, let not
thine hands be slack.
17 The LORD thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty one who will save: he will
rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with
singing.
18 I will gather them that sorrow for the solemn assembly, who were of thee: [to
whom] the burden upon her was a reproach.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee: and I will
save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven away; and I will make them
a praise and a name, whose shame hath been in all the earth.
20 At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you: for I
will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I
bring again your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.
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