Destruction of All

1The 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.

2I will utterly consume all things from off the land, says the LORD.

3I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, says the LORD.

Judgment Against Judah

4I will also stretch out my 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 idolatrous and pagan priests;

5And those that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and those that worship and that swear by the LORD, and yet swear by Milcom;

6And those that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him.

7Hold your peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, he has bidden his guests.

8And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.

9In the same day also will I punish all those that leap over the threshold, who fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.

10And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.

11Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that trade with silver are cut off.

12And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men that are settled in their complacency: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

13Therefore their goods shall become booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine.

The Great Day of the LORD

14The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hastens quickly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: there the mighty man shall cry out bitterly.

15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

16A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities, and against the high towers.

17And 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 like refuse.

18Neither 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 even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.