meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Tanakh/Prophets/Zephaniah/English/The Koren Jerusalem Bible.txt"}
text: Zephaniah
  צפניה
  The Koren Jerusalem Bible
  
  
  Zephaniah
  
  
  
  
  
  The word of the Lord which came to Żefanya the son Kushi, the son of Gedalya, the son of Amarya, the son of Ĥizqiyya, in the days of Yoshiyyahu the son of Amon, king of Yehuda.
  I will utterly con-sume all things from off the face of the earth, says the Lord.
  I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the sky, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the earth, says the Lord.
  I will also stretch out my hand upon Yehuda, and upon all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim; and I will cut off the remnant of the Ba῾al from this place, and the name of the idolatrous priests with the priests;
  and those who worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and those who worship, who swear to the Lord, and who yet swear by Malkam;
  and those who are turned back from the Lord: and who have not sought the Lord, nor inquired for him.
  Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord has prepared a festal meal, 
  					he has bid his guests.
  And it shall come to pass on the day of the Lord’s feast, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed in foreign apparel.
  And on the same day I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their masters’ house with violence and deceit.
  And it shall come to pass on 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.
  Wail, you inhabitants of Makhtesh, for all the merchant peoples are undone; all that weigh silver are cut off.
  And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Yerushalayim with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord does neither good, nor evil.
  Therefore their wealth shall become a prey, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine of them.
  The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hastens greatly, the sound of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
  That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.
  A day of shofar and alarm against the fortified cities, and against the high towers.
  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 like dust, and their flesh like dung.
  Nor shall their silver or their gold be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for 
  					he shall make an end, indeed, a frightful end of all that dwell in the land.
  
  
  
  Gather yourselves together, and assemble together, O unfeeling nation;
  before the decree is brought forth, before the day when you pass away like chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.
  Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who have performed his judgment; seek righteousness, seek humility: it may be you shall be hidden in the day of the 
  					Lord’s anger.
  For ῾Azza shall be forsaken, and Ashqelon shall be a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and ῾Eqron shall be rooted up.
  Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Keretim! the word of the Lord is against you; O Kena῾an, the land of the Pelishtim, I will destroy thee, so that there shall be no inhabitant.
  And the sea coast shall be pastures, and meadows for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
  And it shall be an allotment for the remnant of the house of Yehuda; they shall feed there; in the houses of Ashqelon they shall lie down in the evening: for the Lord their 
  					God shall remember them, and restore their captivity.
  I have heard the taunt of Mo᾽av, and the revilings of the children of ῾Ammon, whereby they have taunted my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
  Therefore as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Yisra᾽el, Surely Mo᾽av shall be like Sedom, and the children of ῾Ammon like ῾Amora, the breeding place of nettles, and saltpits, and a desolation for ever: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
  This they shall have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts.
  The Lord will be terrible to them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, everyone from his place, all the islands of the nations.
  You Kushites also, you shall be slain by my sword.
  And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Ashshur; and will make Nineve a desolation, dry like the wilderness.
  And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the little owl and the great owl shall lodge in its capitals; their voice shall sing in the window; desolation shall be in the threshold: for 
  					he has uncovered the cedar work.
  This is the joyful city that dwelt securely, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in: every one that passes by her shall hiss, and gesture with his hand.
  
  
  
  Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
  She did not obey the voice; she did not accept correction; she did not trust in the Lord; she did not draw near to her God.
  Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are wolves at evening; they gnaw no bones in the morning.
  Her prophets are worthless, treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have violently perverted Tora.
  The Lord is just; he is in her midst; he will not do iniquity: every morning he brings 
  					his judgment to light; it does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame.
  I have cut off nations: their pinnacles are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that none passes by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, there is no inhabitant.
  I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt accept correction; then her dwelling would not have been cut off, according to all that I had threatened to bring upon her. However, they were up early and corrupted all their doings.
  Therefore wait for me, says 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 
  					my indignation, all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
  For then I will convert the peoples to a purer language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.
  From beyond the rivers of Kush come my suppliants, the daughters of Pużay, who bring my offering.
  On that day thou shalt not be ashamed for all thy doings, in which thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee those who rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty in 
  					My holy mountain.
  And I will leave in the midst of thee a poor and lowly people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
  The remnant of Yisra᾽el 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.
  Sing, O daughter of Żiyyon; shout, O Yisra᾽el; be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Yerushalayim.
  The Lord has taken away thy judgments, he has cast out thy enemy: the king of Yisra᾽el, the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
  In that day it shall be said to Yerushalayim, Fear thou not: and to Żiyyon, Let not thy hands be slack.
  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 be silent in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
  Those that mourn far away from the festive assembly, do I gather; they were thine, who had borne for thee the burden of insult.
  Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her who limps, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame, who had been put to shame in all the earth.
  At that time will I bring you in, and at that time I will gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all the people of the earth, when I restore your captivity before your eyes, says the Lord.