Zephaniah 1

1 [I am] Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, and the great-grandson of Amariah, whose father was [King] Hezekiah. Yahweh gave this message to me during the time when [King] Amon’s son Josiah was the King of Judah.

[the] word of Yahweh - which it 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 [the] king of Judah.

2 Yahweh says, “I will (sweep away/destroy) everything [HYP] that is on the earth.

Utterly I will bring to an end everything from on [the] surface of the ground [the] utterance of Yahweh.

3 I will sweep away people and animals. I will sweep away birds and fish. I will get rid of wicked people; there will be no more [wicked] [HYP] people on the earth.”

I will bring to an end human being and animal I will bring to an end [the] bird[s] of the heavens and [the] fish of the sea and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked [people] and I will cut off humankind from on [the] surface of the ground [the] utterance of Yahweh.

4 “[These are some of the things that I will do]: I will punish the people who live in Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah. I will destroy everything that has been used in the worship of Baal. I will cause [people] to no longer remember the names of the pagan priests or the [other] priests [who have turned away from me].

And I will stretch out hand my on Judah and on all [the] inhabitants of Jerusalem and I will cut off from the place this [the] remnant of Baal [the] name of the pagan priests with the priests.

5 [I will get rid of] those who go up on the roofs [of their houses] and worship the sun and moon and stars, those who claim that they worship me but [also] worship [their god] Molech.

And those [who] bow down on the roofs to [the] host of the heavens and those [who] bow down those [who] swear an oath to Yahweh and those [who] swear an oath by Milcom.

6 I will get rid of all those who previously worshiped me but no longer do, those who no [longer] seek my [help or ask me to tell them what they should do.”]

And those [who] have turned back from after Yahweh and [those] who not they have sought Yahweh and not they have sought him.

7 Be silent in front of Yahweh the Lord, because it will soon be the time/day when Yahweh [will judge and punish people]. Yahweh has prepared to get rid of [the people of Judah]; they will be like [MET] animals that are slaughtered for sacrifices, and he has chosen [their enemies] to be the ones who will get rid of them.

Hush! from before [the] Lord Yahweh for [is] near [the] day of Yahweh for he has prepared Yahweh a sacrifice he has consecrated invited [ones] his.

8 Yahweh says, “On that day when I will get rid of [the people of Judah], [I will punish] their officials and the king’s sons, and [I will punish] all those who worship foreign gods [MTY].

And it will be on [the] day of [the] sacrifice of Yahweh and I will visit [judgment] on the princes and on [the] sons of the king and on all those [who] are clothed clothing foreign.

9 I will punish those who [show that they revere their god Dagan] by avoiding stepping on the threshold [of his temple], and those who do violent things and tell lies in the temples of their gods.”

And I will visit [judgment] on every [one who] leaps over the threshold on the day that those [who] fill [the] house of lord their violence and deceit.

10 Yahweh [also] says, “On that day, people will cry [out] at the Fish Gate [of Jerusalem]. People will wail in the newer part of the city, and [people will hear] a loud crash [of buildings collapsing] in the hills.

And it will be on the day that [the] utterance of Yahweh [the] sound of a cry of distress from [the] gate of the fish and wailing from the second district and a crashing great from the hills.

11 [So, all you] people who live in the market area [of Jerusalem] should wail, because all those who sell goods and weigh out silver will be slaughtered.

Wail O inhabitants of the Mortar for it will be destroyed all [the] people of Canaan they will be cut off all [the] weighers of silver.

12 [It will be as though] I will light lanterns to search in [dark places in] Jerusalem for those who have become very satisfied with their behavior and complacent [about their sins]. They think that [I], Yahweh, will do nothing to them, neither good things nor bad things.

And it will be at the time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and I will visit [judgment] on the people who are thickening on lees their who are saying in heart their not he will do good Yahweh and not he will do harm.

13 [But I say that] their valuable possessions will be plundered/stolen [by their enemies], and their houses will be destroyed. They will build [new] homes, but they will not live in them; they will plant vineyards, but they will never drink [any] wine [made from grapes that grow there].”

And it will become wealth their plunder and houses their a desolation and they will build houses and not they will dwell [in them] and they will plant vineyards and not they will drink wine their.

14 It will soon be the day/time when Yahweh [will punish people]. It will be here quickly. It will be a time [when people cry] bitterly, a time when [even] brave soldiers will cry loudly.

[is] near [the] day of Yahweh great near and hurrying exceedingly [the] sound of [the] day of Yahweh bitter [is] shouting out there a warrior.

15 It will be a time when [God shows that he is] very angry, a time when [people experience much] distress/suffering and trouble. [It will be] a time [when many things are] ruined and destroyed [DOU]. It will be a time when it is very gloomy and dark [DOU], when the clouds are very black.

[will be] a day of Fury the day that a day of trouble and distress a day of devastation and desolation a day of darkness and gloom a day of cloud and thick darkness.

16 It will be a time when [soldiers] will blow trumpets [to call other soldiers] to battle. [Your enemies] will tear down the walls around your cities and the high towers [at the corners of those walls].

A day of trumpet and battle-cry on the cities fortified and on the corners high.

17 Because you sinned against Yahweh, he will cause you to experience great distress; you will walk [around groping] like [SIM] blind people do. Your blood will flow [from your bodies] like [SIM] water, and your corpses will lie on the ground and rot [SIM].

And I will cause distress to humankind and they will walk like blind [people] for to Yahweh they have sinned and it will be poured out blood their like dust and bowel[s] their like dung.

18 At the time that [Yahweh shows that he] is very angry [with you], you will not be able to save yourselves by [giving] silver or gold [to your enemies]. Because Yahweh (is very jealous/does not want people to worship any other god), he will send a fire to burn up the entire world, and he will suddenly get rid of all the [wicked] people who live on the earth.

Neither silver their nor gold their not it will be able to deliver them on [the] day of [the] fury of Yahweh and in [the] fire of jealousy his it will be consumed all the earth for complete destruction surely a terrible [thing] he will make with all [the] inhabitants of the earth.