Zephaniah 3

Woe to Oppressive Jerusalem

1 Woe to the city that is rebellious and defiled,
the oppressive city!
2 She has not obeyed;
she has not accepted discipline.
She has not trusted in Yahweh;
she has not drawn near to her God.
3 The princes within her are roaring lions;
her judges are wolves of the night,
which leave nothing for the morning.
4 Her prophets are reckless-
treacherous men.
Her priests profane the sanctuary;
they do violence to instruction.

5 The righteous Lord is in her;
He does no wrong.
He applies His justice morning by morning;
He does not fail at dawn,
yet the one who does wrong knows no shame.

6 I have cut off nations;
their corner towers are destroyed.
I have laid waste their streets,
with no one to pass through.
Their cities lie devastated,
without a person, without an inhabitant.
7 I thought: You will certainly fear Me
and accept correction.
Then her dwelling place
would not be cut off
[based on] all that I had allocated to her.
However, they became more corrupt
in all their actions.

8 Therefore, wait for Me-
[this is] the Lord's declaration-
until the day I rise up for plunder.
For My decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
in order to pour out My indignation on them,
all My burning anger;
for the whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of My jealousy.

Final Restoration Promised

9 For I will then restore
pure speech to the peoples
so that all of them may call
on the name of Yahweh
and serve Him with a single purpose.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
My supplicants, My dispersed people,
will bring an offering to Me.
11 On that day you will not be put to shame
because of everything you have done
in rebelling against Me.
For then I will remove
your proud, arrogant people from among you,
and you will never again be haughty
on My holy mountain.
12 I will leave
a meek and humble people among you,
and they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh.

13 The remnant of Israel will no longer
do wrong or tell lies;
a deceitful tongue will not be found
in their mouths.
But they will pasture and lie down,
with nothing to make [them] afraid.

14 Sing for joy, Daughter Zion;
shout loudly, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all [your] heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has removed your punishment;
He has turned back your enemy.
The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you;
you need no longer fear harm.
16 On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
"Do not fear;
Zion, do not let your hands grow weak.

17 Yahweh your God is among you,
a warrior who saves.
He will rejoice over you with gladness.
He will bring [you] quietness with His love.
He will delight in you with shouts of joy."

18 I will gather those who have been driven
from the appointed festivals;
[they will be] a tribute from you
and a reproach [on her].
19 Yes, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you.
I will save the lame and gather the scattered;
I will make those who were disgraced
throughout the earth
receive praise and fame.
20 At that time I will bring you back,
yes, at the time I will gather you.
I will give you fame and praise
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes.
Yahweh has spoken.

Zephaniah 3

Jerusalem is Corrupt

1 The filthy,t stained city is as good as dead;
the city filled with oppressors is finished!ts

2 She is disobedient;t
she refuses correction.t
She does not trust the Lord;
she does not seek the advice oft her God.

3 Her princest are as fierce as roaring lions;t
her rulerst are as hungry as wolves in the desert,t
who completely devour their prey by morning.t

4 Her prophets are proud;s
they are deceitful men.
Her priests defile what is holy;ts
they break God’s laws.t

5 The just Lord residest within her;
he commits no unjust acts.t
Every morning he revealst his justice.
At dawn he appears without fail.t
Yet the unjust know no shame.

The Lord’s Judgment will Purify

6 “I destroyedt nations;
their walled citiest are in ruins.
I turned their streets into ruins;
no one passes through them.
Their cities are desolate;t
no one lives there.t

7 I thought,t ‘Certainly you will respectts me!
Now you will accept correction!’
If she had done so, her homet would not be destroyedt
by all the punishments I have threatened.t
But they eagerly sinned
in everything they did.t

8 Therefore you must wait patientlyt for me,” says the Lord,
“for the day when I attack and take plunder.t
I have decidedt to gather nations together
and assemble kingdoms,
so I can pour out my fury on them –
all my raging anger.
Fort the whole earth will be consumed
by my fiery anger.

9 Know for sure that I will then enable
the nations to give me acceptable praise.ts
All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray,t
and will worship him in unison.t

10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,t
those who pray to mets will bring me tribute.

11 In that day yous will not be ashamed of all your rebelliousness against me,t
for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast,t
and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.

12 I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people,t
and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence.ts

13 The Israelites who remaint will not act deceitfully.
They will not lie,
and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth.
Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheept and lie down;
no one will terrify them.”

14 Shout for joy, Daughter Zion!s
Shout out, Israel!
Be happy and boast with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem!

15 The Lord has removed the judgment against you;t
he has turned back your enemy.
Israel’s king, the Lord, is in your midst!
You no longer need to fear disaster.

16 On that day they will sayt to Jerusalem,
“Don’t be afraid, Zion!
Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic!t

17 The Lord your God is in your midst;
he is a warrior who can deliver.
He takes great delight in you;t
he renews you by his love;s
he shouts for joy over you.”t

18 “As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals –
I took them away from you;
they became tribute and were a source of shame to you.t

19 Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you.
I will rescue the lame sheept
and gather together the scattered sheep.
I will take away their humiliation
and make the whole earth admire and respect them.t

20 At that time I will lead you –
at the time I gather you together.t
Be sure of this!t I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire yout
when you see me restore you,”t says the Lord.