Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 This is the message that the Lord gave to Zephaniah during the time that Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. (Zephaniah was descended from King Hezekiah through Amariah, Gedaliah, and Cushi.)
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The LORD’s word which 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, king of Judah.
2 The Lord said, "I am going to destroy everything on earth,
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I will utterly sweep away everything from the surface of the earth, says the LORD.
3 all human beings and animals, birds and fish. I will bring about the downfall of the wicked. I will destroy everyone, and no survivors will be left. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says the LORD.
4 "I will punish the people of Jerusalem and of all Judah. I will destroy the last trace of the worship of Baal there, and no one will even remember the pagan priests who serve him.
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I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place—the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests,
5 I will destroy anyone who goes up on the roof and worships the sun, the moon, and the stars. I will also destroy those who worship me and swear loyalty to me, but then take oaths in the name of the god Molech.
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those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by the LORD and also swear by Malcam,
6 I will destroy those who have turned back and no longer follow me, those who do not come to me or ask me to guide them."
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those who have turned back from following the LORD, and those who haven’t sought the LORD nor inquired after him.
7 The day is near when the Lord will sit in judgment; so be silent in his presence. The Lord is preparing to sacrifice his people and has invited enemies to plunder Judah.
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Be silent 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 consecrated his guests.
8 "On that day of slaughter," says the Lord, "I will punish the officials, the king's sons, and all who practice foreign customs.
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It will happen in the day of the LORD’s sacrifice that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, and all those who are clothed with foreign clothing.
9 I will punish all who worship like pagans and who steal and kill in order to fill their master's house with loot.
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In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master’s house with violence and deceit.
10 "On that day," says the Lord, "you will hear the sound of crying at the Fish Gate in Jerusalem. You will hear wailing in the newer part of the city and a great crashing sound in the hills.
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In that day, says the LORD, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.
11 Wail and cry when you hear this, you that live in the lower part of the city, because all the merchants will be dead!
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Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.
12 "At that time I will take a lamp and search Jerusalem. I will punish the people who are self-satisfied and confident, who say to themselves, "The Lord never does anything, one way or the other.'
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It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, “The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.”
13 Their wealth will be looted and their houses destroyed. They will never live in the houses they are building or drink wine from the vineyards they are planting."
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Their wealth will become a plunder, and their houses a desolation. Yes, they will build houses, but won’t inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, but won’t drink their wine.
14 The great day of the Lord is near - very near and coming fast! That day will be bitter, for even the bravest soldiers will cry out in despair!
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The great day of the LORD is near. It is near and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of the LORD. The mighty man cries there bitterly.
15 It will be a day of fury, a day of trouble and distress, a day of ruin and destruction, a day of darkness and gloom, a black and cloudy day,
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That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
16 a day filled with the sound of war trumpets and the battle cry of soldiers attacking fortified cities and high towers.
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a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high battlements.
17 The Lord says, "I will bring such disasters on the human race that everyone will grope about like someone blind. They have sinned against me, and now their blood will be poured out like water, and their dead bodies will lie rotting on the ground."
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I will bring such distress on men that they will walk like blind men because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
18 On the day when the Lord shows his fury, not even all their silver and gold will save them. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of his anger. He will put an end - a sudden end - to everyone who lives on earth.
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Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.