Zephaniah 3:1-13

English Standard Version

Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

3 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,
    ^(A)the oppressing city!
²She listens to no voice;
    ^(B)she accepts no correction.
^(C)She does not trust in the Lord;
    she does not draw near to her God.

³^(D)Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;
her judges are ^(E)evening wolves
    that leave nothing till the morning.
⁴^(F)Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men;
^(G)her priests ^(H)profane what is holy;
    they do violence to the law.
⁵The Lord within her ^(I)is righteous;
    he does no injustice;
every morning he shows forth his justice;
    each dawn he does not fail;
    but ^(J)the unjust knows no shame.

⁶^(K)“I have cut off nations;
    their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
    ^(L)so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
    without a man, without an inhabitant.
⁷^(M)I said, ‘Surely you will fear me;
    ^(N)you will accept correction.
Then your^[a] dwelling would not be cut off
    according to all that I have appointed against you.’^[b]
But ^(O)all the more they were eager
    to make all their deeds corrupt.

⁸“Therefore ^(P)wait for me,” declares the Lord,
    “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.
For my decision is ^(Q)to gather nations,
    to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
    all my burning anger;
for in the fire of my jealousy
    ^(R)all the earth shall be consumed.

The Conversion of the Nations

⁹“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples
    to ^(S)a pure speech,
that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord
    and serve him with one accord.
¹⁰^(T)From beyond the rivers ^(U)of Cush
    my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,
    shall bring my offering.

¹¹^(V)“On that day ^(W)you shall not be put to shame
    because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then ^(X)I will remove from your midst
    your proudly exultant ones,
and ^(Y)you shall no longer be haughty
    in my holy mountain.
¹²But I will leave in your midst
    a people ^(Z)humble and lowly.
^(AA)They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,
¹³    ^(AB)those who are left in Israel;
they ^(AC)shall do no injustice
    and speak no lies,
^(AD)nor shall there be found in their mouth
    a deceitful tongue.
^(AE)For they shall graze and lie down,
    and none shall make them afraid.”