Zephaniah 1
King James Version
1 The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.
4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham;
6 And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him.
7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.
13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17 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 as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
Zephaniah 1
International Children’s Bible
The Lord’s Judgment
1 This is the message of the Lord that came through Zephaniah. It came while Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, who was the son of Gedaliah. Gedaliah was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Hezekiah.
2 “I will destroy everything
on earth,” says the Lord.
3 “I will destroy the people and animals.
I will destroy the birds in the air
and the fish of the sea.
I will ruin the evil people.
I will remove all the people from the earth,” says the Lord.
The Future of Judah
4 “I will punish Judah
and all the people living in Jerusalem.
I will remove from this place
all signs of Baal and his priests.
5 I will destroy those who worship
the stars from the roofs.[a]
I will destroy those who worship and make promises
by both the Lord and the god Molech.
6 I will destroy those who turned away from the Lord.
They quit following the Lord and consulting him.
7 Be silent before the Lord God.
His day for judging people is coming soon.
The Lord has prepared to sacrifice Judah.
He has appointed the invited guests to feast on Judah.
8 On that day the Lord will sacrifice Judah.
I, the Lord, will punish the princes and the king’s sons.
And I will punish all
those who wear foreign clothes.
9 On that day I will punish those who worship Dagon.
I will punish those who hurt others
and tell lies in the temples of their gods.
10 “On that day this will happen,” says the Lord.
“A cry will be heard at the Fish Gate.
A wail will come from the new area of the city.
A loud crash will echo from the hills.
11 The people living in the market area will wail.
All the merchants will be dead.
All the silver traders will be gone.
12 At that time I, the Lord, will search Jerusalem with lamps.
I will punish those who are settled and satisfied with themselves.
They are like wine left to settle.
They think, ‘The Lord never does anything.
He won’t help us or punish us.’
13 Their wealth will be stolen.
Their houses will be destroyed.
They may build houses,
but they will never live in them.
They may plant vineyards,
but they will never drink any wine from them.
The Lord’s Day of Judging
14 “The Lord’s day of judging is coming soon.
That great day is near and coming fast.
The cry will be very sad on that day.
Even soldiers will cry.
15 That day will be a day of anger.
It will be a day of terror and trouble.
It will be a day of destruction and ruin.
It will be a day of darkness and gloom.
It will be a day of clouds and blackness.
16 It will be a day of alarms and battle cries.
‘Attack the strong, walled cities!
Attack the corner towers!’
17 I will make life hard on the people.
They will walk around like blind men.
This is because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust.
And their bodies will be dumped like trash.
18 On that day God will show his anger.
Then neither their silver nor gold will save them.
The Lord’s anger will be like fire.
And the whole world will be burned up.
Suddenly he will bring an end
to everyone on earth.”
Footnotes
- 1:5 roofs In Bible times houses were built with flat roofs. The roof was used for drying things such as flax and fruit. And it was used as an extra room, as a place for worship and as a place to sleep in the summer.
Zephaniah 1
English Standard Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, (A)in the days of (B)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Coming Judgment on Judah
2 (C)“I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away (D)man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and (E)the fish of the sea,
and (F)the rubble[a] with the wicked.
I will (G)cut off mankind
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
(H)and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 (I)those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
(J)those who bow down and swear to the Lord
and yet swear by (K)Milcom,[b]
6 (L)those who have turned back from following the Lord,
(M)who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”
The Day of the Lord Is Near
7 (N)Be silent before the Lord God!
For (O)the day of the Lord is near;
(P)the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
and (Q)consecrated his guests.
8 And on the day of the Lord's sacrifice—
(R)“I will punish the officials and the king's sons
and (S)all who array themselves in foreign attire.
9 On that day I will punish
everyone (T)who leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master's[c] house
with violence and fraud.
10 “On that day,” declares the Lord,
“a cry will be heard from (U)the Fish Gate,
(V)a wail from (W)the Second Quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.
11 (X)Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
For all the traders[d] are no more;
all who weigh out silver are cut off.
12 At that time (Y)I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
(Z)who are complacent,[e]
(AA)those who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do ill.’
13 Their goods shall be (AB)plundered,
and their houses laid waste.
(AC)Though they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
(AD)though they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.”
14 (AE)The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
(AF)the mighty man cries aloud there.
15 (AG)A day of wrath is that day,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of (AH)ruin and devastation,
(AI)a day of darkness and gloom,
(AJ)a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 (AK)a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
(AL)against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
17 (AM)I will bring distress on mankind,
so that they shall walk (AN)like the blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord;
(AO)their blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh (AP)like dung.
18 (AQ)Neither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them
on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
(AR)In the fire of his jealousy,
(AS)all the earth shall be consumed;
(AT)for a full and sudden end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:3 Or stumbling blocks (that is, idols)
- Zephaniah 1:5 Or their king
- Zephaniah 1:9 Or their Lord's
- Zephaniah 1:11 Or all the people of Canaan
- Zephaniah 1:12 Hebrew are thickening on the dregs [of their wine]
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
