Zephaniah 1-2
Christian Standard Bible
1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah,(A) in the days of Josiah(B) son of Amon,(C) king of Judah.
The Great Day of the Lord
2 I will completely sweep away everything
from the face of the earth(D)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
3 I will sweep away people and animals;(E)
I will sweep away the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea,
and the ruins[a] along with the wicked.(F)
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
4 I will stretch out my hand(G) against Judah
and against all the residents of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every vestige of Baal(H)
from this place,
the names of the pagan priests(I)
along with the priests;
5 those who bow in worship on the rooftops(J)
to the stars in the sky;
those who bow and pledge loyalty to the Lord(K)
but also pledge loyalty to Milcom;[b](L)
6 and those who turn back from following the Lord,
who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.
7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord God,(M)
for the day of the Lord is near.(N)
Indeed, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;(O)
he has consecrated his guests.(P)
8 On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials, the king’s sons,
and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.
9 On that day(Q) I will punish
all who skip over the threshold,[c](R)
who fill their master’s house
with violence and deceit.
10 On that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
there will be an outcry from the Fish Gate,(S)
a wailing from the Second District,(T)
and a loud crashing from the hills.
11 Wail, you residents of the Hollow,[d]
for all the merchants[e] will be silenced;
all those loaded with silver will be cut off.
12 And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who settle down comfortably,[f](U)
who say to themselves:
The Lord will do nothing—good or bad.(V)
13 Their wealth will become plunder
and their houses a ruin.
They will build houses but never live in them,
plant vineyards but never drink their wine.(W)
14 The great day of the Lord is near,(X)
near and rapidly approaching.
Listen, the day of the Lord—
then the warrior’s cry is bitter.
15 That day is a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of destruction and desolation,
a day of darkness(Y) and gloom,
a day of clouds and total darkness,(Z)
16 a day of ram’s horn and battle cry
against the fortified cities,
and against the high corner towers.
17 I will bring distress on mankind,
and they will walk like the blind(AA)
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.
18 Their silver and their gold
will be unable to rescue them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.(AB)
The whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of his jealousy,(AC)
for he will make a complete,
yes, a horrifying end
of all the inhabitants of the earth.
A Call to Repentance
2 Gather yourselves together;
gather together, undesirable[g] nation,
2 before the decree(AD) takes effect
and the day passes like chaff,
before the burning of the Lord’s anger(AE) overtakes you,
before the day of the Lord’s anger overtakes you.(AF)
3 Seek the Lord,(AG) all you humble(AH) of the earth,
who carry out what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be concealed(AI)
on the day of the Lord’s anger.
Judgment against the Nations
4 For Gaza will be abandoned,
and Ashkelon will become a ruin.
Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
and Ekron will be uprooted.(AJ)
5 Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,
nation of the Cherethites
The word of the Lord is against you,(AL)
Canaan, land of the Philistines:
I will destroy you until there is no one left.(AM)
6 The seacoast will become pasturelands
with caves for shepherds and pens for sheep.
7 The coastland will belong
to the remnant of the house of Judah;
they will find pasture there.
They will lie down in the evening
among the houses of Ashkelon,
for the Lord their God will return to them
and restore their fortunes.(AN)
8 I have heard the taunting(AO) of Moab
and the insults of the Ammonites,(AP)
who have taunted my people
and threatened their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live—
this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel—
Moab will be like Sodom(AQ)
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah:(AR)
a place overgrown with weeds,
a salt pit, and a perpetual wasteland.
The remnant of my people will plunder them;
the remainder of my nation will dispossess them.
10 This is what they get for their pride,
because they have taunted and acted arrogantly(AS)
against the people of the Lord of Armies.
11 The Lord will be terrifying to them
when he starves all the gods of the earth.
Then all the distant coasts and islands of the nations
will bow in worship to him,
each in its own place.
12 You Cushites will also be slain by my sword.(AT)
13 He will also stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria;
he will make Nineveh a desolate ruin,(AU)
dry as the desert.
14 Herds will lie down in the middle of it,
every kind of wild animal.[i]
Both eagle owls[j] and herons[k]
will roost in the capitals of its pillars.
Their calls will sound[l] from the window,
but devastation[m] will be on the threshold,
for he will expose the cedar work.[n]
15 This is the jubilant(AV) city
that lives in security,
that says to herself:
I exist, and there is no one else.
What a desolation she has become,
a place for wild animals to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
scoffs[o] and shakes his fist.
Footnotes
- 1:3 Perhaps objects connected with idolatry
- 1:5 Some LXX mss, Syr, Vg; MT, other LXX mss read their king
- 1:9 Hb obscure
- 1:11 Or the market district
- 1:11 Or Canaanites
- 1:12 Lit who thicken on their dregs
- 2:1 Or shameless
- 2:5 = Sea Peoples
- 2:14 Lit every wild animal of a nation
- 2:14 Or the pelicans
- 2:14 Or the hedgehogs
- 2:14 Lit sing
- 2:14 LXX, Vg read ravens
- 2:14 Hb obscure
- 2:15 Or hisses
Hebrews 9
Christian Standard Bible
Old Covenant Ministry
9 Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was set up, and in the first room, which is called the holy place, were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves.(A) 3 Behind the second curtain was a tent called the most holy place.(B) 4 It had the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.(C) 5 The cherubim of glory were above the ark overshadowing the mercy seat. It is not possible to speak about these things in detail right now.(D)
6 With these things prepared like this, the priests enter the first room repeatedly, performing their ministry.(E) 7 But the high priest alone enters the second room, and he does that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.(F) 8 The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed while the first tabernacle was still standing.(G) 9 This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience.(H) 10 They are physical regulations and only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed until the time of the new order.(I)
New Covenant Ministry
11 But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come.[a] In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation(J)), 12 he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.(K) 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,(L) 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit(M) offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our[b] consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?(N)
15 Therefore, he is the mediator(O) of a new covenant,[c](P) so that those who are called might receive the promise(Q) of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.(R) 16 Where a will exists, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in effect while the one who made it is living. 18 That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. 19 For when every command had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats,[d] along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people,(S) 20 saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.[e](T) 21 In the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the articles of worship with blood.(U) 22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.(V)
23 Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these.(W) 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model[f] of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us.(X) 25 He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another.(Y) 26 Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages,(Z) for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.(AA) 27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment(AB)— 28 so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,(AC) will appear a second time,(AD) not to bear sin, but[g] to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.(AE)
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