Zephaniah 3:1-8

Common English Bible

3 Doom, obstinate one,
        the defiled one,
        the violent city.
² She listened to no voice;
        she accepted no discipline.
She didn’t trust in the Lord,
        nor did she draw near to her God.
³ The princes in her midst are roaring lions.
        Her judges are wolves of the evening;
        they leave nothing for the morning.
⁴ Her prophets are reckless, men of treachery.
        Her priests pollute that which is holy;
        they do violence to the Instruction.
⁵ The Lord is righteous in her midst.
He does nothing unjust.
        Morning by morning he renders justice,
        but the unrighteous one knows no shame.
⁶ I will cut off nations;
        their towers will be destroyed;
        I will devastate their streets.
            No one will pass through.
        Their cities will be laid waste.
            There will be no person, no inhabitant left.
⁷ I said, “Surely, she will fear me;
            she will take instruction
        so that her habitation won’t be cut off^[a]
            because of everything I did to her.”
However, they rose early to corrupt their deeds.
⁸ Therefore, wait for me, says the Lord,
        wait for the day when I rise up as a witness,^[b]
        when I decide to gather nations,
                to collect kingdoms,
            to pour out my indignation upon them,
                all the heat of my anger.
        In the fire of my jealousy,
            all the earth will be devoured.