Old/New Testament
1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah(A) son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Great Day of the Lord
2 I will completely sweep away everything
from the face of the earth(B)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
3 I will sweep away man and animal;(C)
I will sweep away the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea,
and the ruins[a] along with the wicked.(D)
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
4 I will stretch out My hand(E) against Judah
and against all the residents of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every vestige of Baal(F)
from this place,
the names of the pagan priests(G)
along with the priests;
5 those who bow in worship on the rooftops(H)
to the heavenly host;
those who bow and pledge loyalty to the Lord(I)
but also pledge loyalty to Milcom;[b](J)
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,(K)
for the Day of the Lord is near.(L)
Indeed, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;(M)
He has consecrated His guests.(N)
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(O) I will punish
all who skip over the threshold,[c](P)
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,(Q)
a wailing from the Second District,(R)
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 the men who settle down comfortably,[f](S)
who say to themselves:
The Lord will not do good or evil.
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.(T)
14 The great Day of the Lord is near,(U)
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(V) and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,(W)
16 a day of trumpet blast 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(X)
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 not be able to rescue them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.(Y)
The whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of His jealousy.(Z)
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(AA) takes effect
and the day passes like chaff,
before the burning of the Lord’s anger overtakes you,
before the day of the Lord’s anger overtakes you.
3 Seek the Lord,(AB) all you humble(AC) of the earth,
who carry out what He commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be concealed(AD)
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.(AE)
5 Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,
nation of the Cherethites
The word of the Lord is against you,
Canaan, land of the Philistines:
I will destroy you until there is no one left.
6 The seacoast will become pasturelands
with caves for shepherds and folds 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.
8 I have heard the taunting of Moab
and the insults of the Ammonites,(AG)
who have taunted My people
and threatened their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live—
this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel—
Moab will be like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah(AH)—
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(AI)
against the people of the Lord of Hosts.
11 The Lord will be terrifying to them
when He starves all the gods of the earth.
Then all the distant coastlands of the nations
will bow in worship to Him,
each in its own place.
12 You Cushites will also be slain by My sword.(AJ)
13 He will also stretch out His hand against the north
and destroy Assyria;
He will make Nineveh a desolate ruin,(AK)
dry as the desert.
14 Herds will lie down in the middle of it,
every kind of wild animal.[i]
Both the desert owl[j] and the screech owl[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 self-assured(AL) city
that lives in security,
that thinks 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
jeers[o] and shakes his fist.
Woe to Oppressive Jerusalem
3 Woe to the city that is rebellious[p](AM) and defiled,(AN)
the oppressive city!
2 She has not obeyed;(AO)
she has not accepted discipline.(AP)
She has not trusted(AQ) in Yahweh;
she has not drawn near to her God.
3 The[q] princes within her are roaring lions;(AR)
her judges are wolves of the night,(AS)
which leave nothing for[r] the morning.
4 Her prophets are reckless(AT)—
treacherous men.
Her priests profane the sanctuary;
they do violence to instruction.(AU)
5 The righteous Lord is in her;(AV)
He does no wrong.(AW)
He applies His justice morning by morning;
He does not fail at dawn,
yet the one who does wrong knows no shame.(AX)
6 I have cut off nations;
their corner towers(AY) are destroyed.
I have laid waste their streets,
with no one to pass through.
Their cities lie devastated,
without a person, without an inhabitant.(AZ)
7 I thought: You will certainly fear Me
and accept correction.
Then her dwelling place[s]
would not be cut off
based on all that I had allocated to her.
However, they became more corrupt
in all their actions.
8 Therefore, wait for Me(BA)—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
until the day I rise up for plunder.[t]
For My decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
in order to pour out My indignation(BB) on them,
all My burning anger;
for the whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of My jealousy.(BC)
Final Restoration Promised
9 For I will then restore
pure(BD) speech to the peoples
so that all of them may call
on the name of Yahweh
and serve Him with a single purpose.[u]
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush(BE)
My supplicants, My dispersed people,
will bring an offering to Me.
11 On that day you[v] will not be put to shame(BF)
because of everything you have done
in rebelling(BG) against Me.
For then I will remove
your proud,(BH) arrogant people from among you,
and you will never again be haughty
on My holy mountain.(BI)
12 I will leave
a meek and humble people(BJ) among you,
and they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh.
13 The remnant(BK) of Israel will no longer
do wrong or tell lies;
a deceitful tongue will not be found
in their mouths.
But they will pasture and lie down,
with nothing to make them afraid.(BL)
14 Sing for joy, Daughter Zion;
shout loudly, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has removed your punishment;
He has turned back your enemy.
The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you;
you need no longer fear harm.
16 On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, do not let your hands grow weak.(BM)
17 Yahweh your God is among you,
a warrior(BN) who saves.
He will rejoice over you(BO) with gladness.
He will bring you quietness[w] with His love.
He will delight in you with shouts of joy.”(BP)
18 I will gather those who have been driven(BQ)
from the appointed festivals;
they will be a tribute from you[x]
and a reproach on her.[y]
19 Yes, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you.
I will save the lame(BR) and gather the scattered;(BS)
I will make those who were disgraced
throughout the earth
receive praise and fame.
20 At that time I will bring you[z] back,
yes, at the time I will gather you.
I will give you fame and praise
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes(BT) before your eyes.
Yahweh has spoken.
The First Bowl
16 Then I heard a loud voice from the sanctuary saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven[a] bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” 2 The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and severely painful sores[b](A) broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
The Second Bowl
3 The second[c] poured out his bowl into the sea. It turned to blood like a dead man’s, and all life[d] in the sea died.(B)
The Third Bowl
4 The third[e] poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.(C) 5 I heard the angel of the waters say:
You are righteous,
who is and who was,(D) the Holy One,
for You have decided these things.
6 Because they poured out
the blood of the saints and the prophets,
You also gave them blood to drink;
they deserve it!(E)
7 Then I heard someone from the altar say:
Yes, Lord God, the Almighty,
true and righteous are Your judgments.(F)
The Fourth Bowl
8 The fourth[f] poured out his bowl on the sun. He[g] was given the power[h] to burn people with fire, 9 and people were burned by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God,(G) who had the power[i] over these plagues, and they did not repent and give Him glory.
The Fifth Bowl
10 The fifth[j] poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast,(H) and his kingdom was plunged into darkness.(I) People[k] gnawed their tongues because of their pain 11 and blasphemed the God of heaven(J) because of their pains and their sores, yet they did not repent of their actions.
The Sixth Bowl
12 The sixth[l] poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,(K) and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs(L) coming from the dragon’s mouth,(M) from the beast’s mouth,(N) and from the mouth of the false prophet.(O) 14 For they are spirits of demons performing signs,(P) who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle of the great day of God, the Almighty.(Q)
15 “Look, I am coming like a thief. The one who is alert and remains clothed[m](R) so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame(S) is blessed.”(T)
16 So they assembled them at the place called in Hebrew, Armagedon.[n][o](U)
The Seventh Bowl
17 Then the seventh[p] poured out his bowl into the air,[q] and a loud voice came out of the sanctuary[r](V) from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 There were flashes of lightning and rumblings of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since man has been on the earth—so great was the quake.(W) 19 The great city(X) split into three parts, and the cities of the nations[s] fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; He gave her the cup filled with the wine of His fierce anger.(Y) 20 Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared.[t](Z) 21 Enormous hailstones, each weighing about 100 pounds,[u] fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God(AA) for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.(AB)
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