|
- \id ZEP unfoldingWord® Simplified Text
- \usfm 3.0
- \ide UTF-8
- \h Zephaniah
- \toc1 The Book of Zephaniah
- \toc2 Zephaniah
- \toc3 Zep
- \mt1 Zephaniah
- \s5
- \c 1
- \p
- \v 1 Yahweh’s message came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, and the great-grandson of Amariah, whose father was King Hezekiah.
- Yahweh gave this message during the time when King Amon’s son Josiah was the king of Judah.
- \q1
- \v 2 Yahweh said,
- \q2 “I will sweep away everything that is on the earth.
- \q1
- \v 3 I will sweep away people and animals.
- \q2 I will sweep away birds and fish.
- \q1 I will get rid of wicked people;
- \q2 so that there will be no more wicked people on the earth.”
-
- \s5
-
- \q1
- \v 4 “These are some of the things that I will do:
- \q2 I will punish the people who live in Jerusalem and other places in Judah,
- \q2 and destroy everything that has been used in the worship of Baal and
- \q1 and cause people to no longer remember the names of the pagan priests
- \q2 or the other priests who have turned away from me.
- \q1
- \v 5 I will get rid of those who go up on the roofs of their houses and worship the sun, moon, and stars,
- \q2 and those who claim to worship me but also swear using the name of their king.
- \q1
- \v 6 Finally, I will get rid of all those who previously worshiped me but no longer do;
- \q2 those who no longer seek my help or request me to tell them what they should do.”
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 7 Be silent in front of Yahweh the Lord,
- \q2 because it will soon be the time when Yahweh will judge and punish people.
- \q1 Yahweh has prepared himself to get rid of the people of Judah;
- \q2 they will be like animals that are set apart to be slaughtered for sacrifices,
- \q2 and he has chosen their enemies to be the ones who will get rid of them.
- \q1
- \v 8 Yahweh says, “On that day when I will get rid of the people of Judah,
- \q2 I will punish their officials and the king’s sons,
- \q2 and all those who worship foreign gods—
- \q1
- \v 9 including those who show that they revere their god Dagan by avoiding stepping on the threshold of his temple,
- \q2 and those who do violent things and tell lies in the temples of their gods.”
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 10 Yahweh also says,
- \q2 “On that day, people will cry out at the Fish Gate of Jerusalem.
- \q1 People will wail in the Second Quarter of the city,
- \q2 and people will hear a loud crash of buildings collapsing in the hills.
- \q1
- \v 11 All you people who live in the market area of Jerusalem should wail,
- \q2 because all those who sell goods for money will be slaughtered.
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 12 It will be as though I will light lanterns to search in dark places in Jerusalem
- \q2 for those who have become very satisfied with their behavior and complacent about their sins.
- \q1 They think that I, Yahweh, will do neither good nor bad things, as if I do not even exist!
- \q1
- \v 13 So I have decided that armies will come and carry off their valuable possessions,
- \q2 after destroying their houses.
- \q1 The people will build new homes,
- \q2 but they will not live in them;
- \q1 they will plant vineyards again,
- \q2 but they will never drink any wine made from grapes that grow.”
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 14 It will soon be the day when Yahweh will punish people.
- \q2 It will be here quickly.
- \q1 It will be a time when even brave soldiers will cry loudly.
- \q1
- \v 15 It will be a time when God shows that he is very angry,
- \q2 a time when people experience much distress and trouble.
- \q1 It will be a time when many things are ruined, destroyed, and when everyone goes away.
- \q2 It will be a time when it is very gloomy and dark,
- \q2 when the clouds are very black.
- \q1
- \v 16 It will be a time when soldiers will blow trumpets to call other soldiers to battle.
- \q2 Your enemies will tear down the walls around your cities
- \q2 and the high towers at the corners of those walls.
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 17 Because you sinned against Yahweh,
- \q2 he will cause you to experience great distress;
- \q2 you will walk around groping as blind people do.
- \q1 Your blood will flow from your bodies like falling soil,
- \q2 and your corpses will lie on the ground and rot.
- \q1
- \v 18 At the time that Yahweh shows that he is very angry with you,
- \q2 you will not be able to save yourselves
- \q2 by giving silver or gold to your enemies.
- \q1 Because Yahweh is very jealous,
- \q2 he will send a fire to burn up the entire world,
- \q1 and he will completely get rid, in a most terrifying way, of all the wicked people who live on the earth.
-
-
- \s5
- \c 2
- \q1
- \v 1 You people of Judah who ought to be ashamed,
- \q2 gather together to ask for God to merciful to you.
- \q1
- \v 2 Yahweh is very angry with you,
- \q2 so gather together now,
- \q1 before he punishes you—before he punishes you
- \q2 and sweeps you away as the wind blows away the chaff.
- \q1
- \v 3 All you people in Judah who are humble,
- \q2 worship Yahweh and obey what he has commanded.
- \q1 Try to do what is right
- \q2 and to be humble.
- \q1 If you do that, perhaps Yahweh will protect you
- \q2 on the day when he punishes people.
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 4 When Yahweh punishes Philistia,
- \q2 the cities of Gaza and Ashkelon will lose all their inhabitants.
- \q1 Ashdod will be attacked and the people will be driven away at noon, when they are resting.
- \q2 The people of the city of Ekron will also be driven out.
- \q1
- \v 5 And terrible things will happen to you people of Philistia who live near the sea,
- \q2 because Yahweh has said he will punish you, also.
- \q1 He will get rid of all of you; not one of you will survive!
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 6 The land of Philistia near the sea will become a pasture,
- \q2 a place for shepherds and their sheep pens.
- \q1
- \v 7 The people of Judah who survive will possess that land.
- \q2 At night they will sleep in the deserted houses in Ashkelon.
- \q1 Yahweh will take care of them;
- \q2 he will enable them to prosper again.
-
- \s5
- \p
- \v 8 Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God of the Israelites, says this:
- \q1 “I have heard the people of Moab and Ammon
- \q1 insult my people and plan to conquer my people’s country.
- \q1
- \v 9 So now, as surely as I live, I will destroy Moab and Ammon
- \q2 as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
- \q1 Their land will be a place where there are nettles and salt pits;
- \q2 it will be ruined forever, with none of their people living there!
- \q1 My people who survive will take away all their valuable possessions
- \q2 and also occupy their land.”
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 10 The people of Moab and Ammon will get what they deserve for being proud,
- \q2 because they made fun of the people who belong to Yahweh, commander of the angel armies.
- \q1
- \v 11 Yahweh will cause them to be terrified
- \q2 when he destroys all the gods of their countries.
- \q1 Then people from every nation will worship Yahweh,
- \q2 each in his own country.
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 12 Yahweh says that he will also slaughter the people of Ethiopia.
-
- \q1
- \v 13 Yahweh will punish and destroy Assyria,
- \q2 that land northeast of us, and cause its capital Nineveh
- \q2 to become ruined and deserted, and as dry as the desert.
- \q1
- \v 14 Flocks of sheep and herds of cattle and many kinds of wild animals will lie down there.
- \q2 Owls and crows will sit on the columns of the destroyed buildings,
- \q1 and they will hoot through the windows.
- \q1 There will be rubble in the doorways,
- \q2 and the valuable cedar beams in the roofs of the buildings will become visible.
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 15 The people of Nineveh used to be happy and proud,
- \q2 thinking that they were very safe.
- \q1 They were always saying,
- \q1 “Our city is the greatest city;
- \q2 there is no city as great as ours!”
- \q1 But now it will become a horrible place to see,
- \q2 a place where wild animals make their dens.
- \q1 And everyone who passes by there will hiss and scorn that city,
- \q2 and shake their fists to show that they detest that city very much.
-
-
- \s5
- \c 3
- \q1
- \v 1 Terrible things will happen to Jerusalem,
- \q2 the city whose people have rebelled against Yahweh
- \q1 and who have become unacceptable to him because of the sins that they have committed.
- \q2 They act violently toward others and they oppress other people.
- \q1
- \v 2 The people there pay no attention to the prophets whom Yahweh has sent to tell them the wrong things that they are doing
- \q2 and try to correct them.
- \q1 The people in Jerusalem do not trust in their God or worship him.
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 3 Their leaders are like roaring lions;
- \q2 they are like wolves that attack during the evening,
- \q2 and eat everything that they kill,
- \q2 with the result that the next morning there is nothing left of those animals to eat.
- \q1
- \v 4 The prophets in Jerusalem are proud,
- \q2 and the priests give messages that no one should trust.
- \q1 They make the temple unholy by doing things that are against the law of Moses.
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 5 But Yahweh is also in the city, and he never does what is wrong.
- \q1 He treats people justly, day after day;
- \q2 but wicked people are never ashamed about their wrongdoing.
-
- \s5
- \p
- \v 6 Yahweh says this:
- \q1 “I have destroyed many nations;
- \q2 I have destroyed their strong city walls and towers.
- \q1 Now I have caused the streets in those cities to be completely deserted.
- \q2 Those cities are ruined and there is no one still alive there.
- \q2 They are all dead.
- \q1
- \v 7 So I said to myself,
- \q2 ‘Because of what I have done to those other nations,
- \q2 surely the people of Jerusalem will honor me now
- \q2 and allow me to correct them.
- \q1 If they do that, I will not destroy them;
- \q2 I will not punish them like I said that I would do.’
- \q1 But in spite of knowing how I punished those other nations,
- \q2 they were still eager to get up early each morning
- \q2 and continue to perform evil deeds.”
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 8 This is what Yahweh declares:
- \q2 “Wait for the day when I will take action to plunder you!
- \q1 I have decided to gather the people of the kingdoms of the earth
- \q2 and cause them to know that I am very angry with them.
- \q1 All over the earth I will punish and destroy people;
- \q2 I will burn them up with my anger as if it were fire!
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 9 When that happens, I will cause all people to be changed
- \q2 and enable them to speak only what is pure,
- \q2 in order that everyone can worship me as one people.
- \q1
- \v 10 Then my people who were forced to go to other countries, those who live along the upper part of the Nile River in Ethiopia,
- \q2 will come to me and bring offerings to me.
- \q1
- \v 11 At that time, you people in Jerusalem will no longer be ashamed about what has happened to you,
- \q2 because you no longer will be rebelling against me.
- \q1 I will get rid of all the people among you who are very proud.
- \q2 No one on Zion, my holy hill, will strut around proudly anymore.
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 12 Those who are still alive in Israel will be poor and humble;
- \q2 they will trust in me.
- \q1
- \v 13 Those people who are still alive in Israel will not do anything wrong;
- \q2 they will tell no lies or deceive anyone.
- \q1 They will eat and sleep safely,
- \q2 because no one will cause them to be afraid.”
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 14 You people who live in Jerusalem and other places in Israel,
- \q2 sing and shout loudly!
- \q1 Be glad, and rejoice with all your inner being,
- \q1
- \v 15 because Yahweh will take away the charges against you,
- \q2 and he will make your enemies go enemies far away from you!
- \q1 Yahweh himself, the king of the Israelites, will live among you,
- \q2 and you will never again be afraid that others will harm you.
- \q1
- \v 16 At that time, other people will say to us people of Jerusalem,
- \q2 “You people of Jerusalem, do not be afraid; do not become weak or discouraged.”
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 17 Yahweh your God will live among you.
- \q2 He is mighty, and he will rescue you.
- \q1 He will be very happy about you;
- \q2 because he loves you, he will cause you to rest without being anxious.
- \q2 He will sing loudly to rejoice about you,
- \q1
- \v 18 like people who are happy at a festival. Yahweh says, “I will no longer allow any enemies to destroy you. You will no longer be defeated or ashamed.
-
- \s5
- \q1
- \v 19 Truly, I will severely punish all those who oppressed you.
- \q2 I will rescue those who are helpless and those who were forced to go to other countries, just as a shepherd would rescue his lost sheep.
- \q2 I will give them praise and honor in every country where they were exiled,
- \q2 places where they had been disgraced.
- \q1
- \v 20 At that time, I will gather you together and bring you back home to Israel.
- \q1 I will cause you to greatly praised and honored
- \q2 among all the nations of the earth.
- \q1 You will see when I bring your people home again.”
- \q2 This is what Yahweh, has declared!
|