Zephaniah 3:1-20
3 Woe to the rebellious, the polluted, the oppressive city!+
2 She has obeyed no voice;+ she has accepted no discipline.+
In Jehovah she has not trusted;+ she has not drawn near to her God.+
3 Her princes within her are roaring lions.+
Her judges are wolves in the night;They do not leave even a bone to gnaw until morning.
4 Her prophets are insolent, treacherous men.+
Her priests defile what is holy;+They do violence to the law.+
5 Jehovah is righteous in her midst;+ he does no wrong.
Morning by morning he makes known his judgments,+As unfailing as the daylight.
But the unrighteous one knows no shame.+
6 “I destroyed nations; their corner towers were left desolate.
I devastated their streets, so that no one was passing through.
Their cities were left in ruins, without a man, without an inhabitant.+
7 I said, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept discipline,’*+
So that her dwelling place might not be destroyed+—I must call her to account for* all these things.
But they were all the more eager to act corruptly.+
8 ‘So keep yourselves in expectation of* me,’+ declares Jehovah,‘Until the day when I rise up to take plunder,*For my judicial decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms,To pour out on them my indignation, all my burning anger;+For by the fire of my zeal the whole earth will be consumed.+
9 For then I will change the language of the peoples to a pure language,So that all of them may call on the name of Jehovah,To serve him shoulder to shoulder.’*+
10 From the region of the rivers of E·thi·oʹpi·a,Those entreating me, the daughter of my scattered ones, will bring a gift to me.+
11 On that day you will not be put to shameBecause of all your deeds with which you rebelled against me,+For then I will remove the haughty boasters from among you;And you will never again be haughty in my holy mountain.+
12 I will allow a humble and lowly people to remain in your midst,+And they will take refuge in the name of Jehovah.
13 Those remaining of Israel+ will practice no unrighteousness;+They will not speak a lie, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths;They will feed* and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.”+
14 Shout joyfully, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O Israel!+
Be joyful and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!+
15 Jehovah has removed the judgments against you.+
He has turned away your enemy.+
The King of Israel, Jehovah, is in your midst.+
You will fear calamity no more.+
16 On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not be afraid, O Zion.+
Do not let your hands drop down.
17 Jehovah your God is in your midst.+
As a mighty One, he will save.
He will exult over you with great joy.+
He will become silent* in his love.
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
18 I will gather together those grieving over their absence from your festivals;+They were absent from you because of bearing reproach for her.+
19 Look! At that time I will act against all those oppressing you;+And I will save the one limping,+And I will gather together the dispersed.+
I will make them an object of praise and fame*In all the land of their shame.
20 At that time I will bring you in,At the time I gather you together.
For I will make you an object of fame* and praise+ among all the peoples of the earth,When I gather back your captives before your eyes,” says Jehovah.+
Footnotes
^ Or “punish her for.”
^ Or “correction.”
^ Or “wait patiently for.”
^ Or possibly, “rise up as a witness.”
^ Or “worship him in unity.”
^ Or “graze.”
^ Or “quiet; at ease; satisfied.”
^ Lit., “a name.”
^ Lit., “a name.”