1. This is the word of the Lord that came through Zephaniah while Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, who was the son of Gedaliah. Gedaliah was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Hezekiah.
2. “I will sweep away everythingfrom the earth,” says the Lord.
3. “I will sweep away the people and animals;I will destroy the birds in the airand the fish of the sea.I will ruin the evil people,and I will remove human beings from the earth,” says the Lord.
4. “I will punish Judahand all the people living in Jerusalem.I will remove from this placeall signs of Baal, the false priests, and the other priests.
5. I will destroy those who worshipthe stars from the roofs,and those who worship and make promisesby both the Lord and the god Molech,
6. and those who turned away from the Lord,and those who quit following the Lord and praying to him for direction.
7. Be silent before the Lord God,because the Lord’s day for judging people is coming soon.The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;he has made holy his invited guests.
8. On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,I, the Lord, will punish the princes and the king’s sonsand all those who wear foreign clothes.
9. On that day I will punish those who worship Dagon,those who hurt others and tell lies in the temples of their gods.
10. “On that day,” says the Lord,“a cry will be heard at the Fish Gate.A wail will come from the new area of the city,and a loud crash will echo from the hills.
11. Cry, you people living in the market area,because all the merchants will be dead;all the silver traders will be gone.
12. At that time I, the Lord, will search Jerusalem with lamps.I will punish those who are satisfied with themselves,who think, ‘The Lord won’t help us or punish us.’
13. Their wealth will be stolenand their houses destroyed.They may build houses,but they will not live in them.They may plant vineyards,but they will not drink any wine from them.