¹The word of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.

²I will gather up and sweep away all things from off the face of the ground, the utterance of Yahweh.

³I will sweep away man and livestock; I will sweep away the birds of the skies and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked; and I will cut off man from the face of the ground, the utterance of Yahweh.

⁴I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all who dwell in Jerusalem, and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, the name of the pagan priests together with the priests,

⁵and those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the skies, and those who bow down, those who swear to Yahweh and those who swear by Milcom,

⁶and those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and who have not sought Yahweh and have not inquired of him.

⁷Be quiet before the face of the Adonai Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is near; for Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice, he has set apart his invited ones.

⁸And it will happen, on the day of the sacrifice of Yahweh, that I will visit punishment upon the officials and upon the sons of the king and upon all who wear foreign clothing.

⁹And I will visit punishment upon everyone who leaps over the threshold on that day, those who fill the house of their lords with violence and deceit.

¹⁰And on that day, the utterance of Yahweh, there will be the sound of a cry from the Fish Gate, a wailing from the Second Quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.

¹¹Wail, you who dwell in the Mortar, for all the people of Canaan are destroyed; all who are laden with silver are cut off.

¹²And it will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will visit punishment upon the men who are thickening on their dregs, who say in their heart, “Yahweh will not do good, and he will not do harm.”

¹³And their wealth will become plunder, and their houses a wasteland; they will build houses and will not dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and will not drink their wine.

¹⁴Near is the great day of Yahweh, near and hurrying very fast; the sound of the day of Yahweh is bitter, there the mighty man cries out.

¹⁵That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and thick dark cloud,

¹⁶a day of the horn and the battle-cry, against the fortified cities, and against the high corners.

¹⁷I will cause distress to mankind, and they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against Yahweh; and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their entrails like dung.

¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of Yahweh; and in the fire of his jealousy the whole land will be consumed, for a complete destruction, surely a terrible one, he will make of all who dwell in the land.