1The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.1.2 I will…: Heb. By taking away I will make an end1.2 the land: Heb. the face of the land 3I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.1.3 stumblingblocks: or, idols 4I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; 5And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;1.5 by the…: or, to the LORD 6And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
7Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.1.7 bid: Heb. sanctified, or, prepared 8And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.1.8 punish: Heb. visit upon 9In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit. 10And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. 11Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off. 12And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.1.12 settled: Heb. curded, or, thickened 13Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
14The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 17And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
1犹大王亚们的儿子约西亚执政期间，耶和华对希西迦的玄孙、亚玛利亚的曾孙、基大利的孙子、古示的儿子西番雅说：
耶和华审判的日子
2“我必毁灭地上的一切。
这是耶和华说的。
3我必毁灭人类、兽类、
天上的鸟和海里的鱼。
我必使恶人倒毙，
我必铲除地上的人类。
这是耶和华说的。
4“我必伸手攻击犹大，
以及所有住在耶路撒冷的人，
铲除巴力的余迹及拜偶像之祭司的名号。
5我必铲除那些在屋顶祭拜天上万象的人，
铲除敬拜我、凭我起誓又凭米勒公起誓的人，
6铲除离弃我、不寻求我、不求问我的人。”
7要在主耶和华面前肃静，
因为耶和华的日子近了。
耶和华已准备好祭物，
洁净了祂邀请的人。
8耶和华说：“在我献祭的日子，
我必惩罚首领和王子，
以及所有穿外族服装的人。
9到那日，我必惩罚所有跳过门槛1:9 “跳过门槛……的人”指祭拜偶像的人，参见撒母耳记上5:5。、
使主人的家充满暴力和欺诈的人。
10到那日，鱼门必传出哭喊声，
新区必响起哀号声，
山陵必发出崩裂的巨响。
这是耶和华说的。
11市场区的居民啊，哀哭吧！
因为所有的商人必灭亡，
所有做买卖的必被铲除。
12那时，我必提着灯巡查耶路撒冷，
惩罚那些安于罪中的人。
他们心想，‘耶和华不赐福也不降祸。’
13他们的财物必遭抢掠，
家园必沦为废墟。
他们建造房屋，却不能住在里面；
栽种葡萄园，却喝不到葡萄酒。
14“耶和华的大日子近了，
近了，很快就到了。
那将是痛苦的日子，
勇士也必凄声哀号。
15那是降烈怒的日子，
是困苦艰难的日子，
是摧残毁坏的日子，
是黑暗幽冥的日子，
是阴霾密布的日子，
16是吹号呐喊、
攻打坚城高垒的日子。
17“我要使人们灾难临头，
以致他们行路像瞎子，
因为他们得罪了我。
他们的血必被倒出，如同灰尘；
他们的尸体必被丢弃，如同粪便。
18在耶和华发怒的日子，
他们的金银救不了他们。
祂的怒火必吞噬大地，
祂必骤然毁灭一切世人。”
