1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, ain the days of bJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Coming Judgment on Judah
2 c“I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away dman and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and dthe fish of the sea,
and ethe rubble1 with the wicked.
I will fcut off mankind
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
gand I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 hthose who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
ithose who bow down and swear to the Lord
6 kthose who have turned back from following the Lord,
lwho do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”
The Day of the Lord Is Near
7 mBe silent before the Lord God!
For nthe day of the Lord is near;
othe Lord has prepared a sacrifice
and pconsecrated his guests.
8 And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice—
q“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons
and rall who array themselves in foreign attire.
9 On that day I will punish
everyone swho leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master’s3 house
with violence and fraud.
10 “On that day,” declares the Lord,
“a cry will be heard from tthe Fish Gate,
ua wail from vthe Second Quarter,
a loud crash from the hills.
11 wWail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
For all the traders4 are no more;
all who weigh out silver are cut off.
12 At that time xI will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
zthose who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do ill.’
13 Their goods shall be aplundered,
and their houses laid waste.
bThough they build houses,
they shall not inhabit them;
cthough they plant vineyards,
they shall not drink wine from them.”
14 dThe great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
ethe mighty man cries aloud there.
15 fA day of wrath is that day,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of gruin and devastation,
ha day of darkness and gloom,
ha day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 ia day of trumpet blast and battle cry
jagainst the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
17 kI will bring distress on mankind,
so that they shall walk llike the blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord;
mtheir blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh nlike dung.
18 oNeither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them
on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
pIn the fire of his jealousy,
qall the earth shall be consumed;
rfor a full and sudden end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause
A Maskil1 of rAsaph.
1 O God, why do you scast us off forever?
Why does your anger tsmoke against uthe sheep of your pasture?
2 vRemember your congregation, which you have wpurchased of old,
which you have xredeemed to be ythe tribe of your heritage!
Remember Mount Zion, zwhere you have dwelt.
3 Direct your steps to athe perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
4 Your foes have broared in the midst of your meeting place;
cthey set up their down signs for esigns.
5 They were like those who swing faxes
in a forest of trees.2
6 And all its gcarved wood
they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7 They hset your sanctuary on fire;
they iprofaned jthe dwelling place of your name,
bringing it down to the ground.
8 They ksaid to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our lsigns;
mthere is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
10 How long, O God, nis the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11 Why odo you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the fold of your garment3 and destroy them!
12 Yet pGod my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You qdivided the sea by your might;
you rbroke the heads of sthe sea monsters4 on the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of tLeviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 You usplit open springs and brooks;
you vdried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established wthe heavenly lights and the sun.
17 You have xfixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made ysummer and winter.
18 zRemember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and aa foolish people reviles your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of your bdove to the wild beasts;
cdo not forget the life of your poor forever.
20 Have regard for dthe covenant,
for ethe dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not fthe downtrodden gturn back in shame;
let hthe poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, O God, idefend your cause;
jremember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
kthe uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!
Encouragement to Give Generously
1 We want you to know, brothers,1 about the grace of God that has been hgiven among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and itheir extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave jaccording to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly kfor the favor2 of taking part in lthe relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they mgave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6 Accordingly, nwe urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you othis act of grace. 7 But as pyou excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you3—qsee that you excel in this act of grace also.
8 rI say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that sthough he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this matter tI give my judgment: uthis benefits you, who va year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable waccording to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply xtheir need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, y“Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
Commendation of Titus
16 But zthanks be to God, awho put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. 17 For bhe not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going4 to you of his own accord. 18 With him we are sending5 cthe brother who is famous among dall the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19 And not only that, but he has been eappointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of fgrace that is being ministered by us, gfor the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. 20 We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, 21 for hwe aim at what is honorable inot only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is jmy partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers6 of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 So give proof before the churches of your love and of kour boasting about you to these men.
