1 The word of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} that came to Zeph·a·nyʹah son of Cushʹi son of Ged·a·lyʹah son of Am·a·ryʹah son of Hez·e·kyʹah in the days of Jo·syʹah son of Aʹmon the king of Judah:
2 “I will completely sweep away everything from the surface of the ground,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
3 “I will sweep away man and beast.
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked ones;
And I will remove mankind from the surface of the ground,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Yerushalom,
And I will wipe out from this place every vestige of Baʹal,
The name of the foreign-god priests along with the priests,
5 And those who bow down on the rooftops to the army of the heavens,
And those who bow down and pledge loyalty to Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}
While pledging loyalty to Malʹcam;
6 And those who turn away from following Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}
And who do not seek Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} or inquire of him.”
7 Be silent before the Master Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}, for the day of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} is near.
Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} has prepared a sacrifice; he has sanctified those he invited.
8 “On the day of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}’s sacrifice I will call to account the princes,
The sons of the king, and all those wearing foreign clothing.
9 I will call to account everyone who climbs onto the platform on that day,
Those who fill their master’s house with violence and deception.
10 On that day,” declares Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah},
“There will be the sound of an outcry from the Fish Gate,
A wailing from the Second Quarter of the city,
And a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail, you inhabitants of Makʹtesh,
For all the tradesmen have been done away with;
All those weighing out silver have been destroyed.
12 At that time I will carefully search Yerushalom with lamps,
And I will call to account the complacent ones, who say in their heart,
‘Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} will not do good, and he will not do bad.’
13 Their wealth will be plundered and their houses will be devastated.
They will build houses, but they will not occupy them;
And they will plant vineyards, but they will not drink wine from them.
14 The great day of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} is near!
It is near and it is approaching very quickly!
The sound of the day of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} is bitter.
There a warrior cries out.
15 That day is a day of fury,
A day of distress and anguish,
A day of storm and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick gloom,
16 A day of the horn and of the battle cry,
Against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers.
17 I will cause distress to mankind,
And they will walk like blind men,
Because it is against Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} they have sinned.
Their blood will be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them in the day of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah}’s fury;
For by the fire of his zeal the whole earth will be consumed,
Because he will make an extermination, indeed a terrible one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.”