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Moff by section ZEP 3:1

⌂ ← ZEP 3:1–3:20 ║ ═ ©

Zephaniah 3

Woe betide that tyrannous city, so defiant, so defiled!

Deaf to my voice, she will take no correction;

she has no faith in the Eternal,

she has never gone to her God;

her officials within her are lions that growl,

her judges are wolves on the evening prowl,

they leave not a bone till the morning;

her prophets are reckless, faithless creatures,

her priests have profaned what is sacred,

have wrested the Law.

But in her the Eternal remains upright,

he never will do wrong;

morning by morning does his justice dawn,

and his light never fails [[though the wicked are shameless]].

I have wiped out nations, ruining their ramparts,

I have emptied their streets, till none walks there;

their towns are laid waste--not a soul to inhabit them.

Surely now, I thought, she will fear me,

she will take correction,

she will never lose sight of my orders.

But all the more they gave themselves

to sheer depravity.

Wait for me, then, says the Eternal,

wait till the day of my challenge;

for I mean to muster the nations

and assemble all the realms,

to vent my wrath upon them,

the full heat of my anger,

for the fire of my fury shall consume the whole earth.

[[Then will I grant the peoples a clean speech,

that all may call on the Eternal’s name,

and worship him with one consent;

for from beyond the streams of Nile

my worshippers shall come,

bringing me offerings even from Patras.]]

But on that day you need have no despair

for all your misdeeds of rebellion;

for I will clear out from your midst

the arrogant and haughty men--

no more vaunting on my sacred hill!

And I will leave within you

a lowly, little people;

and those who are left of Israel

shall rely on the Eternal then

and commit no evil,

telling no lies, uttering no fraud:

they can pasture and lie down,

no one to molest them.

Sing, O maiden Sion,

shout, O Israel,

rejoice, exult with all your heart,

maiden Jerusalem.

The Eternal has routed your foes,

he has driven off your enemies;

Israel’s King is in your midst,

you shall have no more trouble.

[[On that day shall Jerusalem be told, “Fear not,

droop not your hands, O Sion.”]]

The Eternal your God is in your midst,

a warrior to the rescue;

he thrills with joy over you, renews his love,

exults with a festal song:

“I will take off your disgrace,

I will remove your reproach;

I will deal with all your oppressors,

and gather your outcasts, rescue the lame,

lifting them out of their shame to world-wide praise and fame,

when I gather you home,

when I do good to you;

for I will grant you praise and fame

among all nations of the world,

when I turn your fortunes under your own eyes--

’tis the Eternal’s promise.”

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