The Prophecy of Sophonias, Chapter 1

1   The word of the Lord that came to Sophonias the son of
    Chusi, the son of Godolias, the son of Amarias, the son of
    Ezechias, in the days of Josias the son of Amon king of
    Juda.
2   Gathering, I will gather together all things from off the
    face of the land, saith the Lord:
3   I will gather man, and beast, I will gather the birds of
    the air, and the fishes of the sea: and the ungodly shall
    meet with ruin: and I will destroy men from off the face
    of the land, saith the Lord.
4   And I will stretch out my hand upon Juda, and upon all the
    inhabitants of Jerusalem: and I will destroy out of this
    place the remnant of Baal, and the names of the wardens of
    the temples with the priests:
5   And them that worship the host of heaven upon the tops of
    houses, and them that adore, and swear by the Lord, and
    swear by Melchom.
6   And them that turn away from following after the Lord, and
    that have not sought the Lord, nor searched after him.
7   Be silent before the face of the Lord God: for the day of
    the Lord is near, for the Lord hath prepared a victim, he
    hath sanctified his guests.
8   And it shall come to pass in the day of the victim of the
    Lord, that I will visit upon the princes, and upon the
    king's sons, and upon all such as are clothed with strange
    apparel.
9   And I will visit in that day upon every one that entereth
    arrogantly over the threshold: them that fill the house of
    the Lord their God with iniquity and deceit.
10  And there shall be in that day, saith the Lord, the noise
    of a cry from the fish gate, and a howling from the
    Second, and a great destruction from the hills.
11  Howl, ye inhabitants of the Morter. All the people of
    Chanaan is hush, all are cut off that were wrapped up in
    silver.
12  And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search
    Jerusalem with lamps, and will visit upon the men that are
    settled on their lees: that say in their hearts: The Lord
    will not do good, nor will he do evil.
13  And their strength shall become a booty, and their houses
    as a desert: and they shall build houses, and shall not
    dwell in them: and they shall plant vineyards, and shall
    not drink the wine of them.
14  The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and
    exceeding swift: the voice of the day of the Lord is
    bitter, the mighty man shall there meet with tribulation.
15  That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and
    distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness
    and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds,
16  A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities,
    and against the high bulwarks.
17  And I will distress men, and they shall walk like blind
    men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their
    blood shall be poured out as earth, and their bodies as
    dung.
18  Neither shall their silver and their gold be able to
    deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: all the
    land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he
    shall make even a speedy destruction of all them that
    dwell in the land.


             The Prophecy of Sophonias, Chapter 2

1   Assemble yourselves together, be gathered together, O
    nation not worthy to be loved:
2   Before the decree bring forth the day as dust passing
    away, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you,
    before the day of the Lord's indignation come upon you.
3   Seek the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, you that have
    wrought his judgment: seek the just, seek the meek: if by
    any means you may be hid in the day of the Lord's
    indignation.
4   For Gaza shall be destroyed, and Ascalon shall be a
    desert, they shall cast out Azotus at noonday, and Accaron
    shall be rooted up.
5   Woe to you that inhabit the sea coast, O nation of
    reprobates: the word of the Lord upon you, O Chanaan, the
    land of the Philistines, and I will destroy thee, so that
    there shall not be an inhabitant.
6   And the sea coast shall be the resting place of shepherds,
    and folds for cattle:
7   And it shall be the portion of him that shall remain of
    the house of Juda, there they shall feed: in the houses of
    Ascalon they shall rest in the evening: because the Lord
    their God will visit them, and bring back their captivity.
8   I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the blasphemies of
    the children of Ammon, with which they reproached my
    people, and have magnified themselves upon their borders.
9   Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts the God of
    Israel, Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon
    as Gomorrha, the dryness of thorns, and heaps of salt, and
    a desert even for ever: the remnant of my people shall
    make a spoil of them, and the residue of my nation shall
    possess them.
10  This shall befall them for their pride: because they have
    blasphemed, and have been magnified against the people of
    the Lord of hosts.
11  The Lord shall be terrible upon them, and shall consume
    all the gods of the earth: and they shall adore him every
    man from his own place, all the islands of the Gentiles.
12  You Ethiopians, also shall be slain with my sword.
13  And he will stretch out his hand upon the north, and will
    destroy Assyria: and he will make the beautiful city a
    wilderness, and as a place not passable, and as a desert.
14  And flocks shall lie down in the midst thereof, all the
    beasts of the nations: and the bittern and the urchin
    shall lodge in the threshold thereof: the voice of the
    singing bird in the window, the raven on the upper post,
    for I will consume her strength.
15  This is the glorious city that dwelt in security: that
    said in her heart: I am, and there is none beside me: how
    is she become a desert, a place for beasts to lie down in?
    every one that passeth by her, shall hiss, and wag his
    hand.


             The Prophecy of Sophonias, Chapter 3

1   Woe to the provoking, and redeemed city, the dove.
2   She hath not hearkened to the voice, neither hath she
    received discipline: she hath not trusted in the Lord, she
    drew not near to her God.
3   Her princes are in the midst of her as roaring lions: her
    judges are evening wolves, they left nothing for the
    morning.
4   Her prophets are senseless men without faith: her priests
    have polluted the sanctuary, they have acted unjustly
    against the law.
5   The just Lord is in the midst thereof, he will not do
    iniquity: in the morning, in the morning he will bring his
    judgment to light, and it shall not be hid: but the wicked
    man hath not known shame.
6   I have destroyed the nations, and their towers are beaten
    down: I have made their ways desert, so that there is none
    that passeth by: their cities are desolate, there is not
    a man remaining, nor any inhabitant.
7   I said: Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive
    correction: and her dwelling shall not perish, for all
    things wherein I have visited her: but they rose early and
    corrupted all their thoughts.
8   Wherefore expect me, saith the Lord, in the day of my
    resurrection that is to come, for my judgment is to
    assemble the Gentiles, and to gather the kingdoms: and to
    pour upon them my indignation, all my fierce anger: for
    with the fire of my jealousy shall all the earth be
    devoured.
9   Because then I will restore to the people a chosen lip,
    that all may call upon the name of the Lord, and may serve
    him with one shoulder.
10  From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, shall my suppliants
    the children of my dispersed people bring me an offering.
11  In that day thou shalt not be ashamed for all thy doings,
    wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will
    take away out of the midst of thee thy proud boasters, and
    thou shalt no more be lifted up because of my holy
    mountain.
12  And I will leave in the midst of thee a poor and needy
    people: and they shall hope in the name of the Lord.
13  The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak
    lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their
    mouth: for they shall feed, and shall lie down, and there
    shall be none to make them afraid.
14  Give praise, O daughter of Sion: shout, O Israel: be glad,
    and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15  The Lord hath taken away thy judgment, he hath turned away
    thy enemies: the king of Israel the Lord is in the midst
    of thee, thou shalt fear evil no more.
16  In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not: to
    Sion: Let not thy hands be weakened.
17  The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will
    save: he will rejoice over thee with gladness, he will be
    silent in his love, he will be joyful over thee in praise.
18  The triflers that were departed from the law, I will
    gather together, because they were of thee: that thou
    mayest no more suffer reproach for them.
19  Behold I will cut off all that have afflicted thee at that
    time: and I will save her that halteth, and will gather
    her that was cast out: and I will get them praise, and a
    name, in all the land where they had been put to
    confusion.
20  At that time, when I will bring you: and at the time that
    I will gather you: for I will give you a name, and praise
    among all the people of the earth, when I shall have
    brought back your captivity before your eyes, saith the
    Lord.