Page:JPS-1917-Universal.djvu/776

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
1.14
ZEPHANIAH

14The great day of the Lord is near,
It is near and hasteth greatly,
Even the voice of the day of the Lord,
Wherein the mighty man crieth 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 horn and alarm,
Against the fortified cities, and against the high towers.
17And I will bring distress upon men,
That they shall walk like the blind,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
And their blood shall be poured out as dust,
And their flesh as dung.
18Neither their silver nor their gold
Shall be able to deliver them
In the day of the Lord's wrath;
But the whole earth shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy;
For He will make an end, yea, a terrible end,
Of all them that dwell in the earth.
2Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together,
O shameless nation;
2Before the decree bring forth
The day when one passeth as the chaff,
Before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you,
Before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you.
3Seek ye the Lord, all ye humble of the earth,
That have executed His ordinance;
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.
4For Gaza shall be forsaken,
And Ashkelon a desolation;
They shall drive out Ashdod at the noonday,
And Ekron shall be rooted up.
5Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, the land of the Philistines;
I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
6And the sea-coast shall be pastures,
Even meadows for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
7And it shall be a portion for the remnant of the house of Judah,
Whereon they shall feed;
In the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening;
For the Lord their God will remember them,
And turn their captivity.
8I have heard the taunt of Moab,
And the revilings of the children of Ammon,
Wherewith they have taunted My people,
And spoken boastfully concerning their border.
9Therefore as I live,
Saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
Surely Moab shall be as Sodom,
And the children of Ammon as Gomorrah,
Even the breeding-place of nettles, and saltpits,
And a desolation, for ever;
The residue of My people shall spoil them,
And the remnant of My nation shall inherit them.
10This shall they have for their pride,

754