15
Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath
and even making them drunk,
in order to look at their nakedness!
16
You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.
You also — drink,
and expose your uncircumcision!
The cup in the
Lord
's right hand
will come around to you,
and utter disgrace will cover your glory.
17
For your violence against Lebanon
will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you
because of your human bloodshed and violence
against lands, cities, and all who live in them.
18
What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes idols that cannot speak.
19
Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!
or to mute stone: Come alive!
Can it teach?
Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,
yet there is no breath in it at all.
20
But the
Lord
is in His holy temple;
let everyone on earth
be silent in His presence.
Habakkuk
Habakkuk's Third Prayer
3
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. According to
Shigionoth
.
2
Lord
, I have heard the report about You;
Lord
, I stand in awe of Your deeds.
Revive Your work in these years;
make it known in these years.
In Your wrath remember mercy!
3
God comes from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His splendor covers the heavens,
and the earth is full of His praise.
4
His brilliance is like light;
rays are flashing from His hand.
This is where His power is hidden.
5
Plague goes before Him,
and pestilence follows in His steps.
6
He stands and shakes the earth;
He looks and startles the nations.
The age-old mountains break apart;
the ancient hills sink down.
His pathways are ancient.
7
I see the tents of Cushan in distress;
the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.
8
Are You angry at the rivers,
Lord
?
Is Your wrath against the rivers?
Or is Your rage against the sea
when You ride on Your horses,
Your victorious chariot?
9
You took the sheath from Your bow;
the arrows are ready to be used with an oath.
Selah
You split the earth with rivers.
10
The mountains see You and shudder;
a downpour of water sweeps by.
The deep roars with its voice
and lifts its waves high.
11
Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence,
at the flash of Your flying arrows,
at the brightness of Your shining spear.
12
You march across the earth with indignation;
You trample down the nations in wrath.
13
You come out to save Your people,
to save Your anointed.
You crush the leader of the house of the wicked
and strip him from foot to neck.
Selah
14
You pierce his head
with his own spears;
his warriors storm out to scatter us,
gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.
15
You tread the sea with Your horses,
stirring up the great waters.
Habakkuk's Confidence in God Expressed
16
I heard, and I trembled within;
my lips quivered at the sound.
Rottenness entered my bones;
I trembled where I stood.
Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress
to come against the people invading us.
17
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18
yet I will triumph in
•Yahweh
;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!
19
Yahweh my Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like those of a deer
and enables me to walk on mountain heights!
For the choir director: on stringed instruments.
Zephaniah
Zephaniah
1
The word of the
Lord
that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Great Day of the
Lord
2
I will completely sweep away everything
from the face of the earth —
this is the
Lord
's declaration.
3
I will sweep away man and animal;
I will sweep away the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea,
and the ruins along with the wicked.
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth.
This is the
Lord
's declaration.
4
I will stretch out My hand against Judah
and against all the residents of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every vestige of
•Baal
from this place,
the names of the pagan priests
along with the priests;
5
those who bow in worship on the rooftops
to the heavenly host;
those who bow and pledge loyalty to the
Lord
but also pledge loyalty to
•Milcom
;
6
and those who turn back from following the
Lord
,
who do not seek the
Lord
or inquire of Him.
7
Be silent in the presence of the Lord
God
,
for the Day of the
Lord
is near.
Indeed, the
Lord
has prepared a sacrifice;
He has consecrated His guests.
8
On the day of the
Lord
's sacrifice
I will punish the officials, the king's sons,
and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.
9
On that day I will punish
all who skip over the threshold,
who fill their master's house
with violence and deceit.
10
On that day —
this is the
Lord
's declaration —
there will be an outcry from the Fish Gate,
a wailing from the Second District,
and a loud crashing from the hills.
11
Wail, you residents of the Hollow,
for all the merchants will be silenced;
all those loaded with silver will be cut off.
12
And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish the men who settle down comfortably,
who say to themselves:
The
Lord
will not do good or evil.
13
Their wealth will become plunder
and their houses a ruin.
They will build houses but never live in them,
plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
14
The great Day of the
Lord
is near,
near and rapidly approaching.
Listen, the Day of the
Lord
—
then the warrior's cry is bitter.
15
That day is a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of destruction and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,
16
a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities,
and against the high corner towers.
17
I will bring distress on mankind,
and they will walk like the blind
because they have sinned against the
Lord
.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.
18
Their silver and their gold
will not be able to rescue them
on the day of the
Lord
's wrath.
The whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of His jealousy.
For He will make a complete,
yes, a horrifying end
of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Zephaniah
A Call to Repentance
2
Gather yourselves together;
gather together, undesirable nation,
2
before the decree takes effect
and the day passes like chaff,
before the burning of the
Lord
's anger overtakes you,
before the day of the
Lord
's anger overtakes you.
3
Seek the
Lord
, all you humble of the earth,
who carry out what He commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be concealed
on the day of the
Lord
's anger.
Judgment against the Nations
4
For Gaza will be abandoned,
and Ashkelon will become a ruin.
Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
and Ekron will be uprooted.
5
Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,
nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the
Lord
is against you,
Canaan, land of the Philistines:
I will destroy you until there is no one left.
6
The seacoast will become pasturelands
with caves for shepherds and folds for sheep.
7
The coastland will belong
to the remnant of the house of Judah;
they will find pasture there.
They will lie down in the evening
among the houses of Ashkelon,
for the
Lord
their God will return to them
and restore their fortunes.
8
I have heard the taunting of Moab
and the insults of the Ammonites,
who have taunted My people
and threatened their territory.
9
Therefore, as I live —
this is the declaration of the
Lord
of
•Hosts
,
the God of Israel —
Moab will be like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah —
a place overgrown with weeds,
a salt pit, and a perpetual wasteland.
The remnant of My people will plunder them;
the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.
10
This is what they get for their pride,
because they have taunted and acted arrogantly
against the people of the
Lord
of Hosts.
11
The
Lord
will be terrifying to them
when He starves all the gods of the earth.
Then all the distant coastlands of the nations
will bow in worship to Him,
each in its own place.
12
You
•Cushites
will also be slain by My sword.
13
He will also stretch out His hand against the north
and destroy Assyria;
He will make Nineveh a desolate ruin,
dry as the desert.
14
Herds will lie down in the middle of it,
every kind of wild animal.
Both the desert owl and the screech owl
will roost in the capitals of its pillars.
Their calls will sound from the window,
but devastation will be on the threshold,
for He will expose the cedar work.
15
This is the self-assured city
that lives in security,
that thinks to herself:
I exist, and there is no one else.
What a desolation she has become,
a place for wild animals to lie down!
Everyone who passes by her
jeers and shakes his fist.