Zephaniah 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^a all things from off the face of the land, saith the Lord:

a when the nations will be gathered together for judgment.

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^b, 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:

b the Church.

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^c, he hath sanctified^d his guests^e.

c Jesus, the Lamb of God. d by the blood of Christ and the waters of baptism. e the Church.

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^f 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.

f the Church.

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.

1:1-3 LIT: The prophet declares God will gather all of Judah’s enemies together for judgment. ALL: As God will gather all of the nations into one place to be judged, God will gather all of His elect from every tongue, tribe and nation into one body, the Church. MOR: There is no escaping God’s judgment; we will all give an account for what we have done in the body, whether it is good or bad. Therefore, we ought to strive to be able to give a good account.

1:4-6 LIT: A promise is made to rid the people of Judah from their idolatry. ALL: As God promised to rid Judah of her idolatry, God promises to rid the Church of all idolatry (Ezekiel 36:25). Indeed, the Lord will rid the Church of her Baals and her Melchoms.

1:7 LIT: The people of Judah are called to sobriety since the day of God’s judgment is near. ALL: The members of the Church are the guests spoken of in this verse which have been sanctified by the blood of Christ and washed in the waters of baptism, and Jesus is the victim God prepared for His guests to be eaten in the Eucharist. As Judah was called to be silent, as a sing of awe, before the face of the Lord, the Church is called to be in awe of God when in His presence. MOR: We ought to be silent and in awe of God during the mass when the sacrificial victim, Jesus, is in our presence in the Eucharist.

1:8-9 LIT: God promises to judge those in high places of authority and all who practice iniquity. ALL: On the day of the victim, the day when Christ comes to judge the nations, God will punish all of the Church’s enemies.

1:10-12 LIT: The Lord declares He will search Jerusalem and will punish all of its inhabitents who think the Lord will not bring judgment to the good and the bad. ALL: God will search the Church and punish all those who are complacent and not preparing for the Day of Judgment (Matthew 24:48). MOR: God searches the hearts of men and renders judgment on those whose hearts are complacent; therefore, we too should search our hearts and remove any remaining sin.

1:13 LIT: Those who have strength and great possessions will have them taken away because they did not prepare for God’s judgment. ALL: Those in the Church that are known for their strength and possessions but did not prepare for the coming of Christ will lose everything they had. MOR: These things warn us of putting our hope in strength and possession while neglecting matters of eternal significance.

1:14-18 LIT: On the day Judah’s enemies are judged their riches will be of no benefit, ALL: The riches of the enemies of the Church will not be able to spare them of God’s just judgment. ANA: Those who were poor in the flesh but gave out of their poverty will be rewarded in heaven.