World English Bible

[Bible guild Mule]

Micah
2

1 Woe to those who devise iniquity
and work evil on their beds!
When the morning is light, they practice it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields, and seize them;
and houses, and take them away:
and they oppress a man and his house,
even a man and his heritage.
3 Therefore Yahweh says:
“Behold, I am planning against these people a disaster,
from which you will not remove your necks,
neither will you walk haughtily;
for it is an evil time.
4 In that day they will take up a parable against you,
and lament with a doleful lamentation, saying,
‘We are utterly ruined!
My people’s possession is divided up.
Indeed he takes it from me and assigns our fields to traitors!’ ”
5 Therefore you will have no one who divides the land by lot in Yahweh’s assembly.
6 “Don’t prophesy!”
They prophesy.
“Don’t prophesy about these things.
Disgrace won’t overtake us.”
7 Shall it be said, O house of Jacob:
“Is Yahweh’s Spirit angry?
Are these his doings?
Don’t my words do good to him who walks blamelessly?”
8 But lately my people have risen up as an enemy.
You strip the robe and clothing from those who pass by without a care, returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people out from their pleasant houses;
from their young children you take away my blessing forever.
10 Arise, and depart!
For this is not your resting place,
because of uncleanness that destroys,
even with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood lies:
“I will prophesy to you of wine and of strong drink;”
he would be the prophet of this people.
12 I will surely assemble, Jacob, all of you;
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;
I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah,
as a flock in the middle of their pasture;
they will swarm with people.
13 He who breaks open the way goes up before them.
They break through the gate, and go out.
And their king passes on before them,
with Yahweh at their head.  

[Bible guild Mule]

Micah
3

1 I said,
“Please listen, you heads of Jacob,
and rulers of the house of Israel:
Isn’t it for you to know justice?
2 You who hate the good,
and love the evil;
who tear off their skin,
and their flesh from off their bones;
3 who also eat the flesh of my people,
and peel their skin from off them,
and break their bones,
and chop them in pieces, as for the pot,
and as meat within the cauldron.
4 Then they will cry to Yahweh,
but he will not answer them.
Yes, he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they made their deeds evil.”

5 Yahweh says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, “Peace!” and whoever doesn’t provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:
6 “Therefore night is over you, with no vision,
and it is dark to you, that you may not divine;
and the sun will go down on the prophets,
and the day will be black over them.
7 The seers shall be disappointed,
and the diviners confounded.
Yes, they shall all cover their lips;
for there is no answer from God.”*
8 But as for me, I am full of power by Yahweh’s Spirit,
and of judgment, and of might,
to declare to Jacob his disobedience,
and to Israel his sin.
9 Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob,
and rulers of the house of Israel,
who abhor justice,
and pervert all equity.
10 They build up Zion with blood,
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Her leaders judge for bribes,
and her priests teach for a price,
and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money:
yet they lean on Yahweh, and say,
“Isn’t Yahweh among us?
No disaster will come on us.”
12 Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field,
and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble,
and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.

*3:7 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).  

[Bible guild Mule]

Micah
4

1 But in the latter days,
it will happen that the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains,
and it will be exalted above the hills;
and peoples will stream to it.
2 Many nations will go and say,
“Come! Let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
and to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For the law will go out of Zion,
and Yahweh’s word from Jerusalem;
3 and he will judge between many peoples,
and will decide concerning strong nations afar off.
They will beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
neither will they learn war any more.
4 But they will sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree;
and no one will make them afraid:
For the mouth of Yahweh of Armies has spoken. 5 Indeed all the nations may walk in the name of their gods;
but we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God forever and ever.
6 “In that day,” says Yahweh,
“I will assemble that which is lame,
and I will gather that which is driven away,
and that which I have afflicted;
7 and I will make that which was lame a remnant,
and that which was cast far off a strong nation:
and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion from then on, even forever.”
8 You, tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you it will come,
yes, the former dominion will come,
the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why do you cry out aloud?
Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished,
that pains have taken hold of you as of a woman in travail?
10 Be in pain, and labor to give birth, daughter of Zion,
like a woman in travail;
for now you will go out of the city,
and will dwell in the field,
and will come even to Babylon.
There you will be rescued.
There Yahweh will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.
11 Now many nations have assembled against you, that say,
“Let her be defiled,
and let our eye gloat over Zion.”
12 But they don’t know the thoughts of Yahweh,
neither do they understand his counsel;
for he has gathered them like the sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion;
for I will make your horn iron,
and I will make your hoofs bronze;
and you will beat in pieces many peoples:
and I will devote their gain to Yahweh,
and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.  

[Bible guild Mule]

Micah
5

1 Now you shall gather yourself in troops,
daughter of troops.
He has laid siege against us.
They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.
2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
being small among the clans of Judah,
out of you one will come out to me that is to be ruler in Israel;
whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.
3 Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth.
Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.
4 He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh,
in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God:
and they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.
5 He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land,
and when he marches through our fortresses,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds,
and eight leaders of men.
6 They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod in its gates.
He will deliver us from the Assyrian,
when he invades our land,
and when he marches within our border.
7 The remnant of Jacob will be among many peoples,
like dew from Yahweh,
like showers on the grass,
that don’t wait for man,
nor wait for the sons of men.
8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
among many peoples,
like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep;
who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces,
and there is no one to deliver.
9 Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries,
and let all of your enemies be cut off.
10 “It will happen in that day”, says Yahweh,
“that I will cut off your horses out from among you,
and will destroy your chariots.
11 I will cut off the cities of your land,
and will tear down all your strongholds.
12 I will destroy witchcraft from your hand;
and you shall have no soothsayers.
13 I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars out from among you;
and you shall no more worship the work of your hands.
14 I will uproot your Asherah poles out from among you;
and I will destroy your cities.
15 I will execute vengeance in anger,
and wrath on the nations that didn’t listen.”  

[Bible guild Mule]

Micah
6

1 Listen now to what Yahweh says:
“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear what you have to say.
2 Hear, you mountains, Yahweh’s indictment,
and you enduring foundations of the earth;
for Yahweh has a case against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
3 My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened you?
Answer me!
4 For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
and redeemed you out of the house of bondage.
I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of Yahweh.”

6 How shall I come before Yahweh,
and bow myself before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams?
With tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience?
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good.
What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly,
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

9 Yahweh’s voice calls to the city,
and wisdom sees your name:
“Listen to the rod,
and he who appointed it.
10 Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and a short ephah* that is accursed?
11 Shall I be pure with dishonest scales,
and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 Her rich men are full of violence,
her inhabitants speak lies,
and their tongue is deceitful in their speech.
13 Therefore I also have struck you with a grievous wound.
I have made you desolate because of your sins.
14 You shall eat, but not be satisfied.
Your humiliation will be within you.
You will store up, but not save;
and that which you save I will give up to the sword.
15 You will sow, but won’t reap.
You will tread the olives, but won’t anoint yourself with oil;
and crush grapes, but won’t drink the wine.
16 For the statutes of Omri are kept,
and all the works of Ahab’s house.
You walk in their counsels,
that I may make you a ruin,
and her inhabitants a hissing;
And you will bear the reproach of my people.”

*6:10 An ephah is a measure of volume (about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel), and a short ephah is made smaller than a full ephah for the purpose of cheating customers.  

[Bible guild Mule]

Micah
7

1 Misery is mine!
Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vineyard:
There is no cluster of grapes to eat.
My soul desires to eat the early fig.
2 The godly man has perished out of the earth,
and there is no one upright among men.
They all lie in wait for blood;
every man hunts his brother with a net.
3 Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently.
The ruler and judge ask for a bribe;
and the powerful man dictates the evil desire of his soul.
Thus they conspire together.
4 The best of them is like a brier.
The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen,
even your visitation, has come;
now is the time of their confusion.
5 Don’t trust in a neighbor.
Don’t put confidence in a friend.
With the woman lying in your embrace,
be careful of the words of your mouth!
6 For the son dishonors the father,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
7 But as for me, I will look to Yahweh.
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 Don’t rejoice against me, my enemy.
When I fall, I will arise.
When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light to me.
9 I will bear the indignation of Yahweh,
because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my case, and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light.
I will see his righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see it,
and shame will cover her who said to me,
where is Yahweh your God?
Then my enemy will see me and will cover her shame.
Now she will be trodden down like the mire of the streets.
11 A day to build your walls!
In that day, he will extend your boundary.
12 In that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt even to the River,
and from sea to sea,
and mountain to mountain.
13 Yet the land will be desolate because of those who dwell therein,
for the fruit of their doings.
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your heritage,
who dwell by themselves in a forest,
in the middle of fertile pasture land, let them feed;
in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
15 “As in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them marvelous things.”
16 The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might.
They will lay their hand on their mouth.
Their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a serpent.
Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their dens.
They will come with fear to Yahweh our God,
and will be afraid because of you.
18 Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity,
and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage?
He doesn’t retain his anger forever,
because he delights in loving kindness.
19 He will again have compassion on us.
He will tread our iniquities under foot;
and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 You will give truth to Jacob,
and mercy to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.  

[Bible guild Mule]

The Book of
Nahum
1

1 A revelation about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2 Yahweh* is a jealous God† and avenges. Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath against his enemies. 3 Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes. 5 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it. 6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him. 7 Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him. 8 But with an overflowing flood, he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. 9 What do you plot against Yahweh? He will make a full end. Affliction won’t rise up the second time. 10 For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly like dry stubble. 11 One has gone out of you who devises evil against Yahweh, who counsels wickedness. 12 Yahweh says: “Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so they will be cut down, and he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. 13 Now I will break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart.” 14 Yahweh has commanded concerning you: “No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, I will cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.”

15 Behold,‡ on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off.

*1:2 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.

†1:2 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).

‡1:15 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.  

[Bible guild Mule]

Nahum
2

1 He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your waist! Fortify your power mightily! 2 For Yahweh restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches. 3 The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished. 4 The chariots rage in the streets. They rush back and forth in the wide ways. Their appearance is like torches. They run like the lightnings. 5 He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place. 6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved. 7 It is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her servants moan as with the voice of doves, beating on their breasts. 8 But Nineveh has been from of old like a pool of water, yet they flee away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one looks back. 9 Take the plunder of silver. Take the plunder of gold, for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture. 10 She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale. 11 Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s cubs, and no one made them afraid? 12 The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey. 13 “Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”  

[Bible guild Mule]

Nahum
3

1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey doesn’t depart. 2 The noise of the whip, the noise of the rattling of wheels, prancing horses, and bounding chariots, 3 the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble on their bodies, 4 because of the multitude of the prostitution of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and families through her witchcraft. 5 “Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. 6 I will throw abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you a spectacle. 7 It will happen that all those who look at you will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will mourn for her?’ Where will I seek comforters for you?”

8 Are you better than No-Amon,* who was situated among the rivers, who had the waters around her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea? 9 Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength. Put and Libya were her helpers. 10 Yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains. 11 You also will be drunken. You will be hidden. You also will seek a stronghold because of the enemy. 12 All your fortresses will be like fig trees with the first-ripe figs: if they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. 13 Behold, your troops among you are women. The gates of your land are set wide open to your enemies. The fire has devoured your bars. 14 Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar. Make the brick kiln strong. 15 There the fire will devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the grasshopper. Multiply like grasshoppers. Multiply like the locust. 16 You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the skies. The grasshopper strips, and flees away. 17 Your guards are like the locusts, and your officials like the swarms of locusts, which settle on the walls on a cold day, but when the sun appears, they flee away, and their place is not known where they are. 18 Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them. 19 There is no healing your wound, for your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you; for who hasn’t felt your endless cruelty?

*3:8 or, Thebes  

[Bible guild Mule]

The Book of
Habakkuk
1

1 The revelation which Habakkuk the prophet saw. 2 Yahweh,* how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save? 3 Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up. 4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.

5 “Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you. 6 For, behold,† I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the width of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. 7 They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. 8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour. 9 All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand. 10 Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes it. 11 Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his god.”

12 Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God,‡ my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish. 13 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he, 14 and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? 15 He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad. 16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good. 17 Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?

*1:2 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.

†1:6 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.

‡1:12 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).  

[Bible guild Mule]

Habakkuk
2

1 I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

2 Yahweh answered me, “Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it. 3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay. 4 Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith. 5 Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous: an arrogant man who doesn’t stay at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol;* he is like death, and can’t be satisfied, but gathers to himself all nations, and heaps to himself all peoples. 6 Won’t all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?’ 7 Won’t your debtors rise up suddenly, and wake up those who make you tremble, and you will be their victim? 8 Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it. 9 Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil! 10 You have devised shame to your house, by cutting off many peoples, and have sinned against your soul. 11 For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork will answer it. 12 Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity! 13 Behold, isn’t it of Yahweh of Armies that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity? 14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Yahweh’s glory, as the waters cover the sea.

15 “Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies! 16 You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. 17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals, which made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them.

18 “What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols? 19 Woe to him who says to the wood, ‘Awake!’ or to the mute stone, ‘Arise!’ Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all within it. 20 But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!”

*2:5 Sheol is the place of the dead.  

[Bible guild Mule]

Habakkuk
3

1 A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music.
2 Yahweh, I have heard of your fame.
I stand in awe of your deeds, Yahweh.
Renew your work in the middle of the years.
In the middle of the years make it known.
In wrath, you remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Selah.

His glory covered the heavens,
and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor is like the sunrise.
Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden.
5 Plague went before him,
and pestilence followed his feet.
6 He stood, and shook the earth.
He looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains were crumbled.
The age-old hills collapsed.
His ways are eternal.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction.
The dwellings of the land of Midian trembled.
8 Was Yahweh displeased with the rivers?
Was your anger against the rivers,
or your wrath against the sea,
that you rode on your horses,
on your chariots of salvation?
9 You uncovered your bow.
You called for your sworn arrows.
Selah.

You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw you, and were afraid.
The storm of waters passed by.
The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in the sky,
at the light of your arrows as they went,
at the shining of your glittering spear.
12 You marched through the land in wrath.
You threshed the nations in anger.
13 You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the land of wickedness.
You stripped them head to foot.
Selah.

14 You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears.
They came as a whirlwind to scatter me,
gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning mighty waters.
16 I heard, and my body trembled.
My lips quivered at the voice.
Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place,
because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble,
for the coming up of the people who invade us.
17 For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish,
nor fruit be in the vines;
the labor of the olive fails,
the fields yield no food;
the flocks are cut off from the fold,
and there is no herd in the stalls:
18 yet I will rejoice in Yahweh.
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
19 Yahweh, the Lord,* is my strength.
He makes my feet like deer’s feet,
and enables me to go in high places.

For the music director, on my stringed instruments.

*3:19 The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai.”  

[Bible guild Mule]

The Book of
Zephaniah
1

1 Yahweh’s* word which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 I will utterly sweep away everything from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. 3 I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. 4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place: the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests, 5 those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam, 6 those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him. 7 Be silent at the presence of the Lord† Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests. 8 It will happen in the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, and all those who are clothed with foreign clothing. 9 In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master’s house with violence and deceit. 10 In that day, says Yahweh, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. 11 Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off. 12 It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, “Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil.” 13 Their wealth will become a plunder, and their houses a desolation. Yes, they will build houses, but won’t inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, but won’t drink their wine. 14 The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, 16 a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements. 17 I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Yahweh, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.

*1:1 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.

†1:7 The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai.”  

[Bible guild Mule]

Zephaniah
2

1 Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, you nation that has no shame, 2 before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes on you. 3 Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the land, who have kept his ordinances. Seek righteousness. Seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of Yahweh’s anger. 4 For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up. 5 Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! Yahweh’s word is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you, that there will be no inhabitant. 6 The sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks. 7 The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will find pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will lie down in the evening, for Yahweh, their God,* will visit them, and restore them. 8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the children of Ammon, with which they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. 9 Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them. 10 This they will have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Yahweh of Armies. 11 Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations. 12 You Cushites also, you will be killed by my sword. 13 He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness. 14 Herds will lie down in the middle of her, all the animals of the nations. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams. 15 This is the joyous city that lived carelessly, that said in her heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” How she has become a desolation, a place for animals to lie down in! Everyone who passes by her will hiss, and shake their fists.

*2:7 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).  

[Bible guild Mule]

Zephaniah
3

1 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city! 2 She didn’t obey the voice. She didn’t receive correction. She didn’t trust in Yahweh. She didn’t draw near to her God. 3 Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day. 4 Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. 5 Yahweh, within her, is righteous. He will do no wrong. Every morning he brings his justice to light. He doesn’t fail, but the unjust know no shame. 6 I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant. 7 I said, “Just fear me. Receive correction, so that her dwelling won’t be cut off, according to all that I have appointed concerning her.” But they rose early and corrupted all their doings. 8 “Therefore wait for me”, says Yahweh, “until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth will be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. 9 For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on Yahweh’s name, to serve him shoulder to shoulder. 10 From beyond the rivers of Cush, my worshipers, even the daughter of my dispersed people, will bring my offering. 11 In that day you will not be disappointed for all your doings, in which you have transgressed against me; for then I will take away out from among you your proudly exulting ones, and you will no more be arrogant in my holy mountain. 12 But I will leave among you an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in Yahweh’s name. 13 The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.”

14 Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. 15 Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more. 16 In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.” 17 Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. 18 I will remove those who grieve about the appointed feasts from you. They are a burden and a reproach to you. 19 Behold,* at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you, and I will save those who are lame, and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honor, whose shame has been in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you in, and at that time I will gather you; for I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says Yahweh.

*3:19 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.