Woe to Oppressive Jerusalem
1 Woe to the city that is rebelliousand defiled,
the oppressive city!
2 She has not obeyed;
she has not accepted discipline.
She has not trustedin Yahweh;
she has not drawn near to her God.
3 Theprinces within her are roaring lions;
her judges are wolves of the night,
which leave nothing forthe morning.
4 Her prophets are reckless—
treacherous men.
Her priests profane the sanctuary;
they do violence to instruction.
5 The righteousLordis in her;
He does no wrong.
He applies His justice morning by morning;
He does not fail at dawn,
yet the one who does wrong knows no shame.
6 I have cut off nations;
their corner towersare destroyed.
I have laid waste their streets,
with no one to pass through.
Their cities lie devastated,
without a person, without an inhabitant.
7 I thought: You will certainly fear Me
and accept correction.
Then her dwelling place
would not be cut off
based on all that I had allocated to her.
However, they became more corrupt
in all their actions.
8 Therefore, wait for Me—
this is theLord’s declaration —
until the day I rise up for plunder.
For My decision is to gather nations,
to assemble kingdoms,
in order to pour out My indignationon them,
all My burning anger;
for the whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of My jealousy.
Final Restoration Promised
9 For I will then restore
purespeech to the peoples
so that all of them may call
on the name of Yahweh
and serve Him with a single purpose.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
My supplicants, My dispersed people,
will bring an offering to Me.
11 On that day youwill not be put to shame
because of everything you have done
in rebellingagainst Me.
For then I will remove
your proud,arrogant people from among you,
and you will never again be haughty
on My holy mountain.
12 I will leave
a meek and humble peopleamong you,
and they will take refuge in the name of Yahweh.
13 The remnantof Israel will no longer
do wrong or tell lies;
a deceitful tongue will not be found
in their mouths.
But they will pasture and lie down,
with nothing to make them afraid.
14 Sing for joy, Daughter Zion;
shout loudly, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
15 TheLordhas removed your punishment;
He has turned back your enemy.
The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you;
you need no longer fear harm.
16 On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, do not let your hands grow weak.
17 Yahweh your God is among you,
a warriorwho saves.
He will rejoice over youwith gladness.
He will bring you quietnesswith His love.
He will delight in you with shouts of joy.”
18 I will gather those who have been driven
from the appointed festivals;
they will be a tribute from you
and a reproach on her.
19 Yes, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you.
I will save the lameand gather the scattered;
I will make those who were disgraced
throughout the earth
receive praise and fame.
20 At that time I will bring youback,
yes, at the time I will gather you.
I will give you fame and praise
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunesbefore your eyes.
Yahweh has spoken.
—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/ZEP/3-4311cbcb23151140a8213bcb9f18beaa.mp3?version_id=72—