Another example of Intelligent Design or Divine Design in the scriptures
For an explanation of the format or patterns in the lines, go to
patterns.
Part of web site biblesecrets.org
Copyright © 2000 DSOTO-
CHAPTERS
Zephaniah 1
1 THE word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi,
The son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah,
In the days of Josiah the son
of Amon, king of Judah.
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the land, saith the LORD.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven and the
fishes of the sea,
And the stumbling blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off
man from off the land, saith the LORD.
4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem;
And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place,
And the
name of the Chemarims with the priests;
5 And them that worship the hosts of stars upon the housetops;
And them that
worship and that swear by the LORD, and also swear by Molech;
6 And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not
sought the LORD, nor enquired of him.
7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD; for the day of the LORD is
at hand;
For the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, and he hath bid his guests.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice,
That I will
punish the princes, and the king's children,
And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.
9 In the same day will I punish also,
All those that leap over the threshhold,
Which
fill their masters' house with violence.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD,
That there shall be
the noise of a cry from the Fish Gate,
And an howling from the second, and
great crashing from the hills.
11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down;
All they that weigh out silver are cut off; and it shall come to pass at that time,
That I will search Jerusalem with
lamps, and punish the men that are settled on their lees;
That say in their
heart, The LORD will not do any good, neither will he do any evil.
13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation;
They shall also build houses, but not inhabit them;
And they shall plant
vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and it hasteneth greatly,
Even the voice of the day of the LORD; the mighty man shall cry there
bitterly.
15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress,
A day of waste and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and
thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the
high towers.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men,
Because they have sinned against the LORD;
And their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day
of the LORD'S wrath;
But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his
jealousy;
For he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them,
That dwell in the
land.
Zephaniah 2
1 GATHER yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff,
Before the
fierce anger of the LORD shall come upon you,
Before the day of the LORD'S anger come
upon you.
3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth,
Which have wrought his judgment;
Seek for righteousness, and seek for meekness;
It may be that ye shall be hid in the day of the
LORD'S anger.
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation;
They shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day,
And Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the seacoast,
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, till there shall be no inhabitant.
6 And the seacoast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds
for flocks.
7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah,
And there they shall find pasture;
In the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening;
For the
LORD their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity.
8 I have heard the reproach of Moab and the reviling of the children of
Ammon,
Whereby they have reproached my people and magnified themselves
against their borders.
9 Therefore 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 salt pits,
And a perpetual desolation; the residue of my people
shall spoil them:
The remnant of my people shall possess them; this shall they have for their pride,
Because they have reproached and
magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 The LORD will be terrible unto them; for he will famish all the gods of the
earth;
And all men shall worship him, every one from his place,
Even all the
isles of the heathen;
And ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword;
And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria;
And
will make Nineveh a desolation, dry like a desert.
14 Flocks shall lie down in the midst of her,
All the beasts of the nations;
Both the cormorant and bittern,
Shall lodge upon the upper lintels;
Their voice shall sing in the windows;
And desolation shall be on the threshold;
For he shall uncover the beams of cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly,
That said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me;
How is she become a desolation, a place for
beasts to lie down in!
Every one that passeth by her shall hiss and wag his hand.
Zephaniah 3
1 WOE to her that is filthy and polluted, the oppressing city!
2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction;
She trusted not in the
LORD: drew not near to God.
3 Her princes within are roaring lions;
Her judges are evening wolves;
They leave not even bones till morning.
4 Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous persons;
Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, and they do violence to the law.
5 The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity;
Every
morning doth he bring his judgment to the light;
He faileth not, but the unjust
knoweth no shame.
6 I have cut off the nations, their towers are all desolate;
I have made all their streets a waste; there is none that passeth by;
Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no
man, and there is none inhabitant.
7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, and thou wilt receive my instructions,
So their
dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them;
But they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.
8 Therefore wait upon me, saith the LORD, until I rise up for
the prey;
For my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble
the kingdoms,
To pour out upon them all mine indignation, even all my fierce anger;
For the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language,
That they may call
upon the name of the LORD,
To serve him with one consent.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants,
Even the daughter of my
dispersed shall bring mine offering.
11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast
transgressed against me;
For then I will take away out of the midst of thee them
that rejoice in their pride,
And thou shalt no more be haughty in all of my holy
mountain.
12 I will also leave in thee an afflicted and poor people,
And they
shall trust in the name of the LORD.
13 The remnant shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies;
Neither shall a
deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;
For they shall pasture and lie down, and
none shall make them afraid.
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all thy
heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The LORD hath taken away the judgments against thee, he hath cast out thine enemy;
The
king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee;
Thou shalt not see
evil anymore.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem,
Fear thou not; to Zion, Let
not thine hands be weak.
17 For the LORD thy God is with thee, and he is mighty to save;
And he will quiet thee with love, and will rejoice over thee with
singing;
18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assemblies,
Who are of
thee, unto whom the reproach of it was a burden.
19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee;
And I will save her
that halteth, and gather her that was driven out;
And I will get them praise and
fame in every land where they have been put to shame.
20 And at that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you;
For I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth,
When I
turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.