The Holy Bible – Knox Translation
The Prophecy of Sophonias
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Chapter 1
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1 2 3
1
To Sophonias, that was descended from Ezechias through Amarias, Godolias and Chusi, this message came from the Lord, at the time when Josias son of Amon reigned in Juda.

2
Fall to I must, and weed yonder plot of ground, the Lord says;
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rid it, says he, of man and beast, of bird in air and fish under water; and down shall the godless come too, never a man left alive upon it.
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All Juda, all the citizens of Jerusalem, shall feel the stroke. Not a trace shall they leave behind, yonder gods of the country-side, acolyte and priest of theirs not a memory;
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forgotten, all that worship the host of heaven from the roof-tops, all that worship …, take they their oaths to the Lord, or swear they by Melchom;
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forgotten, all that turn their backs on the Lord, and will neither seek nor search for him.

7
Silence, there, to greet the Lord! Here is day of his appointing, here is great sacrifice of his preparing; all his guests bidden, all their cleansing done.
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The Lord’s sacrifice! A day of reckoning it shall be, king and prince I will call to account, all that go clad in foreign bravery,
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all that spurn yonder threshold, and fill the house of the Lord their God with deeds of treachery and wrong.
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What an outcry that day, the Lord says, from the Fishmongers’ Gate, what lamenting from the New Town! How the hill-sides will echo to the noise of your ruin!
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Ay, lament indeed, you that dwell in Mortar Valley; of the merchant folk no more is heard; here is an end of all that trafficked in silver.

12
Time, then, to call for lamps, and search Jerusalem through! Trust me, I will find them out, spoiled natures, like wine that has settled on its lees, the men who think to themselves, From the Lord nothing is to hope, nothing to fear.
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Ransacked their wealth shall be, and their homes ruined; houses they build they shall never dwell in, vineyards they plant they shall drink of never.
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Nearer, nearer comes the great day of the Lord’s reckoning, ay, and soon; bitter the bruit of its coming; here is peril to cow the bravest heart.
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Day of vengeance, day of strain and stress, day of ransack and ruin; dim and dark, overcast with cloud and storm!
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City is none so well fortified, pinnacle is none so high in air, but shall hear braying of trumpets and the battle-cry.
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Guilty wretches, they shall grope in the dark, flesh and blood of them cheap as dust and dung;
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silver and gold of them powerless to buy off the Lord’s present vengeance. Burns through the land the fire of his slighted love; takes full toll, and speedily, of all that dwell there.