2  “I will utterly sweep away everything

from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

3  “I will sweep away man and beast;

I will sweep away the birds of the heavens

and the ^bfish of the sea,

and the rubble¹ with the wicked.

I will cut off mankind

from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

4  “I will stretch out my hand against Judah

and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal

and the name of the ^cidolatrous priests along with the priests,

5  those who bow down ^don the roofs

to the ^ehost of the heavens,

those who bow down and swear to the Lord

and yet swear by ^fMilcom,²

6  those who have ^gturned back from following the Lord,

who do not ^hseek the Lord or inquire of him.”

7  ⁱBe silent before the Lord God!

For the ^jday of the Lord is near;

^kthe Lord has prepared a sacrifice

and ^lconsecrated his guests.

8  And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice—

“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons

and all who array themselves in foreign attire.

9  On that day I will punish

everyone who ^mleaps over the threshold,

and those who fill their master’s³ house

with violence and fraud.

10  “On that day,” declares the Lord,

“a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,

a wail from the Second Quarter,

a loud crash from the hills.

11  Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!

For all the traders⁴ are no more;

all who weigh out silver are cut off.

12  At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

and I will punish the men

who are complacent,⁵

those who say in their hearts,

ⁿ‘The Lord will not do good,

nor will he do ill.’

13  Their goods shall be plundered,

and their houses laid waste.

^oThough they build houses,

they shall not inhabit them;

though they plant vineyards,

they shall not drink wine from them.”

14  The great day of the Lord is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;

the mighty man cries aloud there.

15  A day of wrath is that day,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,

^pa day of darkness and gloom,

^qa day of clouds and thick darkness,

16  a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

17  ^rI will bring distress on mankind,

so that they shall walk ^slike the blind,

because they have sinned against the Lord;

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

^ton the day of the wrath of the Lord.

^uIn the fire of his jealousy,

all the earth shall be consumed;

for a full and sudden end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

2  O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,

and you will not hear?

Or cry to you “Violence!”

and you will not save?

3  Why do you make me see iniquity,

and why do you idly look at wrong?

Destruction and violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

4  So the law is paralyzed,

and justice never goes forth.

For the wicked surround the righteous;

so justice goes forth perverted.

5  ^c“Look among the nations, and see;

wonder and be astounded.

For ^dI am doing a work in your days

that you would not believe if told.

6  For behold, I am raising up the ^eChaldeans,

that bitter and hasty nation,

who march through the breadth of the earth,

to seize dwellings not their own.

7  They are dreaded and fearsome;

their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.

8  Their ^fhorses are swifter than leopards,

more fierce than the evening wolves;

their horsemen press proudly on.

Their horsemen come from afar;

they fly like an ^geagle swift to devour.

9  They all come for violence,

all their faces forward.

They gather captives like sand.

10  At kings they scoff,

and at rulers they laugh.

They laugh at every fortress,

for they pile up earth and take it.

11  Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,

guilty men, whose own might is their god!”

12  Are you not ^hfrom everlasting,

O Lord my God, my Holy One?

We shall not die.

O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,

and you, O ⁱRock, have established them for reproof.

13  You who are of purer eyes than to see evil

and cannot look at wrong,

^jwhy do you idly look at traitors

and remain silent when the wicked swallows up

the man more righteous than he?

14  You make mankind like the fish of the sea,

like crawling things that have no ruler.

15  ^kHe¹ brings all of them up with a hook;

he drags them out with his net;

he gathers them in his dragnet;

so he rejoices and is glad.

16  Therefore he sacrifices to his net

and makes offerings to his dragnet;

for by them he lives in luxury,²

and his food is rich.

17  Is he then to keep on emptying his net

and mercilessly killing nations forever?