8. What do ye meditate against the LORD?

9.

10.

He will make a full end;

Not the second time shall the calamity come.

Woe to the city of blood!

She is full of deceit and robbery ;

She ceaseth not from plunder.

[Hark!] The noise of the whip!

The noise of the rattling of the wheels,

(Chap. I; 3-8.)

And of the prancing horses, and of the bounding chariots! 11. The horseman lifteth up the flame of the sword,

And the lightning of the spear;

12. There is a multitude of the slain; heaps of dead bodies; There is no end to the carcasses;

They stumble over the carcasses.

13. It is because of thy many abominations,

The graceful beauty, the mistress of enchantments,
That sold nations by her vices,

And kingdoms by her enchantments.

14. Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts,
And I will dishonor thee, and make thee a gazing-stock,
And all that see thee shall flee from thee,

15.

And shall say,

"Nineveh is laid waste;

Who will bemoan her?

Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?"

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria!

Thy nobles take their rest,

Thy people are scattered on the mountains, and none gathereth them.

16. Thy bruise is incurable; thy wound is mortal.

17.

All that hear of thee shall clap their hands over thee

For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually? (Chap. III; 1-6, 18-19.)

Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,

That publisheth peace!

Keep, O Judah, thy feasts, perform thy vows!

For no more shall the destroyer pass through thee;

He is utterly consumed.

(Chap. II; 15.)

1.

ZEPHANIAH.

About 625, B. C. E.

I.

Destruction of Judah threatened. Exhortation to repentance.

The word of the LORD, which came to 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.
(Chap. I; 1.)*

2. Be silent before God, the Eternal!

For the day of the LORD is near;

For the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice;

He hath appointed his guests.

3. And in the day of the sacrifice it shall come to pass That I will punish the princes and the sons of the king, And all that are clothed with foreign apparel.

4. In that day also will I punish all that leap over the threshold,
That fill the houses of their master with violence and deceit.
5. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them
in the day of the wrath of the LORD,

For destruction, and that a speedy one, will he bring
Upon all that dwell in the land.

6. Search yourselves; yea, search, O nation without shame!
Before the decree bring forth,

Before the day come upon you like chaff;

Before the day of the anger of the LORD come upon you.

7. Seek ye the LORD, all ye lowly of the land,

Ye, who obey his commands!

Seek righteousness; seek lowliness;

It may be that ye shall be hid in the day of the anger of the

LORD.

II.

(Chap. I; 1-7.)

The sins of Jerusalem denounced and destruction threatened. The residue

1.

of the people will trust in God. Purity and humility will be universal. Israel will be happy in God's love.

WOE to her that is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing

2. She listeneth to no voice, she receiveth not admonition;

She trusteth not in the LORD,

She draweth not near to her God.

3. Her princes within her are roaring lions; Her judges are evening wolves;

They reserve nothing for the morning.

4. Her prophets are vainglorious, men of treachery ;
Her priests pollute the sanctuary, they violate the law.
5. But the LORD is just in the midst of her;

He doeth no iniquity.

Every morning bringeth he his righteousness to light; he faileth not;

Yet the wicked knoweth not shame.

6. I have cut off nations; their towers are destroyed;

I have laid waste their streets so that none passeth through; Their cities are made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant.

7. Then I said, "Surely thou wilt fear me; thou wilt receive admonition,

8.

9.

That thy habitation may not be cut off,

As I have commanded concerning thee."

But they were diligent to commit iniquity in all their doings.
Therefore wait for me, saith the LORD

Until the day when I rise upon them,

To pour upon them my indignation,

For with the fire of mine anger shall all the land be devoured.
Then will I again bestow upon the nations pure lips,

So that they shall all of them call upon the name of the LORD,
And serve him with one consent.

10. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants,

The sons of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering. 11. In that day thou shalt not be ashamed

For all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me; For I will take away from the midst of thee thy proud exulters, And thou shalt no more exalt thyself upon my holy mountain. 12. I will leave in the midst of thee a humble and lowly people, Who trust in the name of the LORD.

13. The residue of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak falsehood;
Neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth ;
Therefore shall they feed and lie down,
And none shall make them afraid.

(Chap. III; 1-13.)

HABAKKUK.

About 600 B. C. E.

I.

The power and tyranny of the Chaldæans. Shall the wicked prevail?

1.

THE prophecy which was revealed to the prophet Habakkuk. 2. How long, O LORD, do I cry, and thou dost not hear!

How long do I complain to thee of violence, and thou dost not

save!

3. Why dost thou suffer me to see iniquity,

And why dost thou look upon wickedness?
For spoiling and violence are before me;
There is contention, and strife exalteth itself.

4. Therefore the law faileth,

And judgment is not pronounced according to truth;
For the wicked encompasseth the righteous,

Therefore wrong judgment is pronounced.

5. Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One?

We shall not die!

Thou, O LORD, hast appointed them for judgment;

Thou, O Rock, hast ordained them for chastisement.

6. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil,

And canst not look on wickedness;

Why then dost thou look on transgressors,

And art silent, when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he ?

7. And why makest thou men as the fishes of the sea

As the reptiles that have no ruler ?

8. They take up all of them with the hook,

They catch them in their net,

And gather them in their drag;
Therefore they rejoice and exult.

9. Therefore they sacrifice to their net,
And burn incense to their drag;
Because by them their portion is fat,
And their food plenteous.

10. Shall they therefore empty the net,

And slay the nations continually without mercy?

(Chap. I; 1-4, 12-17)

II.

The answer of God. The punishment of the wicked is appointed. The faith of the just. Woes uttered against oppression, extor

1.

tion, double-dealing and the folly of idolatry.

I WILL stand on my watch-tower,

And set myself on the bulwark,

And watch to see what he will say to me, And what I shall answer to my expostulation. 2. And the LORD answered me, and said,

Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets,
That he may run that readeth it.

3. For the vision is yet for an appointed time,
But it hasteneth to the end; it shall not deceive;
If it tarry, wait for it;

For it shall surely come; it shall not long delay.

4. Behold, the soul of him that is puffed up shall not be at ease; But the just shall live by his faithfulness.

5. Behold, the man of wine is outrageous;
The proud man remaineth not at rest;
He enlargeth his desire as the grave;
He is as death, and cannot be satisfied;
He gathereth to himself all the nations,
And collecteth to himself all the kingdoms.

6. Shall not all of them utter a song against him,

Yea, songs of reproach and derision concerning him?

And say, Woe to him that heapeth up that which belongeth not to him!

For how long a time?

That ladeth himself with goods taken in pledge!

7. Shall not they suddenly rise up that will oppress thee, And awake, that will harrass thee?

Yea, thou shalt be their booty.

8. Because thou hast plundered many kingdoms,

All the residue of the nations shall plunder thee:

For the blood of men, and for violence against the land,
Against the city and all its inhabitants.

9. Woe to him that procureth unjust gain for his house,
That he may set his nest on high,

That he may be delivered from the evil hand!

10. Thou hast devised shame for thine house;

By destroying many nations, thou hast brought ruin upon thyself.