ZEPHANIAH CHAPTER 1 - 3

BOOK OF ZEPHANIAH

The fact he is an African himself
Gives Zephaniah right upon the shelf
To cry down Ethiopian as elf.
The fact he is of some royal descent
Gives him the chance to brave the kingly tent
With condemnation for the ways they went.
Whether the writing was produced in call
Of the Josian reforms on the wall,
Or whether much was written in the stall
Of later times, it still remains to pall
The way things were done in the holy hall
Of Your city Jerusalem for all.
The threats themselves affirm Jerusalem
To be the grapple of Your eye and hem.

ZEPHANIAH 1

1 The word of YHWH which came unto
Zephaniah of Cushi’s crew,
The son of Gedaliah who
Was son of Amariah too,
The son of Hizkiah, in days
Of Josiah the son of praise
Of Ammon, king of Judah’s ways.
2 “I’ll utterly consume all things
From off the land,” says YHWH for stings.
3 “I shall consume both man and beast,
I’ll consume birds in sky at least,
And fishes of the sea and yet
The stumbling blocks with wicked met,
And I’ll cut off man from the land,”
Says YHWH so all may understand.
4 “I’ll also stretch My hand upon
Judah, and on all dwellers drawn
Out of Jerusalem; and I
Will cut off the remnant in sty
Of Baal from this place, and the name
Of Chemarims with priests of fame;
5 “And those who worship stars in sky
Upon the housetops, and who try
To worship and to swear by YHWH
While swearing name of Malcham too;
And those who are turned back from YHWH,
And those who have never sought YHWH
Nor enquired of Him for His due.
7 “Be silent in the presence of
The Lord YHWH, because the day of
YHWH is at hand, For YHWH’s prepared
A sacrifice, invited guests.

Beloved, I answer invitation sent,
I rush into the flowered Meccan tent
To be Your guest and devour Your present.
No matter that I must provide the lamb
Myself alone, though a guest’s what I am.
You do not enquire of me in Your quest
How I dealt with the food and drink You blessed.
Instead You judge me by the pleasant things:
The proclamation You alone have wings,
The rising early to send prophets out,
And the divine in guidance without shout.
The lamb that I provide You gave to me
Along with all creation in degree,
Along with every pleasant thing I see.

8 “”It shall be when the day arrests
Of YHWH’s sacrifice when it’s bared,
That I’ll punish princes and king’s
Children, all who wear clothes and rings
Of foreign origins. 9 That day
I’ll punish all who go their way,
All those omitting the threshold,
Who fill their masters’ house with bold
Violence and deceit. 10 “There’ll be
On that day,” says YHWH, “Mournfully
The sound of crying from Fish Gate,
A wailing from Second Estate,
And a loud crashing from the hills.
11 Wail, dwellers of Maktesh for ills!
For all the merchantmen in frills
Cut down; and all those set to see
In silver and in jewellery
Cut off. 12 And it shall come to pass
At that time I’ll search through the mass
Of Jerusalem with a torch,
And punish men sleeping on porch,
Who say in their heart, “God will not
Do good or evil on the spot.”
13 That’s why their wealth becomes a spoil,
Their houses desolation’s coil,
They’ll build houses and not live there;
They plant vineyards, nor drink their share.

I stop to kiss the threshold, my Beloved,
Not caring for the crowd that pushed and shoved,
I touched the doors and pickets with my lips
Across each phantom mosaic that skips
Across the shrine beneath the sun and shade.
And then I enter in the light betrayed.
I stop to kiss the threshold where I stayed
To see the vision of a man bereft
Of power and song before the sword heart cleft.
The vision of the glory that I see
Within the veil brings wondering to me,
Where all the polished, bevelled mirrors shine,
Filled to the brim with fire, air, water, wine,
Where I find earth at last at tip of spine.

14 The great day of YHWH’s near, nearby,
And comes on swiftly, voice of joy
Of YHWH’s day, might men shall cry
There bitterly. 15 That day’s of wrath,
Day of trouble, distressful path,
A day of waste and wilderness,
A day of darkness, gloomy dress,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
16 A day of trumpet and alarm
Against the cities built for harm,
Against the high towers in address.
17 And I will bring on men distress,
So they shall walk like blind men, for
They’ve sinned against YHWH and to pour
Their blood out as the dust in store,
Their flesh as excrements in score.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
Shall be able to save their hold
In the day of YHWH’s wrath untold,
But the whole land shall be devoured
By the fire of jealousy scoured,
For He shall make a speedy end
Of all who live where lands extend.

No wonder, my Beloved, You keep them brief,
These minor prophets speak without relief.
The warnings are too pointed to digest:
Today they would lead to asylum’s best.
I myself cannot bring myself in zest
To use such awful language in my vest.
I am too delicate to sing the tune
That people’s flesh is excrements. My rune
Is touched with the conciliatory note
Of my own time and place and the free vote.
But let the land devour and be devoured
Until the fire has scoured the earth and scoured
Away injustice and each fault in me
As well as in frightful fraternity.

ZEPHANIAH 2

1 Gather yourselves together, yea,
Gather together on a day,
O nation not desired for pay,
2 Before the decree bring it out,
Before the day goes by in shout
Like chaff, before the fury’s spout
Of YHWH that comes on you, before
The day of YHWH’s anger in store.
3 Seek YHWH, all the meek of the earth,
Who have done justly, for desert
Seek righteousness, seek meekness too,
It may be you’ll be hidden crew
In the day of the wrath of YHWH.
4 Gaza shall be forsaken then,
And Ashkelon an empty den;
They’ll drive out Ashdod at the noon,
And Ekron be uprooted soon.
5 Woe to the dwellers on sea coast,
Nation of Cherethites in boast!
YHWH’s word attacks you, Canaan’s land,
And country of Philistine band;
I will destroy you till none stand.
6 The sea coast shall be cottages
To harbour shepherds and flocks’ fizz.
7 The coast shall be for the few left
Of house of Judah soon bereft;
They’ll feed there, and in Ashkelon
Like down from evening until dawn;
For YHWH their Ælohim shall come
To turn back captivity’s hum.

There are two kinds of people on the earth,
And that’s a principle that has no dearth.
All men see them and us and so requite
The stricken soul between the black and white.
But here the two kinds are those on the run
Who come together, gathered by the sun,
And those who seek You, my Beloved and wait
Alone upon the Dergah floor in state.
The crowd is always right, is always strong,
And like the chaff is always in the wrong.
The single soul that lifts a Psalm in prayer
Is dissipated on the frozen air.
Beloved, I choose among the choices thus
And find I’m not among the numerous.

8 I’ve heard reproach of Moab, and
Revilings of Ammon’s sons sad,
By which they have chided the pad
Of My folk and magnified bad
Against their borderlands like cad.
9 “So as I live,” says YHWH of hosts,
The Ælohim of Israel’s boasts,
“Surely Moab be as Sodom,
And Ammon’s children as the scum
Of Gomorrah, nettles to grow
And salt pits and nothing to show
For ever; while the residue
Of My folk shall spoil them in crew,
And what’s left of My people too.”
10 This shall they have for all their pride,
Since they reproached and magnified
Against the folk of YHWH of hosts.
11 YHWH will be terrible in boasts
To them; for He will starve the ghosts
Of all exalted in the earth;
And men shall worship him, each one
From his place on the coasts he’s won.
12 Cushites too, you’ll be killed by sword.
13 And He’ll stretch out His hand adored
Against the north and to destroy
Assyrian, and Nineveh
He’ll make a desolation dry
Like wilderness in desert sway.
14 And flocks shall lie down there to rest,
All beasts of the nations confessed,
The cormorant and bittern sleep
Upon its beams, their voice to peep
Upon the window sills and keep
Desolation on thresholds there,
Where he shall make cedar work bare.
15 So may rejoice the town that gave
Careless living and so to rave
In her heart saying “I, and there
Is none beside me for a share;”
How is she fallen and desert,
A place for beasts to lie inert!
All who pass by hiss for shame
And shake their heads as though in blame.

Just because he is black does not mean he
Has the right to use the N word so free.
Let Ethiopians be killed, he cries.
But I take issue with the curledly wise.
And so does the dog too. I saw him go
Against the gull and cormorant and crow
And chase them all from the lawn in a row.
That’s two in witness against prophet’s show.
Beloved, let me rejoice here in the town
That gave to careless living its renown,
Without participating in the deed
Or in the pride of life on which they feed.
Then none will shake a head and none pass by
Except the very ones there on the sly.

ZEPHANIAH 3

1 Woe to her that’s filthy, unclean,
To the oppressing city mean!
2 She did not obey the voice; she
Did not receive correction’s fee;
She did not trust in YHWH, and she
Did not come near her Ælohim.
3 Her princes roaring lions seem,
Her judges wolves at evening scream;
They wait till dawn to gnaw bones free.
4 Her prophets are senseless and men
Of treachery; her priests again
Pollute the temple, they have done
Violence to the law and spun.
5 The just YHWH’s in the midst; He’ll not
Do iniquity in the plot;
Every morning He comes to bring
His right to light; fails not to sing;
But the unjust knows no shame’s wing.
6 I’ve cut off the nations, their towers
Are desolate; I’ve made streets scours,
So none pass by, their towns destroyed,
So that this is no man employed;
There’s no inhabitant in bowers.
7 I said “Surely you will fear Me,
You’ll not receive instruction’s fee;
So their dwelling should not be cut
Off, however I punish rut;
But they rose early to corrupt
All their doings and to disrupt.

The son of king if not the son of priest,
This prophet curses loudly at the least.
Beloved, if I curse pope and president,
And businessman successful to relent,
Then cast no blame on me, and cast no blame,
I merely follow Your own prophet’s claim
And raise a message without any blame.
It’s not my fault he mentions priest and prince,
Even if that now makes a person wince
Who’s born and fed in fair democracy,
The pinnacle of earth’s hypocrisy.
The nations You cut off may not be here,
But there are others risen, so I fear,
So let again Your prophecy appear.

8 “So wait for Me,” says YHWH, “until
The day that I rise to fulfil
Against the prey; for I intend
To gather nations to attend,
That I may gather kingdoms and
Pour on them My wrath in command,
All My fierce anger: all the earth
Shall be consumed with fire in dearth
Before My jealousy in brand.
9 “For then will I turn to the folk
A pure tongue, that they may invoke
The name of YHWH, serve Him and stand.
10 “From beyond the rivers of Cush,
My supplicants, and there to rush
The daughter of My scattered ones
Bring sacrifices to My runs.
11 “That day you shall not be ashamed
For all your doing and acclaimed,
By which you have transgressed and sinned
Against me; for then I’ll rescind
Out of your midst those who rejoice
In your pride, and you’ll find no voice
Of haughtiness more in the hill
Of My holiness to fulfil.
12 “And I’ll leave in the midst of you
A poor and needy people true;
And they shall hope in YHWH’s name too.
13 “The residue of Israel
Shall not do wickedness nor spell
Lies; neither shall deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouth: they shall feed
And lie down without fear to lead.”

The prophecy is well fulfilled in that
The Axumite reform is where it’s at.
The early faith that came there to approve,
The Jewish-Christian love of narrow groove,
Reacted against Monophysite faith
And thus was born the great Islamic wraith.
Cush is the source of revelation now,
The cradle of Qur’an, the holy brow
Of revelation saved and hidden well
To come to light in the last days a spell.
The poor and needy of all time and place
Rise up to witness before Your own face
And show that what is left is here to stay,
A testimony to the divine way.

14 Sing, daughter of the fortress, shout
O Israel; be glad about
And rejoice with all the heart, O
Daughter of Jerusalem’s row.
15 YHWH has taken away your right,
He’s cast out your foes from your sight;
The king of Israel, even YHWH
Is here and in the midst of you;
You’ll never see more evil crew.
16 That day said to Jerusalem,
”Do not fear;” to Zion the gem,
”Let not your hands be slack to do.”
17 YHWH your Ælohim among you
Is mighty; He will save, and He
Will rejoice over you with glee;
He’ll rest in His love quietly;
He’ll joy in you with singing’s spree.
18 “I’ll summon to the solemn feast
Of you from reproach burdened, leased.
19 “See, at that I, I will undo
All who afflict and trouble you;
And I will save the lame one too,
And gather in the driven out;
And I will grant them praise and shout
Of fame in every land where they
Have been put to shame on the way.
20 “Even at that time I’ll bring you,
Even in the time summon you;
For I will make of you a name
And a praise among nations’ fame
In all the earth, when I turn back
Captivity before your track,”
Says YHWH in promise and in flame.

I’m ready for a king, indeed I am,
And not a king that’s lion or a lamb,
But rather You, Beloved, You are my king,
The overthrow of despot and the ring
Of lobbyists about the senate met
To bring injustice to the ruling set.
I’m ready for a king, this world has gone
Too far into the fading of the dawn,
Too far into the spoil that may seem bright
To those who have the wherewithal to fight.
If You are flighty on the grave, stand down
And bring a new thing out upon the town.
If You are mighty, One to save, stand up
And topple now the tibbler and the tup.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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