Zephaniah 1
1
1The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah,#2Kg 16:20; 18:1–20:21 in the days of Josiah#2Kg 22:1–23:30; 2Ch 34:1–36:1; Jr 1:2 son of Amon,#2Kg 21:18–25 king of Judah.
The Great Day of the Lord
2I will completely sweep away everything
from the face of the earth#Gn 6:7; 7:4 —
this is the Lord’s declaration.
3I will sweep away people and animals;#1Kg 14:10; Ezk 14:17
I will sweep away the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea,
and the ruins#1:3 Perhaps objects connected with idolatry along with the wicked.#Is 13:9–12; Mt 13:41
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
4I will stretch out my hand#Ex 3:20; Ps 138:7; Ezk 14:9; 25:7,16; Zph 2:13 against Judah
and against all the residents of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every vestige of Baal#1Kg 16:30–32
from this place,
the names of the pagan priests#2Kg 23:5
along with the priests;
5those who bow in worship on the rooftops#Jr 19:13; 32:29
to the stars in the sky;
those who bow and pledge loyalty to the Lord#Dt 6:13; Is 48:1
but also pledge loyalty to Milcom;#1:5 Some LXX mss, Syr, Vg; MT, other LXX mss read their king#1Kg 11:5; 2Kg 23:13; Jr 49:1,3
6and those who turn back from following the Lord,
who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.
7Be silent in the presence of the Lord God,#Nm 13:30; Jdg 3:19; Hab 2:20; Zch 2:13
for the day of the Lord is near.#Zph 1:14,18; 2:2–3
Indeed, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;#Is 34:6; Jr 46:10
he has consecrated his guests.#Lv 7:11–21; 1Sm 16:5; 2Ch 35:5–13; Jr 22:17
8On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials, the king’s sons,
and all who are dressed in foreign clothing.
9On that day#Zph 1:10; 3:11,16 I will punish
all who skip over the threshold,#1:9 Hb obscure#1Sm 5:5
who fill their master’s house
with violence and deceit.
10On that day —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
there will be an outcry from the Fish Gate,#2Ch 33:14; Neh 3:3; 12:39
a wailing from the Second District,#2Kg 22:14; 2Ch 34:22
and a loud crashing from the hills.
11Wail, you residents of the Hollow,#1:11 Or the market district
for all the merchants#1:11 Or Canaanites will be silenced;
all those loaded with silver will be cut off.
12And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who settle down comfortably,#1:12 Lit who thicken on their dregs#Ex 15:8; Is 25:6; Jr 48:11
who say to themselves:
The Lord will do nothing — good or bad.#Mal 2:17
13Their wealth will become plunder
and their houses a ruin.
They will build houses but never live in them,
plant vineyards but never drink their wine.#Dt 28:30; Am 5:11; Mc 6:15
14The great day of the Lord is near,#Is 13:6,9; Jl 1:15; 2:1,11,31; 3:14; Am 5:18,20; Ob 15; Zch 14:1; Mal 4:5
near and rapidly approaching.
Listen, the day of the Lord —
then the warrior’s cry is bitter.
15That day is a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of destruction and desolation,
a day of darkness#Am 1:14; 5:18–20; Ob 12–14 and gloom,
a day of clouds and total darkness,#Ps 97:2; Ezk 34:12; Jl 2:2
16a day of ram’s horn and battle cry
against the fortified cities,
and against the high corner towers.
17I will bring distress on mankind,
and they will walk like the blind#Lm 4:14
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.
18Their silver and their gold
will be unable to rescue them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.#Ezk 7:19
The whole earth will be consumed
by the fire of his jealousy,#Ex 34:14; Dt 29:20; Ps 79:5; Zph 3:8; Zch 1:14; 8:2
for he will make a complete,
yes, a horrifying end
of all the inhabitants of the earth.
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Zephaniah 1: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Zephaniah 1
1
1The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah,#Hezekiah: it is possible, but not certain, that Zephaniah’s ancestor was King Hezekiah who reigned in Judah from 715 to 687 B.C. (2 Kgs 18–20). in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.
I. The Day of the Lord: Judgment on Judah
2I will completely sweep away all things
from the face of the land—oracle of the Lord.
3I will sweep away human being and beast alike,
I will sweep away the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea.
I will make the wicked stumble;
I will eliminate the people
from the face of the land—oracle of the Lord.#Hos 4:3.
4I will stretch out my hand against Judah,
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
I will eliminate from this place
the last vestige of Baal,
the name of the idolatrous priests.
5And those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of heaven,#The host of heaven: the sun, moon, planets, and stars, the worship of which became widespread in Judah under Assyrian influence. Milcom: the god of the Ammonites; cf. 1 Kgs 11:5, 7, 33; 2 Kgs 23:13.
And those who bow down to the Lord
but swear by Milcom;#Jer 8:2; 2 Kgs 23:13.
6And those who have turned away from the Lord,
and those who have not sought the Lord,
who have not inquired of him.
7Silence in the presence of the Lord God!
for near is the day of the Lord,
Yes, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice,
he has consecrated his guests.#He has consecrated his guests: God has consecrated the troops, presumably foreign, who have been invited to share in the spoil on the day of slaughter.#Is 34:6; Am 5:18.
8On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punish the officials and the king’s sons,
and all who dress in foreign apparel.
9I will punish, on that day,
all who leap over the threshold,#Leap over the threshold: the reference may be to a religious ritual like that practiced by the priests of the Philistine deity Dagon (1 Sm 5:5).
Who fill the house of their master
with violence and deceit.
10On that day—oracle of the Lord—
A cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,#The Second Quarter…Maktesh: sections of Jerusalem (cf. 2 Kgs 22:14).
loud crashing from the hills.
11Wail, O inhabitants of Maktesh!
for all the merchants are destroyed,
all who weigh out silver, done away with.
12At that time,
I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
I will punish the people
who settle like dregs in wine,#Settle like dregs in wine: those who are overconfident because, like the sediment that settles to the bottom of a bottle of wine, they have remained at peace and undisturbed for a long time.
Who say in their hearts,
“The Lord will not do good,
nor will he do harm.”
13Their wealth shall be given to plunder
and their houses to devastation;
They will build houses,
but not dwell in them;
They will plant vineyards,
but not drink their wine.#Am 5:11.
14Near is the great day of the Lord,
near and very swiftly coming.
The sound of the day of the Lord! Piercing—
there a warrior shrieks!
15A day of wrath is that day,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
a day of thick black clouds,#Is 13:9; Jl 2:1–2.
16A day of trumpet blasts and battle cries
against fortified cities,
against lofty battlements.#Am 2:2.
17I will hem the people in
till they walk like the blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord;
And their blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their bowels like dung.
18Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them.
On the day of the Lord’s wrath,
in the fire of his passion,
all the earth will be consumed.
For he will make an end, yes, a sudden end,
of all who live on the earth.#Zep 3:8; Jer 4:26–27.
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