Introduction

¹This is the prophetic message that the Lord gave to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. Zephaniah delivered this message during the reign of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah:[#tn Heb “The word of the Lord which came to.”; #tn Heb “in the days of.” The words “Zephaniah delivered this message” are supplied in the translation for clarification.]

The Lord’s Day of Judgment is Approaching

²“I will destroy everything from the face of the earth,” says the Lord .[#tn The Hebrew text combines the infinitive absolute of אָסַף (’asaf, “gather up, sweep away”) with a Hiphil prefixed first person form of סוּף (suf, “come to an end”; see Jer 8:13 for the same combination). This can be translated literally, “Sweeping away, I will bring to an end.” Some prefer to emend the text so that the infinitive and finite form of the verb are from the same root (“I will certainly sweep away,” if from אָסַף [cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV]; “I will certainly bring to an end,” if from סוּף). For a discussion of proposals see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 167, 169.]

³“I will destroy people and animals;

I will destroy the birds in the sky

and the fish in the sea.

(The idolatrous images of these creatures will be destroyed along with evil people.)

I will remove humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord .

⁴“I will attack Judah[#tn Heb “I will stretch out my hand against,” is an idiom for hostile action.]

and all who live in Jerusalem.

I will remove from this place every trace of Baal worship,

as well as the very memory of the pagan priests.

⁵I will remove those who worship the stars in the sky from their rooftops,[#tn The words “I will remove” are repeated from v. 4b for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 4b-6 contain a long list of objects for the verb “I will remove” in v. 4b. In the present translation a new sentence was begun at the beginning of v. 5 in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences.; #tn Heb “those who worship on their roofs the host of heaven.” The “host of heaven” included the sun, moon, planets, and stars, all of which were deified in the ancient Near East.]

those who swear allegiance to the Lord while taking oaths in the name of their ‘king,’

⁶and those who turn their backs on the Lord[#tn Heb “turn back from [following] after.”]

and do not want the Lord ’s help or guidance.”

⁷Be silent before the Lord God ,[#tn Heb “Lord Lord.” The phrase אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה (adonai yÿhvih) is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God.”]

for the Lord ’s day of judgment is almost here.

The Lord has prepared a sacrificial meal;

he has ritually purified his guests.

⁸“On the day of the Lord ’s sacrificial meal,

I will punish the princes and the king’s sons,

and all who wear foreign styles of clothing.

⁹On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold,[#sn The point of the statement all who hop over the threshold is unclear. A ritual or superstition associated with the Philistine god Dagon may be in view (see 1 Sam 5:5).]

who fill the house of their master with wealth taken by violence and deceit.

¹⁰On that day,” says the Lord ,

“a loud cry will go up from the Fish Gate,

wailing from the city’s newer district,

and a loud crash from the hills.

¹¹Wail, you who live in the market district,[#tn Heb “in the Mortar.” The Hebrew term מַכְתֵּשׁ (makhtesh, “mortar”) is apparently here the name of a low-lying area where economic activity took place.]

for all the merchants will disappear

and those who count money will be removed.

¹²At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps.

I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin,

those who think to themselves,

‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’

¹³Their wealth will be stolen

and their houses ruined!

They will not live in the houses they have built,

nor will they drink the wine from the vineyards they have planted.

¹⁴The Lord ’s great day of judgment is almost here;[#tn Heb “The great day of the Lord.” The words “of judgment” are supplied in the translation here and later in this verse for clarity. See the note on the expression “day of judgment” in v. 7.]

it is approaching very rapidly!

There will be a bitter sound on the Lord ’s day of judgment;

at that time warriors will cry out in battle.

¹⁵That day will be a day of God’s anger,[#tn Heb “a day of wrath.” The word “God’s” is supplied in the translation for clarification.]

a day of distress and hardship,

a day of devastation and ruin,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and dark skies,

¹⁶a day of trumpet blasts and battle cries.[#tn Heb “a ram’s horn.” By metonymy the Hebrew text mentions the trumpet (“ram’s horn”) in place of the sound it produces (“trumpet blasts”).; #sn This description of the day of the Lord consists of an initial reference to anger, followed by four pairs of synonyms. The joining of synonyms in this way emphasizes the degree of the characteristic being described. The first two pairs focus on the distress and ruin that judgment will bring; the second two pairs picture this day of judgment as being very dark (darkness) and exceedingly overcast (gloom). The description concludes with the pairing of two familiar battle sounds, the blast on the ram’s horn (trumpet blasts) and the war cries of the warriors (battle cries).]

Judgment will fall on the fortified cities and the high corner towers.

¹⁷I will bring distress on the people[#tn “The people” refers to mankind in general (see vv. 2-3) or more specifically to the residents of Judah (see vv. 4-13).]

and they will stumble like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord .

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh will be scattered like manure.

¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord ’s angry judgment.

The whole earth will be consumed by his fiery wrath.

Indeed, he will bring terrifying destruction on all who live on the earth.”