Zephaniah 1
Amplified Bible
Day of Judgment on Judah
1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of [a]Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah:
2
“I will completely consume and sweep away all things
From the face of the earth [in judgment],” says the Lord.
3
“I will consume and sweep away man and beast;
I will consume and sweep away the birds of the air
And the fish of the sea,
And the [b]stumbling blocks (idols) along with the wicked;
And I will cut off and destroy man from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4
“I will also stretch out My hand [in judgment] against Judah
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will cut off and destroy the remnant of [c]Baal from this place,
And the names and remembrance of the idolatrous priests along with the [false] priests,
5
And those who bow down and worship the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, and the stars] [d]on their housetops
And those who bow down and swear [oaths] to [and pretend to worship] the Lord and [yet also] swear by [the pagan god called] Milcom [god of the Ammonites],
6
And those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have not sought the Lord [as their most important need] or inquired of Him.”
7
[Hush!] Be silent before the Lord God [there is no acceptable excuse to offer]!
For the day [of the vengeance] of the Lord is near,
For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice (Judah),
He has set apart [for His use] those who have accepted His invitation [the Chaldeans who rule Babylon].(A)
8
“Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
That I will punish the princes and the king’s sons
And all who are clothed in [lavish] foreign apparel [reflecting their paganism].(B)
9
“On that day I will also punish all those who [e]leap over the temple threshold,
Who fill their [pagan] lord’s temple with violence and deceit.
10
“On that day,” declares the Lord,
“There will be the sound of crying from the Fish (Damascus) Gate [in the northern wall of Jerusalem where invaders enter]
And wailing from the [f]Second Quarter [of the city],
And a loud crash from the hills.
11
“Wail [in anguish], you inhabitants of the [g]Mortar (Valley of Siloam),
For all the merchants of Canaan will be silenced and destroyed;
All who weigh out silver will be cut off.
12
“It will come about at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps
And I will punish the men
Who [like old wine] are stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.’
13
“Furthermore, their wealth will become plunder
And their houses a desolation.
Yes, they will build houses but not live in them,
And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”(C)
14
The great [judgment] day of the Lord is near,
Near and coming very quickly.
Listen! The [voice of the] day of the Lord!
The warrior cries out bitterly [unable to fight or to flee].
15
That day is a day of [the outpouring of the] wrath [of God],
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of destruction and devastation,
A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,(D)
16
A day of trumpet and the battle cry [of invaders]
Against the fortified cities
And against the high corner towers (battlements).
17
I will bring distress on men
So that they will walk like the blind [unable to find a way of escape],
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
Their blood will be poured out like dust [and trampled underfoot],
And their flesh like dung.
18
Neither their silver nor their gold
Will be able to rescue them
On the day of the Lord’s indignation and wrath.
And the whole earth will be consumed
In the fire of His jealous [h]wrath,
For He shall make a full and complete end,
Indeed a terrifying one,
Of all the inhabitants of the earth.(E)
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:1 Zephaniah’s great-great-grandfather, Hezekiah, ruled Judah (the Southern Kingdom) from 715-686 b.c. He was a godly king who restored the temple and abolished pagan worship. He was also notable as the great warrior who defended Jerusalem from the attacking Assyrians, and the great builder who developed the Siloam tunnel and reservoir to enhance the fresh water supply of Jerusalem.
- Zephaniah 1:3 MT reads ruins.
- Zephaniah 1:4 One of the major male gods of Canaan. His female consort was Asherah.
- Zephaniah 1:5 The flat roofs of the houses were often used as convenient places of planetary worship (i.e. Sabeanism, astrology).
- Zephaniah 1:9 This may have a connection to the pagan custom mentioned in 1 Sam 5:5, or to the pagan belief that spirits resided in the threshold.
- Zephaniah 1:10 I.e. the lower, newer part of the city.
- Zephaniah 1:11 A shallow hollow that was a district in Jerusalem.
- Zephaniah 1:18 God’s judgment and God’s mercy are the twin themes of the prophets. In this dramatic passage, the Lord describes the destruction that will sweep the earth in the day of His wrath. Yet the Lord is true to His promises: the remnant will be restored (Zeph 3:18-20); the last day is also “the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30). See also Matt 24:31; John 14:3; 1 Thess 4:15-17.
Zephaniah 1
Expanded Bible
1 This is the word of the Lord that came through Zephaniah while Josiah [C ruled 640–609 bc] son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, who was the son of Gedaliah. Gedaliah was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Hezekiah.
The Lord’s Judgment
2 “I will sweep away everything
from the [L face of the] earth,” says the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away the people and animals;
I will ·destroy [sweep away] the birds in the air
and the fish of the sea.
I will ·ruin the evil people [reduce the wicked to rubble; L destroy the stumbling blocks with the wicked],
and I will remove human beings from the [L face of the] earth,” says the Lord.
The Future of Judah
4 “I will ·punish [L stretch out my hand against] Judah
and all the people living in Jerusalem.
I will remove from this place
·all signs [every trace; the remnant] of Baal, ·the [every memory of; L the names of] ·false [idolatrous] priests, and the other priests.
5 I will destroy those who ·worship [bow down to]
the ·stars [starry host; host of heaven] from the roofs [C roofs were flat and used for living space],
and those who ·worship [bow down] and ·make promises [swear oaths]
by both the Lord and the god ·Molech [or Malkam; or the king],
6 and those who turned away from the Lord,
and those who quit following the Lord and ·praying to him for direction [L seeking or inquiring of him].
7 Be silent before the Lord God,
because the ·Lord’s day for judging people [L day of the Lord; Is. 13:6, 9; Jer. 46:10; Joel 2:1, 11, 31; Amos 5:18–20; Zech. 14:1] is ·coming soon [near].
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
he has ·made holy [consecrated] his invited guests.
8 On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
I, the Lord, will punish the ·princes [officials] and the king’s sons
and all those who wear foreign clothes [C indicating adoption of pagan culture and religion].
9 On that day I will punish those who ·worship Dagon [L leap over the threshold; C thought to be part of worship of the Philistine god Dagon; 1 Sam. 5:5],
those who fill the ·temple [L house] of their ·gods [or king; L master] with violence and deceit.
10 “On that day,” says the Lord,
“a cry will be heard at the Fish Gate.
A wail will come from the ·new area of the city [L Second Quarter],
and a loud crash will echo from the hills.
11 ·Cry [Wail], you people living in ·the market area [or the lower town; or Mortar; C possibly a place name],
because all the merchants will ·be dead [be destroyed; or disappear];
all the silver traders will be ·gone [L cut off].
12 At that time I, the Lord, will search Jerusalem with lamps.
I will punish those who are ·satisfied with themselves [complacent; or entrenched in sin; L thickened in their dregs/sediment],
who think, ‘The Lord won’t ·help us or punish us [L do good or evil].’
13 Their wealth will be ·stolen [plundered]
and their houses ·destroyed [ruined; laid waste].
They may build houses,
but they will not live in them.
They may plant vineyards,
but they will not drink any wine from them.
The Lord’s Day of Judging
14 “The ·Lord’s day of judging [great day of the Lord; 1:7] is ·coming soon [near];
it is near and coming fast.
The cry will be ·very sad [bitter] on the day of the Lord;
·even soldiers will cry [or soldiers will shout a battle cry].
15 That day will be a day of ·anger [wrath],
a day of ·terror [distress] and ·trouble [anguish],
a day of ·destruction [devastation] and ruin,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,
16 a day of ·alarms [trumpet blasts; L a ram’s horn] and battle cries.
·‘Attack [or …against] the ·strong, walled [fortified] cities!
·Attack [or …against] the corner towers!’
17 I will ·make life hard [bring distress] on ·the people [or humanity];
they will ·walk [grope] around like the blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust,
and their ·insides [flesh] will be dumped like ·trash [refuse; dung].
18 On the day ·that God will show his anger [L of the Lord’s wrath],
neither their silver nor gold will save them.
·The Lord’s anger will be like a fire [L In the fire of his jealousy; Nah. 1:2]
that will ·burn up [consume; devour] the whole world;
suddenly he will bring an end, yes, an end
to ·everyone on [all who live on] earth.”
Zephaniah 1
New King James Version
The Great Day of the Lord(A)
1 The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of (B)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
The Great Day of the Lord
2 “I will [a]utterly consume everything
From the face of the land,”
Says the Lord;
3 “I(C) will consume man and beast;
I will consume the birds of the heavens,
The fish of the sea,
And the [b]stumbling blocks along with the wicked.
I will cut off man from the face of the [c]land,”
Says the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out My hand against Judah,
And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
[d]I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,
The names of the (D)idolatrous[e] priests with the pagan priests—
5 Those (E)who worship the host of heaven on the housetops;
Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord,
But who also swear (F)by [f]Milcom;
6 (G)Those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And (H)have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.”
7 (I)Be silent in the presence of the Lord God;
(J)For the day of the Lord is at hand,
For (K)the Lord has prepared a sacrifice;
He has [g]invited His guests.
8 “And it shall be,
In the day of the Lord’s sacrifice,
That I will punish (L)the princes and the king’s children,
And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.
9 In the same day I will punish
All those who (M)leap over the threshold,
Who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
10 “And there shall be on that day,” says the Lord,
“The sound of a mournful cry from (N)the Fish Gate,
A wailing from the Second Quarter,
And a loud crashing from the hills.
11 (O)Wail, you inhabitants of [h]Maktesh!
For all the merchant people are cut down;
All those who handle money are cut off.
12 “And it shall come to pass at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
And punish the men
Who are (P)settled[i] in complacency,
(Q)Who say in their heart,
‘The Lord will not do good,
Nor will He do evil.’
13 Therefore their goods shall become booty,
And their houses a desolation;
They shall build houses, but not inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards, but (R)not drink their wine.”
14 (S)The great day of the Lord is near;
It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter;
There the mighty men shall cry out.
15 (T)That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of devastation and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of (U)trumpet and alarm
Against the fortified cities
And against the high towers.
17 “I will bring distress upon men,
And they shall (V)walk like blind men,
Because they have sinned against the Lord;
Their blood shall be poured out like dust,
And their flesh like refuse.”
18 (W)Neither their silver nor their gold
Shall be able to deliver them
In the day of the Lord’s wrath;
But the whole land shall be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will make speedy riddance
Of all those who dwell in the land.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 1:2 Lit. make a complete end of, Jer. 8:13
- Zephaniah 1:3 Idols
- Zephaniah 1:3 ground
- Zephaniah 1:4 Fulfilled in 2 Kin. 23:4, 5
- Zephaniah 1:4 Heb. chemarim
- Zephaniah 1:5 Or Malcam, an Ammonite god, 1 Kin. 11:5; Jer. 49:1; Molech, Lev. 18:21
- Zephaniah 1:7 Lit. set apart, consecrated
- Zephaniah 1:11 A market district of Jerusalem, lit. Mortar
- Zephaniah 1:12 Lit. on their lees; like the dregs of wine
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The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
