Logos Bible Study

Zephaniah 1:14–18

The NET BibleOther versions

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1:14The Lord’s great day of judgment41 is almost here;

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.42

1:15That day will be a day of God’s anger,43

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,

1:16a day of trumpet blasts44 and battle cries.45

Judgment will fall on46 the fortified cities and the high corner towers.

1:17I will bring distress on the people47

and they will stumble48 like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh49 will be scattered50 like manure.

1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

The whole earth51 will be consumed by his fiery wrath.52

Indeed,53 he will bring terrifying destruction54 on all who live on the earth.”55

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Footnotes

  1. 41 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. .
  2. 42 Heb “the sound of the day of the Lord, bitter [is] one crying out there, a warrior.” The present translation does four things: (1) It takes מַר (mar, “bitter”) with what precedes (contrary to the accentuation of the ). (2) It understands the participle צָרַח (tsarakh, “cry out in battle”) as verbal with “warrior” as its subject. (3) It takes שָׁם (sham, “there”) in a temporal sense, meaning “then, at that time.” (4) It understands “warrior” as collective.
  3. 43 Heb “a day of wrath.” The word “God’s” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
  4. 44 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”).
  5. 45 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).
  6. 46 Heb “against.” The words “judgment will fall” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  7. 47 “The people” refers to mankind in general (see vv. 2–3) or more specifically to the residents of Judah (see vv. 4–13).
  8. 48 Heb “walk.”
  9. 49 Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. (“bowels”), (“brains”), (“entrails”).
  10. 50 The words “will be scattered” are supplied in the translation for clarity based on the parallelism with “will be poured out” in the previous line.
  11. 51 Or “land” (cf. ). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.
  12. 52 Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”
  13. 53 Or “for.”
  14. 54 Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”
  15. 55 It is not certain where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s words begin. It is possible that Zephaniah begins speaking in the middle of v. 17 or at the beginning of v. 18 (note the third person pronouns referring to the Lord).

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

The great day of the Lord is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;

the mighty man cries aloud there.

A day of wrath is that day,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness,

a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

I will bring distress on mankind,

so that they shall walk like the blind,

because they have sinned against the Lord;

their blood shall be poured out like dust,

and their flesh like dung.

Neither their silver nor their gold

shall be able to deliver them

on the day of the wrath of the Lord.

In the fire of his jealousy,

all the earth shall be consumed;

for a full and sudden end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

NIVNew International Version (2011)

The great day of the Lord is near—

near and coming quickly.

The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;

the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.

That day will be a day of wrath—

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of trouble and ruin,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and blackness—

a day of trumpet and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the corner towers.

“I will bring such distress on all people

that they will grope about like those who are blind,

because they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dust

and their entrails like dung.

Neither their silver nor their gold

will be able to save them

on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”

In the fire of his jealousy

the whole earth will be consumed,

for he will make a sudden end

of all who live on the earth.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The great day of the Lord is near,

near and rapidly approaching.

Listen, the day of the Lord—

then the warrior’s cry is bitter.

That day is a day of wrath,

a day of trouble and distress,

a day of destruction and desolation,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and total darkness,

a day of trumpet and battle cry

against the fortified cities,

and against the high corner towers.

I will bring distress on mankind,

and they will walk like the blind

because they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dust

and their flesh like dung.

Their silver and their gold

will be unable to rescue them

on the day of the Lord’s wrath.

The whole earth will be consumed

by the fire of his jealousy,

for he will make a complete,

yes, a horrifying end

of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

NLTNew Living Translation

“That terrible day of the Lord is near.

Swiftly it comes—

a day of bitter tears,

a day when even strong men will cry out.

It will be a day when the Lord’s anger is poured out—

a day of terrible distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and desolation,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and blackness,

a day of trumpet calls and battle cries.

Down go the walled cities

and the strongest battlements!

“Because you have sinned against the Lord,

I will make you grope around like the blind.

Your blood will be poured into the dust,

and your bodies will lie rotting on the ground.”

Your silver and gold will not save you

on that day of the Lord’s anger.

For the whole land will be devoured

by the fire of his jealousy.

He will make a terrifying end

of all the people on earth.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

The great day of Yahweh draws near;

it is near and coming very swiftly.

The sound of the day of Yahweh is bitterness;

there, a warrior cries out!

That day will be a day of wrath,

a day of trouble and distress,

a day of disaster and ruination,

a day of darkness and deep gloom,

a day of clouds and thick clouds,

a day of trumpet and trumpet blast

against the fortified cities

and against the high corner towers.

And I will bring distress to all humankind,

and they shall walk about like the blind,

for they sinned against Yahweh;

their blood shall be poured out like dust

and their entrails like dung.

Moreover, their silver and their gold

will not be able to save them

on the day of the wrath of Yahweh.

And in the fire of his zeal,

the whole land shall be consumed,

for a terrifying end he shall make

for all the inhabitants of the land.

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

KJV 1900King James Version

The great day of the Lord is near,

It is near, and hasteth greatly,

Even the voice of the day of the Lord:

The mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

That day is a day of wrath,

A day of trouble and distress,

A day of wasteness and desolation,

A day of darkness and gloominess,

A day of clouds and thick darkness,

A day of the trumpet and alarm

Against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men,

Because they have sinned against the Lord:

And their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

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 shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

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