1:7 Be silent before the Lord God, 1
for the Lord’s day of judgment 2 is almost here. 3
The Lord has prepared a sacrificial meal; 4
he has ritually purified 5 his guests.
1:11 Wail, you who live in the market district, 6
for all the merchants 7 will disappear 8
and those who count money 9 will be removed. 10
1:17 I will bring distress on the people 11
and they will stumble 12 like blind men,
for they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dirt;
their flesh 13 will be scattered 14 like manure.
2:4 Indeed, 15 Gaza will be deserted 16
and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. 17
Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, 18
and Ekron will be overthrown. 19
2:10 This is how they will be repaid for their arrogance, 20
for they taunted and verbally harassed 21 the people of the Lord who commands armies.
3:8 Therefore you must wait patiently 22 for me,” says the Lord,
“for the day when I attack and take plunder. 23
I have decided 24 to gather nations together
and assemble kingdoms,
so I can pour out my fury on them –
all my raging anger.
For 25 the whole earth will be consumed
by my fiery anger.
2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah 26 will take possession of it. 27
By the sea 28 they 29 will graze,
in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening,
for the Lord their God will intervene for them 30 and restore their prosperity. 31
2:11 The Lord will terrify them, 32
for 33 he will weaken 34 all the gods of the earth.
All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. 35
3:9 Know for sure that I will then enable
the nations to give me acceptable praise. 36
All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, 37
and will worship him in unison. 38
1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them
in the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.
The whole earth 39 will be consumed by his fiery wrath. 40
Indeed, 41 he will bring terrifying destruction 42 on all who live on the earth.” 43
2:9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” says the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel,
“be certain that Moab will become like Sodom
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah.
They will be overrun by weeds, 44
filled with salt pits, 45
and permanently desolate.
Those of my people who are left 46 will plunder their belongings; 47
those who are left in Judah 48 will take possession of their land.”
2:14 Flocks and herds 49 will lie down in the middle of it,
as well as every kind of wild animal. 50
Owls 51 will sleep in the tops of its support pillars;
they will hoot through the windows. 52
Rubble will cover the thresholds; 53
even the cedar work 54 will be exposed to the elements. 55
3:11 In that day you 56 will not be ashamed of all your rebelliousness against me, 57
for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast, 58
and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.
3:13 The Israelites who remain 59 will not act deceitfully.
They will not lie,
and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth.
Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep 60 and lie down;
no one will terrify them.”
3:20 At that time I will lead you –
at the time I gather you together. 61
Be sure of this! 62 I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you 63
when you see me restore you,” 64 says the Lord.
1 tn Heb “Lord
2 tn Heb “the day of the
3 tn Or “near.”
4 tn Heb “a sacrifice.” This same word also occurs in the following verse.
5 tn Or “consecrated” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
6 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.
7 tn Or perhaps “Canaanites.” Cf. BDB 489 s.v. I and II כְּנַעֲנִי. Translators have rendered the term either as “the merchant people” (KJV, NKJV), “the traders” (NRSV), “merchants” (NEB, NIV), or, alternatively, “the people of Canaan” (NASB).
8 tn Or “be destroyed.”
9 tn Heb “weigh out silver.”
10 tn Heb “be cut off.” In the Hebrew text of v. 11b the perfect verbal forms emphasize the certainty of the judgment, speaking of it as if it were already accomplished.
11 tn “The people” refers to mankind in general (see vv. 2-3) or more specifically to the residents of Judah (see vv. 4-13).
12 tn Heb “walk.”
13 tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).
14 tn 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.
16 tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
17 tn There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name Gaza (עַזָּה, ’azzah) sounds like the word translated “deserted” (עֲזוּבָה, ’azuvah).
18 tn Or “a desolate place.”
19 tn Heb “[As for] Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away.”
20 tn Heb “uprooted.” There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name “Ekron” (עֶקְרוֹן, ’eqron) sounds like the word translated “uprooted” (תֵּעָקֵר, te’aqer).
21 tn Heb “this is for them in place of their arrogance.”
22 tn Heb “made great [their mouth?] against” (cf. the last phrase of v. 8).
26 tn The second person verb form (“you must wait patiently”) is masculine plural, indicating that a group is being addressed. Perhaps the humble individuals addressed earlier (see 2:3) are in view. Because of Jerusalem’s sin, they must patiently wait for judgment to pass before their vindication arrives.
27 tn Heb “when I arise for plunder.” The present translation takes עַד (’ad) as “plunder.” Some, following the LXX, repoint the term עֵד (’ed) and translate, “as a witness” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the Lord uses a legal metaphor to picture himself as testifying against his enemies. Adele Berlin takes לְעַד (lÿ’ad) in a temporal sense (“forever”) and translates “once and for all” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 133).
28 tn Heb “for my decision is.”
29 tn Or “certainly.”
31 tn Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”
32 tn Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”
33 tc Heb “on them,” but the antecedent of the masculine pronoun is unclear. It may refer back to the “pasture lands,” though that noun is feminine. It is preferable to emend the text from עֲלֵיהֶם (’alehem) to עַל־הַיָּם (’al-hayyam, “by the sea”) an emendation that assumes a misdivision and transposition of letters in the MT (cf. NEB “They shall pasture their flocks by the sea”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 192.
34 tn The referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) is unclear. It may refer (1) to the shepherds (in which case the first verb should be translated, “pasture their sheep,” cf. NEB), or (2) to the Judahites occupying the area, who are being compared to sheep (cf. NIV, “there they will find pasture”).
35 tn Or “will care for them.”
36 tn Traditionally, “restore their captivity,” i.e., bring back their captives, but it is more likely the expression means “restore their fortunes” in a more general sense (cf. NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
36 tn Heb “will be awesome over [or, “against”] them.”
37 tn Or “certainly.”
38 tn The meaning of this rare Hebrew word is unclear. If the meaning is indeed “weaken,” then this line may be referring to the reduction of these gods’ territory through conquest (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 110-11). Cf. NEB “reduce to beggary”; NASB “starve”; NIV “when he destroys”; NRSV “shrivel.”
39 tn Heb “and all the coastlands of the nations will worship [or, “bow down”] to him, each from his own place.”
41 tn Heb “Certainly [or perhaps, “For”] then I will restore to the nations a pure lip.”
42 tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the
43 tn Heb “so that [they] will serve him [with] one shoulder.”
46 tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.
47 tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”
48 tn Or “for.”
49 tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”
50 tn It is not certain where the
51 tn The Hebrew text reads מִמְשַׁק חָרוּל (mimshaq kharul, “[?] of weeds”). The meaning of the first word is unknown. The present translation (“They will be overrun by weeds”) is speculative, based on the general sense of the context. For a defense of “overrun” on linguistic grounds, see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 347. Cf. NEB “a pile of weeds”; NIV “a place of weeds”; NRSV “a land possessed by nettles.”
52 tn The Hebrew text reads וּמִכְרֵה־מֶלַח (umikhreh-melakh, “and a [?] of salt”). The meaning of the first word is unclear, though “pit” (NASB, NIV, NRSV; NKJV “saltpit”), “mine,” and “heap” (cf. NEB “a rotting heap of saltwort”) are all options. The words “filled with” are supplied for clarification.
53 tn Or “The remnant of my people.”
54 tn Heb “them.” The actual object of the plundering, “their belongings,” has been specified in the translation for clarity.
55 tn Heb “[the] nation.” For clarity the “nation” has been specified as “Judah” in the translation.
56 tn Heb “flocks.” The Hebrew word can refer to both flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.
57 tn Heb “[and] all the wild animals of a nation.” How גוֹי (goy, “nation”) relates to what precedes is unclear. It may be a corruption of another word. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 193.
58 tn The Hebrew text reads here גַּם־קָאַת גַּם־קִפֹּד (gam-qa’at gam-qippod). The term קָאַת refers to some type of bird (see Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (Isa 34:11); one of the most common translations is “owl” (cf. NEB “horned owl”; NIV, NRSV “desert owl”; contra NASB “pelican”). The term קִפֹּד may also refer to a type of bird (cf. NEB “ruffed bustard”; NIV, NRSV “screech owl”). Some suggest a rodent may be in view (cf. NASB “hedgehog”); this is not unreasonable, for a rodent or some other small animal would be able to sleep in the tops of pillars which would be lying in the ruins of the fallen buildings.
59 tn Heb “a sound will sing in the window.” If some type of owl is in view, “hoot” is a more appropriate translation (cf. NEB, NRSV).
60 tn Heb “rubble [will be] on the threshold.” “Rubble” translates the Hebrew word חֹרֶב (khorev, “desolation”). Some emend to עֹרֵב (’orev, “raven”) following the LXX and Vulgate; Adele Berlin translates, “A voice shall shriek from the window – a raven at the sill” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 104).
61 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “cedar work” (so NASB, NRSV) is unclear; NIV has “the beams of cedar.”
62 tn Heb “one will expose.” The subject is probably indefinite, though one could translate, “for he [i.e., God] will lay bare.”
61 sn The second person verbs and pronouns are feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed here.
62 tn Heb “In that day you not be ashamed because of all your actions, [in] which you rebelled against me.”
63 tn Heb “the arrogant ones of your pride.”
66 tn Or “the remnant of Israel.”
67 tn The words “peacefully like sheep” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
71 tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.
72 tn Or “for.”
73 tn Heb “I will make you into a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.” Here the word “name” carries the nuance of “good reputation.”
74 tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.