Ezekiel 30:3

30:3 For the day is near,

the day of the Lord is near;

it will be a day of storm clouds, ¹ 

it will be a time of judgment ²  for the nations.

Isaiah 2:12

2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ³ 

for ⁴  all the high and mighty,

for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

Isaiah 13:6

13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment ⁵  is near;

it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. ⁶ 

Isaiah 13:9

13:9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment ⁷  is coming;

it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, ⁸ 

destroying ⁹  the earth ¹⁰ 

and annihilating its sinners.

Isaiah 34:8

34:8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, ¹¹ 

a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. ¹² 

Joel 1:15

1:15 How awful that day will be! ¹³ 

For the day of the Lord is near;

it will come as destruction from the Divine Destroyer. ¹⁴ 

Joel 2:1

The Locusts’ Devastation

2:1 Blow the trumpet ¹⁵  in Zion;

sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,

for the day of the Lord is about to come.

Indeed, ¹⁶  it is near! ¹⁷ 

Joel 2:31

2:31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness

and the moon to the color of blood, ¹⁸ 

before the day of the Lord comes –

that great and terrible day!

Joel 3:14

3:14 Crowds, great crowds are in the valley of decision,

for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision! ¹⁹ 

Amos 5:18-20

The Lord Demands Justice

5:18 Woe ²⁰  to those who wish for the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?

It will bring darkness, not light.

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ²¹ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ²²  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

5:20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring ²³  darkness, not light –

gloomy blackness, not bright light?

Zephaniah 1:14-18

1:14 The Lord’s great day of judgment ²⁴  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. ²⁵ 

1:15 That day will be a day of God’s anger, ²⁶ 

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,

1:16 a day of trumpet blasts ²⁷  and battle cries. ²⁸ 

Judgment will fall on ²⁹  the fortified cities and the high corner towers.

1:17 I will bring distress on the people ³⁰ 

and they will stumble ³¹  like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh ³²  will be scattered ³³  like manure.

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 ³⁴  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ³⁵ 

Indeed, ³⁶  he will bring terrifying destruction ³⁷  on all who live on the earth.” ³⁸ 

Zephaniah 2:2-3

2:2 before God’s decree becomes reality ³⁹  and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, ⁴⁰ 

before the Lord’s raging anger ⁴¹  overtakes ⁴²  you –

before the day of the Lord’s angry judgment overtakes you!

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ⁴³  all you humble people ⁴⁴  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ⁴⁵ 

Strive to do what is right! ⁴⁶  Strive to be humble! ⁴⁷ 

Maybe you will be protected ⁴⁸  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Malachi 4:5

4:5 Look, I will send you Elijah ⁴⁹  the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

Malachi 4:1

4:1 (3:19) ⁵⁰  “For indeed the day ⁵¹  is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It ⁵²  will not leave even a root or branch.

Malachi 1:2

1:2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob

Malachi 1:2

1:2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob

Malachi 3:10

3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse ⁵³  so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.

Revelation 6:17

6:17 because the great day of their ⁵⁴  wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” ⁵⁵ 

[30:3]  ¹ tn Heb “a day of clouds.” The expression occurs also in Joel 2:2 and Zeph 1:15; it recalls the appearance of God at Mount Sinai (Exod 19:9, 16, 18).

[30:3]  ² tn Heb “a time.” The words “of judgment” have been added in the translation for clarification (see the following verses).

[2:12]  ³ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] has a day.”

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Or “against” (NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[13:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “the day of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

[13:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “like destruction from the sovereign judge it comes.” The comparative preposition (כְּ, kÿ) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the destruction unleashed will have all the earmarks of divine judgment. One could paraphrase, “it comes as only destructive divine judgment can.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x.

[13:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “the day of the Lord.”

[13:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “[with] cruelty, and fury, and rage of anger.” Three synonyms for “anger” are piled up at the end of the line to emphasize the extraordinary degree of divine anger that will be exhibited in this judgment.

[13:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “making desolate.”

[13:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “land” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT).

[34:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for a day of vengeance [is] for the Lord.”

[34:8]  ¹² tn Heb “a year of repayment for the strife of Zion.” The translation assumes that רִיב (riv) refers to Edom’s hostility toward Zion. Another option is to understand רִיב (riv) as referring to the Lord’s taking up Zion’s cause. In this case one might translate, “a time when he will repay Edom and vindicate Zion.”

[1:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “Alas for the day!”

[1:15]  ¹⁴ tn There is a wordplay in Hebrew here with the word used for “destruction” (שׁוֹד, shod) and the term used for God (שַׁדַּי, shadday). The exact meaning of “Shaddai” in the OT is somewhat uncertain, although the ancient versions and many modern English versions tend to translate it as “Almighty” (e.g., Greek παντοκράτωρ [pantokratwr], Latin omnipotens). Here it might be rendered “Destroyer,” with the thought being that “destruction will come from the Divine Destroyer,” which should not be misunderstood as a reference to the destroying angel. The name “Shaddai” (outside Genesis and without the element “El” [“God”]) is normally used when God is viewed as the sovereign king who blesses/protects or curses/brings judgment. The name appears in the introduction to two of Balaam’s oracles (Num 24:4, 16) of blessing upon Israel. Naomi employs the name when accusing the Lord of treating her bitterly by taking the lives of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:20-21). In Ps 68:14, Isa 13:6, and the present passage, Shaddai judges his enemies through warfare, while Ps 91:1 depicts him as the protector of his people. In Ezek 1:24 and 10:5 the sound of the cherubs’ wings is compared to Shaddai’s powerful voice. The reference may be to the mighty divine warrior’s battle cry which accompanies his angry judgment.

[2:1]  ¹⁵ tn The word translated “trumpet” here (so most English versions) is the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofar). The shophar was a wind instrument made from a cow or ram’s horn and used as a military instrument for calling people to attention in the face of danger or as a religious instrument for calling people to occasions of communal celebration.

[2:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “for.”

[2:1]  ¹⁷ sn The interpretation of 2:1-11 is very difficult. Four views may be mentioned here. (1) Some commentators understand this section to be describing a human invasion of Judah on the part of an ancient army. The exact identity of this army (e.g., Assyrian or Babylonian) varies among interpreters depending upon issues of dating for the book of Joel. (2) Some commentators take the section to describe an eschatological scene in which the army according to some is human, or according to others is nonhuman (i.e., angelic). (3) Some interpreters argue for taking the section to refer to the potential advent in the fall season of a severe east wind (i.e., Sirocco) that would further exacerbate the conditions of the land described in chapter one. (4) Finally, some interpreters understand the section to continue the discussion of locust invasion and drought described in chapter one, partly on the basis that there is no clear exegetical evidence in 2:1-11 to suggest a shift of referent from that of chapter one.

[2:31]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to blood,” but no doubt this is intended to indicate by metonymy the color of blood rather than the substance itself. The blood red color suggests a visual impression here – something that could be caused by fires, volcanic dust, sandstorms, or other atmospheric phenomena.

[3:14]  ¹⁹ sn The decision referred to here is not a response on the part of the crowd, but the verdict handed out by the divine judge.

[5:18]  ²⁰ tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.

[5:19]  ²¹ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ²² tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[5:20]  ²³ tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”

[1:14]  ²⁴ 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.

[1:14]  ²⁵ tn 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 MT). (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.

[1:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a day of wrath.” The word “God’s” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:16]  ²⁷ 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”).

[1:16]  ²⁸ 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).

[1:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “against.” The words “judgment will fall” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:17]  ³⁰ tn “The people” refers to mankind in general (see vv. 2-3) or more specifically to the residents of Judah (see vv. 4-13).

[1:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “walk.”

[1:17]  ³² tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).

[1:17]  ³³ 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.

[1:18]  ³⁴ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ³⁵ tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ³⁶ tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ³⁷ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ³⁸ tn 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).

[2:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “before the giving birth of a decree.” For various alternative readings, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 187-88.

[2:2]  ⁴⁰ tn The second half of the line reads literally, “like chaff it passes by a day.” The translation above assumes the “day” is the brief time God is giving the nation to repent. The comparison of this quickly passing opportunity to chaff is consistent with the straw imagery of v. 1.

[2:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the fury of the anger of the Lord.” The synonyms are combined to emphasize the extreme degree of the Lord’s anger.

[2:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “comes upon.” This phrase occurs twice in this verse.

[2:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ⁴⁵ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”

[4:5]  ⁴⁹ sn I will send you Elijah the prophet. In light of the ascension of Elijah to heaven without dying (2 Kgs 2:11), Judaism has always awaited his return as an aspect of the messianic age (see, e.g., John 1:19-28). Jesus identified John the Baptist as Elijah, because he came in the “spirit and power” of his prototype Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).

[4:1]  ⁵⁰ sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:6 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:19 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:20 HT, etc., through 4:6 ET = 3:24 HT. Thus the book of Malachi in the Hebrew Bible has only three chapters, with 24 verses in ch. 3.

[4:1]  ⁵¹ sn This day is the well-known “day of the Lord” so pervasive in OT eschatological texts (see Joel 2:30-31; Amos 5:18; Obad 15). For the believer it is a day of grace and salvation; for the sinner, a day of judgment and destruction.

[4:1]  ⁵² tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[3:10]  ⁵³ tn The Hebrew phrase בֵּית הָאוֹצָר (bet ha’otsar, here translated “storehouse”) refers to a kind of temple warehouse described more fully in Nehemiah (where the term לִשְׁכָּה גְדוֹלָה [lishkah gÿdolah, “great chamber”] is used) as a place for storing grain, frankincense, temple vessels, wine, and oil (Neh 13:5). Cf. TEV “to the Temple.”

[6:17]  ⁵⁴ tc Most mss (A Ï bo) change the pronoun “their” to “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou) in order to bring the text in line with the mention of the one seated on the throne in the immediately preceding verse, and to remove the ambiguity about whose wrath is in view here. The reading αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”) is well supported by א C 1611 1854 2053 2329 2344 pc latt sy. On both internal and external grounds, it should be regarded as original.

[6:17]  ⁵⁵ tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).