Ezekiel 5:14

5:14 “I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by.

Isaiah 24:1-12

The Lord Will Judge the Earth

24:1 Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth

and leave it in ruins;

he will mar its surface

and scatter its inhabitants.

24:2 Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people, ¹ 

the master as well as the servant, ² 

the elegant lady as well as the female attendant, ³ 

the seller as well as the buyer, ⁴ 

the borrower as well as the lender, ⁵ 

the creditor as well as the debtor. ⁶ 

24:3 The earth will be completely devastated

and thoroughly ransacked.

For the Lord has decreed this judgment. ⁷ 

24:4 The earth ⁸  dries up ⁹  and withers,

the world shrivels up and withers;

the prominent people of the earth ¹⁰  fade away.

24:5 The earth is defiled by ¹¹  its inhabitants, ¹² 

for they have violated laws,

disregarded the regulation, ¹³ 

and broken the permanent treaty. ¹⁴ 

24:6 So a treaty curse ¹⁵  devours the earth;

its inhabitants pay for their guilt. ¹⁶ 

This is why the inhabitants of the earth disappear, ¹⁷ 

and are reduced to just a handful of people. ¹⁸ 

24:7 The new wine dries up,

the vines shrivel up,

all those who like to celebrate ¹⁹  groan.

24:8 The happy sound ²⁰  of the tambourines stops,

the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt,

the happy sound of the harp ceases.

24:9 They no longer sing and drink wine; ²¹ 

the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.

24:10 The ruined town ²²  is shattered;

all of the houses are shut up tight. ²³ 

24:11 They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; ²⁴ 

all joy turns to sorrow; ²⁵ 

celebrations disappear from the earth. ²⁶ 

24:12 The city is left in ruins; ²⁷ 

the gate is reduced to rubble. ²⁸ 

Isaiah 32:13-14

32:13 Mourn ²⁹  over the land of my people,

which is overgrown with thorns and briers,

and over all the once-happy houses ³⁰ 

in the city filled with revelry. ³¹ 

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded ³²  city is abandoned.

Hill ³³  and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited. ³⁴ 

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there. ³⁵ 

Isaiah 64:10

64:10 Your chosen ³⁶  cities have become a desert;

Zion has become a desert,

Jerusalem ³⁷  is a desolate ruin.

Jeremiah 2:15

2:15 Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him;

they raise their voices in triumph. ³⁸ 

They have laid his land waste;

his cities have been burned down and deserted. ³⁹ 

Jeremiah 9:11

9:11 The Lord said, ⁴⁰ 

“I will make Jerusalem ⁴¹  a heap of ruins.

Jackals will make their home there. ⁴² 

I will destroy the towns of Judah

so that no one will be able to live in them.”

Jeremiah 10:22

10:22 Listen! News is coming even now. ⁴³ 

The rumble of a great army is heard approaching ⁴⁴  from a land in the north. ⁴⁵ 

It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble,

places where only jackals live.

Jeremiah 34:22

34:22 For I, the Lord, affirm that ⁴⁶  I will soon give the order and bring them back to this city. They will fight against it and capture it and burn it down. I will also make the towns of Judah desolate so that there will be no one living in them.”’”

Micah 3:12

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ⁴⁷  Zion will be plowed up like ⁴⁸  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ⁴⁹  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ⁵⁰ 

Zephaniah 1:2-6

The Lord’s Day of Judgment is Approaching

1:2 “I will destroy ⁵¹  everything from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

1:3 “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.) ⁵² 

I will remove ⁵³  humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

1:4 “I will attack ⁵⁴  Judah

and all who live in Jerusalem. ⁵⁵ 

I will remove ⁵⁶  from this place every trace of Baal worship, ⁵⁷ 

as well as the very memory ⁵⁸  of the pagan priests. ⁵⁹ 

1:5 I will remove ⁶⁰  those who worship the stars in the sky from their rooftops, ⁶¹ 

those who swear allegiance to the Lord ⁶²  while taking oaths in the name of ⁶³  their ‘king,’ ⁶⁴ 

1:6 and those who turn their backs on ⁶⁵  the Lord

and do not want the Lord’s help or guidance.” ⁶⁶ 

Zephaniah 1:18

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 ⁶⁷  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ⁶⁸ 

Indeed, ⁶⁹  he will bring terrifying destruction ⁷⁰  on all who live on the earth.” ⁷¹ 

Zephaniah 3:6

The Lord’s Judgment will Purify

3:6 “I destroyed ⁷²  nations;

their walled cities ⁷³  are in ruins.

I turned their streets into ruins;

no one passes through them.

Their cities are desolate; ⁷⁴ 

no one lives there. ⁷⁵ 

[24:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and it will be like the people, like the priest.”

[24:2]  ² tn Heb “like the servant, like his master.”

[24:2]  ³ tn Heb “like the female servant, like her mistress.”

[24:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “like the buyer, like the seller.”

[24:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “like the lender, like the borrower.”

[24:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “like the creditor, just as the one to whom he lends.”

[24:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “for the Lord has spoken this word.”

[24:4]  ⁸ tn Some prefer to read “land” here, but the word pair אֶרֶץ/תֵּבֵל (erets/tevel [see the corresponding term in the parallel line]) elsewhere clearly designates the earth/world (see 1 Sam 2:8; 1 Chr 16:30; Job 37;12; Pss 19:4; 24:1; 33:8; 89:11; 90:2; 96:13; 98:9; Prov 8:26, 31; Isa 14:16-17; 34:1; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Lam 4:12). According to L. Stadelmann, תבל designates “the habitable part of the world” (The Hebrew Conception of the World [AnBib], 130).

[24:4]  ⁹ tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists the homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism.

[24:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the height of the people of the earth.” The translation assumes an emendation of the singular form מְרוֹם (mÿrom, “height of”) to the plural construct מְרֹמֵי (mÿrome, “high ones of”; note the plural verb at the beginning of the line), and understands the latter as referring to the prominent people of human society.

[24:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”

[24:5]  ¹² sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.

[24:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”

[24:5]  ¹⁴ tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”

[24:6]  ¹⁵ sn Ancient Near Eastern treaties often had “curses,” or threatened judgments, attached to them. (See Deut 28 for a biblical example of such curses.) The party or parties taking an oath of allegiance acknowledged that disobedience would activate these curses, which typically threatened loss of agricultural fertility as depicted in the following verses.

[24:6]  ¹⁶ tn The verb אָשַׁם (’asham, “be guilty”) is here used metonymically to mean “pay, suffer for one’s guilt” (see HALOT 95 s.v. אשׁם).

[24:6]  ¹⁷ tn BDB 359 s.v. חָרַר derives the verb חָרוּ (kharu) from חָרַר (kharar, “burn”), but HALOT 351 s.v. II חרה understands a hapax legomenon חָרָה (kharah, “to diminish in number,” a homonym of חָרָה) here, relating it to an alleged Arabic cognate meaning “to decrease.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חורו, perhaps understanding the root as חָוַר (khavar, “grow pale”; see Isa 29:22 and HALOT 299 s.v. I חור).

[24:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and mankind is left small [in number].”

[24:7]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “all the joyful in heart,” but the context specifies the context as parties and drinking bouts.

[24:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the joy” (again later in this verse).

[24:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “with a song they do not drink wine.”

[24:10]  ²² tn Heb “the city of chaos” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Isaiah uses the term תֹּהוּ (tohu) rather frequently of things (like idols) that are empty and worthless (see BDB 1062 s.v.), so the word might characterize the city as rebellious or morally worthless. However, in this context, which focuses on the effects of divine judgment, it probably refers to the ruined or worthless condition in which the city is left (note the use of the word in Isa 34:11). For a discussion of the identity of this city, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In the context of universal judgment depicted in Isa 24, this city represents all the nations and cities of the world which, like Babylon of old and the powers/cities mentioned in chapters 13-23, rebel against God’s authority. Behind the stereotypical language one can detect various specific manifestations of this symbolic and paradigmatic city, including Babylon, Moab, and Jerusalem, all of which are alluded or referred to in chapters 24-27.

[24:10]  ²³ tn Heb “every house is closed up from entering.”

[24:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[there is] an outcry over the wine in the streets.”

[24:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all joy turns to evening,” the darkness of evening symbolizing distress and sorrow.

[24:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the joy of the earth disappears.”

[24:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and there is left in the city desolation.”

[24:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and [into] rubble the gate is crushed.”

[32:13]  ²⁹ tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[32:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.

[32:13]  ³¹ sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.

[32:14]  ³² tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

[32:14]  ³³ tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.

[32:14]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.

[32:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”

[64:10]  ³⁶ tn Heb “holy” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT); NIV “sacred.”

[64:10]  ³⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Lions shout over him, they give out [raise] their voices.”

[2:15]  ³⁹ tn Heb “without inhabitant.”

[9:11]  ⁴⁰ tn The words “the Lord said” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the content that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:11]  ⁴¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:11]  ⁴² tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.”

[10:22]  ⁴³ tn Heb “The sound of a report, behold, it is coming.”

[10:22]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “ coming, even a great quaking.”

[10:22]  ⁴⁵ sn Compare Jer 6:22.

[34:22]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[3:12]  ⁴⁷ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”

[1:2]  ⁵¹ 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.

[1:3]  ⁵² tn Heb “And the stumbling blocks [or, “ruins”] with the evil”; or “the things that make the evil stumble.” The line does not appear in the original form of the LXX; it may be a later scribal addition. The present translation assumes the “stumbling blocks” are idolatrous images of animals, birds, and fish. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 167, and Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB), 73-74.

[1:3]  ⁵³ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:4]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “I will stretch out my hand against,” is an idiom for hostile action.

[1:4]  ⁵⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:4]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:4]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the remnant of Baal.”

[1:4]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “name.” Here the “name” is figurative for the memory of those who bear it.

[1:4]  ⁵⁹ tc Heb “of the pagan priests and priests.” The first word (כְּמָרִים, kÿmarim) refers to idolatrous priests in its two other appearances in the OT (2 Kgs 23:5, Hos 10:5), while the second word (כֹּהֲנִים, kohanim) is the normal term for “priest” and is used of both legitimate and illegitimate priests in the OT. It is likely that the second term, which is omitted in the LXX, is a later scribal addition to the Hebrew text, defining the extremely rare word that precedes (see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah [OTL], 167-68; cf. also NEB, NRSV). Some argue that both words are original; among the modern English versions that include both are NASB and NIV. Possibly the first word refers to outright pagan priests, while the second has in view once-legitimate priests of the Lord who had drifted into idolatrous practices. Another option is found in Adele Berlin, who translates, “the idolatrous priests among the priests,” understanding the second word as giving the general category of which the idolatrous priests are a part (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 75).

[1:5]  ⁶⁰ 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.

[1:5]  ⁶¹ 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.

[1:5]  ⁶² tc The MT reads, “those who worship, those who swear allegiance to the Lord.” The original form of the LXX omits the phrase “those who worship”; it may have been accidentally repeated from the preceding line. J. J. M. Roberts prefers to delete as secondary the phrase “those who swear allegiance” (J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah [OTL], 168).

[1:5]  ⁶³ tn Heb “those who swear by.”

[1:5]  ⁶⁴ tn The referent of “their king” is unclear. It may refer sarcastically to a pagan god (perhaps Baal) worshiped by the people. Some English versions (cf. NEB, NASB, NRSV) prefer to emend the text to “Milcom,” the name of an Ammonite god (following some LXX mss, Syriac, and Vulgate) or “Molech,” a god to whom the Israelites offered their children (cf. NIV, NLT). For a discussion of the options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 75-77.

[1:6]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “turn back from [following] after.”

[1:6]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “who do not seek the Lord and do not inquire of him.” The present translation assumes the first verb refers to praying for divine help and the second to seeking his revealed will through an oracle. Note the usage of the two verbs in 2 Chr 20:3-4.

[1:18]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ⁷¹ 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).

[3:6]  ⁷² tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:6]  ⁷³ tn Heb “corner towers”; NEB, NRSV “battlements.”

[3:6]  ⁷⁴ tn This Hebrew verb (צָדָה, tsadah) occurs only here in the OT, but its meaning is established from the context and from an Aramaic cognate.

[3:6]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “so that there is no man, without inhabitant.”