Isaiah 18:3

18:3 All you who live in the world,

who reside on the earth,

you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains;

you will hear a trumpet being blown.

Isaiah 58:1

The Lord Desires Genuine Devotion

58:1 “Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet!

Yell as loud as a trumpet!

Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; ¹ 

confront Jacob’s family with their sin! ² 

Jeremiah 4:5

Warning of Coming Judgment

4:5 The Lord said, ³ 

“Announce ⁴  this in Judah and proclaim it in Jerusalem: ⁵ 

‘Sound the trumpet ⁶  throughout the land!’

Shout out loudly,

‘Gather together! Let us flee into the fortified cities!’

Jeremiah 4:19

4:19 I said, ⁷ 

“Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! ⁸ 

I writhe in anguish.

Oh, the pain in my heart! ⁹ 

My heart pounds within me.

I cannot keep silent.

For I hear the sound of the trumpet; ¹⁰ 

the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 4:21

4:21 “How long must I see the enemy’s battle flags

and hear the military signals of their bugles?” ¹² 

Jeremiah 6:1

The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted

6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!

Get out of Jerusalem! ¹³ 

Sound the trumpet ¹⁴  in Tekoa!

Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!

For disaster lurks ¹⁵  out of the north;

it will bring great destruction. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 6:17

6:17 The Lord said, ¹⁷ 

“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, ¹⁸  saying:

‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” ¹⁹ 

But they said, “We will not pay attention!”

Ezekiel 7:14

7:14 “They have blown the trumpet and everyone is ready, but no one goes to battle, because my anger is against their whole crowd. ²⁰ 

Ezekiel 33:3-6

33:3 He sees the sword coming against the land, blows the trumpet, ²¹  and warns the people, ²²  33:4 but there is one who hears the sound of the trumpet yet does not heed the warning. Then the sword comes and sweeps him away. He will be responsible for his own death. ²³  33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, so he is responsible for himself. ²⁴  If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life. 33:6 But suppose the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. Then the sword comes and takes one of their lives. He is swept away for his iniquity, ²⁵  but I will hold the watchman accountable for that person’s death.’ ²⁶ 

Hosea 5:8

The Prophet’s Declaration of Judgment

5:8 Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah!

Sound the trumpet in Ramah!

Sound the alarm in Beth Aven! ²⁷ 

Tremble in fear, ²⁸  O Benjamin!

Amos 3:6

3:6 If an alarm sounds ²⁹  in a city, do people not fear? ³⁰ 

If disaster overtakes a ³¹  city, is the Lord not responsible? ³² 

Zephaniah 1:16

1:16 a day of trumpet blasts ³³  and battle cries. ³⁴ 

Judgment will fall on ³⁵  the fortified cities and the high corner towers.

Zephaniah 1:1

Introduction

1:1 This is the prophetic message that the Lord gave to ³⁶  Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. Zephaniah delivered this message during the reign of ³⁷  King Josiah son of Amon of Judah:

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

[58:1]  ¹ tn Heb “declare to my people their rebellion.”

[58:1]  ² tn Heb “and to the house of Jacob their sin.” The verb “declare” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[4:5]  ³ tn The words “The Lord said” are not in the text, but it is obvious from v. 6 and v. 9 that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[4:5]  ⁴ tn It is unclear who the addressees of the masculine plural imperatives are here. They may be the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah who are sounding the alarm to others. However, the first person reference to the Lord in v. 6 and Jeremiah’s response in v. 10 suggest that this is a word from the Lord that he is commanded to pass on to the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah. If the imperatives are not merely rhetorical plurals they may reflect the practice referred to in Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7. A similar phenomenon also occurs in Jer 5:1 and also in Isa 40:1-2. This may also be the explanation for the plural imperatives in Jer 31:6. For further discussion see the translator’s note on Jer 5:1.

[4:5]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[4:19]  ⁷ tn The words “I said” are not in the text. They are used to mark the shift from the Lord’s promise of judgment to Jeremiah’s lament concerning it.

[4:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “My bowels! My bowels!”

[4:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “the walls of my heart!”

[4:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[4:19]  ¹¹ tc The translation reflects a different division of the last two lines than that suggested by the Masoretes. The written text (the Kethib) reads “for the sound of the ram’s horn I have heard [or “you have heard,” if the form is understood as the old second feminine singular perfect] my soul” followed by “the battle cry” in the last line. The translation is based on taking “my soul” with the last line and understanding an elliptical expression “the battle cry [to] my soul.” Such an elliptical expression is in keeping with the elliptical nature of the exclamations at the beginning of the verse (cf. the literal translations of the first two lines of the verse in the notes on the words “stomach” and “heart”).

[4:21]  ¹² tn Heb “the sound of ram’s horns,” but the modern equivalent is “bugles” and is more readily understandable.

[6:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem.”

[6:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[6:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.

[6:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[It will be] a severe fracture.” The nation is pictured as a limb being fractured.

[6:17]  ¹⁷ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”

[6:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[7:14]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew word refers to the din or noise made by a crowd, and by extension may refer to the crowd itself.

[33:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “shofar,” a ram’s horn rather than a brass instrument (so throughout the chapter).

[33:3]  ²² tn Sounding the trumpet was a warning of imminent danger (Neh 4:18-20; Jer 4:19; Amos 3:6).

[33:4]  ²³ tn Heb “his blood will be on his own head.”

[33:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his blood will be on him.”

[33:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 8 and 9; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.

[33:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.”

[5:8]  ²⁷ sn See the note on the place name Beth Aven in 4:15.

[5:8]  ²⁸ tc The MT reads the anomalous אַחֲרֶיךָ בִּנְיָמִין (’akharekha binyamin, “behind you, O Benjamin”), a reading followed by many English versions. The LXX reads ἐξέστη (exesth) which might reflect an alternate textual tradition of הַחֲרִדוּ בִּנְיָמִין (hakharidu binyamin, “Tremble in fear, O Benjamin”); the verb form would be a Hiphil imperative 2nd person masculine plural from חָרַד (kharad, “to tremble, be terrified”; BDB 353 s.v. חָרַד). For discussion of this textual problem, see D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:236.

[3:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “If the ram’s horn is blown.”

[3:6]  ³⁰ tn Or “tremble” (NASB, NIV, NCV); or “shake.”

[3:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “is in”; NIV, NCV, NLT “comes to.”

[3:6]  ³² tn Heb “has the Lord not acted?”

[1:16]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ tn Heb “against.” The words “judgment will fall” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “The word of the Lord which came to.”

[1:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in the days of.” The words “Zephaniah delivered this message” are supplied in the translation for clarification.