Zephaniah 1:11

1:11 Wail, you who live in the market district, ¹ 

for all the merchants ²  will disappear ³ 

and those who count money ⁴  will be removed. ⁵ 

Zephaniah 1:17

1:17 I will bring distress on the people ⁶ 

and they will stumble ⁷  like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh ⁸  will be scattered ⁹  like manure.

Zephaniah 2:4

Judgment on Surrounding Nations

2:4 Indeed, ¹⁰  Gaza will be deserted ¹¹ 

and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. ¹² 

Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, ¹³ 

and Ekron will be overthrown. ¹⁴ 

Zephaniah 2:10

2:10 This is how they will be repaid for their arrogance, ¹⁵ 

for they taunted and verbally harassed ¹⁶  the people of the Lord who commands armies.

[1:11]  ¹ 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.

[1:11]  ² 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).

[1:11]  ³ tn Or “be destroyed.”

[1:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “weigh out silver.”

[1:11]  ⁵ 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.

[1:17]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “walk.”

[1:17]  ⁸ tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).

[1:17]  ⁹ 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.

[2:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:4]  ¹² tn There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name Gaza (עַזָּה, ’azzah) sounds like the word translated “deserted” (עֲזוּבָה, ’azuvah).

[2:4]  ¹³ tn Or “a desolate place.”

[2:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[As for] Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away.”

[2:4]  ¹⁵ 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).

[2:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “this is for them in place of their arrogance.”

[2:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “made great [their mouth?] against” (cf. the last phrase of v. 8).