Zephaniah 1:12-18
Context1:12 At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps.
I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, 1
those who think to themselves, 2
‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’ 3
1:13 Their wealth will be stolen
and their houses ruined!
They will not live in the houses they have built,
nor will they drink the wine from the vineyards they have planted.
1:14 The Lord’s great day of judgment 4 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. 5
1:15 That day will be a day of God’s anger, 6
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 7 and battle cries. 8
Judgment will fall on 9 the fortified cities and the high corner towers.
1:17 I will bring distress on the people 10
and they will stumble 11 like blind men,
for they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dirt;
their flesh 12 will be scattered 13 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 14 will be consumed by his fiery wrath. 15
Indeed, 16 he will bring terrifying destruction 17 on all who live on the earth.” 18
[1:12] 1 tn Heb “who thicken on their sediment.” The imagery comes from wine making, where the wine, if allowed to remain on the sediment too long, will thicken into syrup. The image suggests that the people described here were complacent in their sinful behavior and interpreted the delay in judgment as divine apathy.
[1:12] 2 tn Heb “who say in their hearts.”
[1:12] 3 tn Heb “The
[1:14] 4 tn Heb “The great day of the
[1:14] 5 tn Heb “the sound of the day of the
[1:15] 6 tn Heb “a day of wrath.” The word “God’s” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[1:16] 7 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] 8 sn This description of the day of the
[1:16] 9 tn Heb “against.” The words “judgment will fall” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[1:17] 10 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] 12 tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).
[1:17] 13 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] 14 tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.
[1:18] 15 tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”
[1:18] 17 tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”
[1:18] 18 tn It is not certain where the