Zephaniah 1:14

1:14 The Lord’s great day of judgment ¹  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. ² 

Zephaniah 1:7

1:7 Be silent before the Lord God, ³ 

for the Lord’s day of judgment ⁴  is almost here. ⁵ 

The Lord has prepared a sacrificial meal; ⁶ 

he has ritually purified ⁷  his guests.

[1:14]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “Lord Lord.” The phrase אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה (adonai yÿhvih) is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God.”

[1:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the day of the Lord.”

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Or “near.”

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “a sacrifice.” This same word also occurs in the following verse.

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Or “consecrated” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).