Zephaniah 1:17-18

1:17 I will bring distress on the people ¹ 

and they will stumble ²  like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh ³  will be scattered ⁴  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 ⁵  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ⁶ 

Indeed, ⁷  he will bring terrifying destruction ⁸  on all who live on the earth.” ⁹ 

[1:17]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “walk.”

[1:17]  ³ tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).

[1:17]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ⁶ tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ⁷ tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ⁹ 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).