THE DAY OF GOD'S ANGER IS COMING

1The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

2I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.

3I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.

4I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;

5And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;

6And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.

7Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.

8And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

9In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.

10And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.

11Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

12And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

13Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

14The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

16A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

17And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

1The worde of the Lord which came vnto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the sonne of Amariah, the sonne of Hizkiah, in the dayes of Iosiah, the sonne of Amon king of Iudah.

2I will vtterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.

3I will consume man and beast: I will consume the foules of the heauen and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked, and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.

4I will also stretch out mine hand vpon Iudah, and vpon all the inhabitants of Ierusalem, and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests:

5And them that worship the hoste of heauen vpon the house tops, & them that worship, and that sweare by the Lord, and that sweare by Malcham:

6And them that are turned backe from the Lord, & those that haue not sought þe Lord, nor enquired for him.

7Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice: he hath bid his ghests.

8And it shall come to passe in the day of the Lords Sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the kings children, and al such as are clothed with strange apparell.

9In the same day also wil I punish all those that leape on the threshold, which fill their masters houses with violence and deceit.

10And it shall come to passe in that day, saith the Lord, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hils.

11Howle yee inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut downe: all they that beare siluer are cut off.

12And it shall come to passe at that time, that I wil search Ierusalem with candles, and punish the men that are setled on their lees, that say in their heart, The Lord will not doe good, neither will he doe euill.

13Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabite them, and they shall plant Uineyards, but not drinke the wine thereof.

14The great day of the Lord is neere, it is neere, and hasteth greatly, euen the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distresse, a day of wastenesse and desolation, a day of darknesse and gloominesse, a day of cloudes and thicke darkenesse;

16A day of the trumpet and alarme against the fenced cities, and against the high towres.

17And I will bring distresse vpon men, that they shall walke like blinde men, because they haue sinned against the Lord, and their blood shall bee powred out as dust, and their flesh as the doung.

18Neither their siluer nor their golde shall be able to deliuer them in the day of the Lords wrath; but the whole land shall bee deuoured by the fire of his iealousie: for hee shall make euen a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

III == Ezek 7:19 ; 14:3-4 , 7 ; Hos 4:3 ; Matt 13:41

 

 

 

 

IV == 2nd Kings 23:4-5 ; Hos 10:5

 

 

V == Josh 23:7 ; 2nd Kings 17:33 , 41 ; 23:12 ; Jer 19:13 ; Hos 4:15

 

VI == Isa 1:4 ; Jer 2:13 , 17 ; Hos 7:7

 

VII == Isa 13:6 ; 34:6 ; Ezek 39:17 ; Heb 2:20 ; Rev 19:17

 

 

VIII == Jer 39:6

 

 

 

 

 

 

X == 2nd Chr 33:14

 

 

 

 

XII == Ps 94:7 ; Jer 48:11 ; Amos 6:1

 

 

XIII == Deut 28:30 , 39 ; Amos 5:11 ; Mic 6:15

 

 

XIV == Joes 2:1 , 11

 

 

XV == Isa 22:5 ; Jer 30:7 ; Joesl 2:2 ; 11 ; Zeph 1:18

 

XVI == Jer 4:19

 

 

XVII == Deut 28:29 ; Ps 79:3 ; 83:10 ; Isa 59:10 ; Jer 9:22 ; 16:4

 

 

 

XVIII == Prov 11:4 ; Ezek 7:19 ; Zeph 1:2-3 ; 3:8

 

1 The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.

2 I will completely sweep away all things from the face of the earth, says the LORD.

3 I will sweep away man and beast, I will sweep away the birds of the sky, and the fishes of the sea. I will overthrow the wicked; I will destroy mankind from the face of the earth, says the LORD.

4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; I will destroy from this place the last vestige of Baal, the very names of his priests.

5 And those who adore the host of heaven on the roofs, with those who adore the LORD but swear by Milcom;

6 And those who have fallen away from the LORD, and those who do not seek the LORD.

7 Silence in the presence of the Lord GOD! for near is the day of the LORD, Yes, the LORD has prepared a slaughter feast, he has consecrated his guests.

8 On the day of the LORD'S slaughter feast I will punish the princes, and the king's sons, and all that dress in foreign apparel.

9 I will punish, on that day, all who leap over the threshold, Who fill the house of their master with violence and deceit.

10 On that day, says the LORD, A cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the New Quarter, loud crashing from the hills.

11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! for all the merchants will be destroyed, all who weigh out silver, done away with.

12 At that time I will explore Jerusalem with lamps; I will punish the men who thicken on their lees, Who say in their hearts, "Neither good nor evil can the LORD do."

13 Their wealth shall be given to pillage and their houses to devastation; They will build houses, but shall not dwell in them, plant vineyards, but not drink their wine,

14 Near is the great day of the LORD, near and very swiftly coming, Hark, the day of the LORD! bitter, then, the warrior's cry.

15 A day of wrath is that day a day of anguish and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, A day of thick black clouds,

16 a day of trumpet blasts and battle alarm Against fortified cities, against battlements on high.

17 I will hem men in till they walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; And their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their brains like dung.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to save them on the day of the LORD'S wrath, When in the fire of his jealousy all the earth shall be consumed. For he shall make an end, yes, a sudden end, of all who live on the earth.

 

Emphasis on Day of the Lord, used 19 times in this book.

v 1 Zephaniah was the great, great grandson of King Hezekiah and prophesied after Josiah’s revival, the great grandson of Hezekiah through Manasseh and Amon.

v 2. Judah lapsed from Josiah’s reforms and Zephaniah pronounces judgment.

v 3. Judgment specifically to man and animals, birds, then fish in reverse order of creation. Universal judgment on the wicked would leave earth a shambles. Even men not wicked would be cut off from the land, but not from God. 

v 4. When God judged Judah and Jerusalem He would remove (destroy) the Baal pagan priests appointed by kings and the idolatrous Levitical priests.

v 5,6. Three forms of idolatrous worshipers to be cut off: Star worshipers on the housetops; those combining worship of God with Molech; and religiously indifferent.

v 7. The first of 19 references to day of the Lord in this book. God is preparing Judah as a sacrifice to be consumed by the invited guest, Babylon.

v 8. The princes, Josiah’s sons, wore foreign clothes and adopted foreign ways. Their punishment: Jehoahaz reigned 3 months and taken to Egypt; Jehoiakim was captured by Nebuchadnezzar; Jehoiachin reigned 3 months before taken to Babylon; Zedekiah’s sons were killed in his sight, then he was blinded and taken to Babylon.

v 9. Not Dagon's threshold of 1 Sam. 5:5, but zealous plunderers.

v 10. Wailing in the area northwest of the temple when Nebuchadnezzar broke in.

v 11. Merchants along this street were unjust and would be killed.

v 12,13. The Lord would search diligently and punish those settled down like wine settlings, complacent, and who thought God could neither keep His promises or threats. They would be plundered and houses destroyed, they would plant vineyards and build houses, but not live long enough to enjoy them.

v 14-18. The great day of the Lord was near. Within 20 years their youth began to go into captivity, and in another 10, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city. Babylon would come in ruthlessly, burning, killing and ravishing. The people will be as helpless as blind men, and their wealth can not help them. This is the Lord’s wrath on them, and  also looks forward to judgment of the great day of the Lord in the Tribulation.