1:1 This is the prophetic message that the Lord gave to 1 Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. Zephaniah delivered this message during the reign of 2 King Josiah son of Amon of Judah:
1:2 “I will destroy 3 everything from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.
1:3 “I will destroy people and animals;
I will destroy the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea.
(The idolatrous images of these creatures will be destroyed along with evil people.) 4
I will remove 5 humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.
1:4 “I will attack 6 Judah
and all who live in Jerusalem. 7
I will remove 8 from this place every trace of Baal worship, 9
as well as the very memory 10 of the pagan priests. 11
1:5 I will remove 12 those who worship the stars in the sky from their rooftops, 13
those who swear allegiance to the Lord 14 while taking oaths in the name of 15 their ‘king,’ 16
1:6 and those who turn their backs on 17 the Lord
and do not want the Lord’s help or guidance.” 18
1:7 Be silent before the Lord God, 19
for the Lord’s day of judgment 20 is almost here. 21
The Lord has prepared a sacrificial meal; 22
he has ritually purified 23 his guests.
1:8 “On the day of the Lord’s sacrificial meal,
I will punish the princes 24 and the king’s sons,
and all who wear foreign styles of clothing. 25
1:9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, 26
who fill the house of their master 27 with wealth taken by violence and deceit. 28
1:10 On that day,” says the Lord,
“a loud cry will go up 29 from the Fish Gate, 30
wailing from the city’s newer district, 31
and a loud crash 32 from the hills.
1:11 Wail, you who live in the market district, 33
for all the merchants 34 will disappear 35
and those who count money 36 will be removed. 37
1:12 At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps.
I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, 38
those who think to themselves, 39
‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’ 40
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 41 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. 42
1:15 That day will be a day of God’s anger, 43
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 44 and battle cries. 45
Judgment will fall on 46 the fortified cities and the high corner towers.
1:17 I will bring distress on the people 47
and they will stumble 48 like blind men,
for they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dirt;
their flesh 49 will be scattered 50 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 51 will be consumed by his fiery wrath. 52
Indeed, 53 he will bring terrifying destruction 54 on all who live on the earth.” 55
2:1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, 56 the Lord spoke again through the prophet Haggai: 57 2:2 “Ask the following questions to 58 Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, 59 and the remnant of the people: 2:3 ‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple? 60 How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison? 2:4 Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord. ‘Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and 61 all you citizens of the land,’ 62 says the Lord, ‘and begin to work. For I am with you,’ says the Lord who rules over all. 2:5 ‘Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my spirit 63 even now testifies to you.’ 64 2:6 Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says: ‘In just a little while 65 I will once again shake the sky 66 and the earth, the sea and the dry ground. 2:7 I will also shake up all the nations, and they 67 will offer their treasures; 68 then I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord who rules over all. 2:8 ‘The silver and gold will be mine,’ says the Lord who rules over all. 2:9 ‘The future splendor of this temple will be greater than that of former times,’ 69 the Lord who rules over all declares, ‘and in this place I will give peace.’” 70
2:10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year, 71 the Lord spoke again to the prophet Haggai: 72 2:11 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘Ask the priests about the law. 73 2:12 If someone carries holy meat in a fold of his garment and that fold touches bread, a boiled dish, wine, olive oil, or any other food, will that item become holy?’” 74 The priests answered, “It will not.” 2:13 Then Haggai asked, “If a person who is ritually unclean because of touching a dead body 75 comes in contact with one of these items, will it become unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”
2:14 Then Haggai responded, “‘The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,’ 76 says the Lord. ‘And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean. 77 2:15 Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past, 78 before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. 79 2:16 From that time 80 when one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it, there were only twenty. 2:17 I struck all the products of your labor 81 with blight, disease, and hail, and yet you brought nothing to me,’ 82 says the Lord. 2:18 ‘Think carefully about the past: 83 from today, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, 84 to the day work on the temple of the Lord was resumed, 85 think about it. 86 2:19 The seed is still in the storehouse, isn’t it? And the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree have not produced. Nevertheless, from today on I will bless you.’”
2:20 Then the Lord spoke again to Haggai 87 on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 88 2:21 Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah: ‘I am ready 89 to shake the sky 90 and the earth. 2:22 I will overthrow royal thrones and shatter the might of earthly kingdoms. 91 I will overthrow chariots and those who ride them, and horses and their riders will fall as people kill one another. 92 2:23 On that day,’ 93 says the Lord who rules over all, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’ 94 says the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, 95 for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord who rules over all.” 96
1 tn Heb “The word of the
2 tn Heb “in the days of.” The words “Zephaniah delivered this message” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
3 tn The Hebrew text combines the infinitive absolute of אָסַף (’asaf, “gather up, sweep away”) with a Hiphil prefixed first person form of סוּף (suf, “come to an end”; see Jer 8:13 for the same combination). This can be translated literally, “Sweeping away, I will bring to an end.” Some prefer to emend the text so that the infinitive and finite form of the verb are from the same root (“I will certainly sweep away,” if from אָסַף [cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV]; “I will certainly bring to an end,” if from סוּף). For a discussion of proposals see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 167, 169.
4 tn Heb “And the stumbling blocks [or, “ruins”] with the evil”; or “the things that make the evil stumble.” The line does not appear in the original form of the LXX; it may be a later scribal addition. The present translation assumes the “stumbling blocks” are idolatrous images of animals, birds, and fish. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 167, and Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB), 73-74.
5 tn Heb “cut off.”
6 tn Heb “I will stretch out my hand against,” is an idiom for hostile action.
7 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
8 tn Heb “cut off.”
9 tn Heb “the remnant of Baal.”
10 tn Heb “name.” Here the “name” is figurative for the memory of those who bear it.
11 tc Heb “of the pagan priests and priests.” The first word (כְּמָרִים, kÿmarim) refers to idolatrous priests in its two other appearances in the OT (2 Kgs 23:5, Hos 10:5), while the second word (כֹּהֲנִים, kohanim) is the normal term for “priest” and is used of both legitimate and illegitimate priests in the OT. It is likely that the second term, which is omitted in the LXX, is a later scribal addition to the Hebrew text, defining the extremely rare word that precedes (see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah [OTL], 167-68; cf. also NEB, NRSV). Some argue that both words are original; among the modern English versions that include both are NASB and NIV. Possibly the first word refers to outright pagan priests, while the second has in view once-legitimate priests of the Lord who had drifted into idolatrous practices. Another option is found in Adele Berlin, who translates, “the idolatrous priests among the priests,” understanding the second word as giving the general category of which the idolatrous priests are a part (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 75).
12 tn The words “I will remove” are repeated from v. 4b for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 4b-6 contain a long list of objects for the verb “I will remove” in v. 4b. In the present translation a new sentence was begun at the beginning of v. 5 in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences.
13 tn Heb “those who worship on their roofs the host of heaven.” The “host of heaven” included the sun, moon, planets, and stars, all of which were deified in the ancient Near East.
14 tc The MT reads, “those who worship, those who swear allegiance to the
15 tn Heb “those who swear by.”
16 tn The referent of “their king” is unclear. It may refer sarcastically to a pagan god (perhaps Baal) worshiped by the people. Some English versions (cf. NEB, NASB, NRSV) prefer to emend the text to “Milcom,” the name of an Ammonite god (following some LXX
17 tn Heb “turn back from [following] after.”
18 tn Heb “who do not seek the
19 tn Heb “Lord
20 tn Heb “the day of the
sn The origin of the concept of “the day of the
21 tn Or “near.”
22 tn Heb “a sacrifice.” This same word also occurs in the following verse.
sn Because a sacrificial meal presupposes the slaughter of animals, it is used here as a metaphor of the bloody judgment to come.
23 tn Or “consecrated” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
24 tn Or “officials” (NRSV, TEV); NLT “leaders.”
25 sn The very dress of the royal court, foreign styles of clothing, revealed the degree to which Judah had assimilated foreign customs.
26 sn The point of the statement all who hop over the threshold is unclear. A ritual or superstition associated with the Philistine god Dagon may be in view (see 1 Sam 5:5).
27 tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.
28 tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.
29 tn The words “will go up” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
30 sn The Fish Gate was located on Jerusalem’s north side (cf. 2 Chr 33:14; Neh 3:3; 12:39).
31 tn Heb “from the second area.” This may refer to an area northwest of the temple where the rich lived (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 86; cf. NASB, NRSV “the Second Quarter”; NIV “the New Quarter”).
32 tn Heb “great breaking.”
33 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.
34 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).
35 tn Or “be destroyed.”
36 tn Heb “weigh out silver.”
37 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.
38 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.
39 tn Heb “who say in their hearts.”
40 tn Heb “The
41 tn Heb “The great day of the
42 tn Heb “the sound of the day of the
43 tn Heb “a day of wrath.” The word “God’s” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
44 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”).
45 sn This description of the day of the
46 tn Heb “against.” The words “judgment will fall” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
47 tn “The people” refers to mankind in general (see vv. 2-3) or more specifically to the residents of Judah (see vv. 4-13).
48 tn Heb “walk.”
49 tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).
50 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.
51 tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.
52 tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”
53 tn Or “for.”
54 tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”
55 tn It is not certain where the
56 tn Heb “In the seventh [month], on the twenty-first day of the month.”
sn The seventh month was the month Tishri, according to the modern (Julian) calendar October 17, 520
57 tc Heb “the word of the
58 tn Heb “say to”; NAB “Tell this to.”
59 tn Many English versions have “Joshua (the) son of Jehozadak the high priest,” but this is subject to misunderstanding. See the note on the name “Jehozadak” at the end of v. 1.
60 tn Heb “this house in its earlier splendor”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “in its former glory.”
sn Solomon’s temple was demolished in 586
61 tn Heb “and take heart.” Although emphatic, the repetition of the verb is redundant in contemporary English style and has been left untranslated.
62 tn Heb “the people of the land” (עַם הָאָרֶץ, ’am ha’arets); this is a technical term referring to free citizens as opposed to slaves.
63 sn My spirit. It is theologically anachronistic to understand “spirit” here in the NT sense as a reference to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity; nevertheless during this postexilic period the conceptual groundwork was being laid for the doctrine of the Holy Spirit later revealed in the NT.
64 tc The MT of v. 5 reads “with the word which I cut with you when you went out from Egypt and my spirit [which] stands in your midst, do not fear.” BHS proposes emending “with the word” to זֹאת הַבְּרִית (zo’t habbÿrit, “this is the covenant”) at the beginning of the verse. The proposed emendation makes excellent sense and is expected with the verb כָּרַת (karat, “cut” or “make” a covenant), but it has no textual support. Most English versions (including the present translation) therefore follow the MT here.
65 tc The difficult MT reading עוֹד אַחַת מְעַט הִיא (’od ’akhat mÿ’at hi’, “yet once, it is little”; cf. NAB “One moment yet, a little while”) appears as “yet once” in the LXX, omitting the last two Hebrew words. However, the point being made is that the anticipated action is imminent; thus the repetition provides emphasis.
66 tn Or “the heavens.” The same Hebrew word, שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), may be translated “sky” or “heavens” depending on the context. Although many English versions translate the term as “heavens” here, the other three elements present in this context (earth, sea, dry ground) suggest “sky” is in view.
67 tn Heb “all the nations.”
68 tn Though the subject here is singular (חֶמְדַּה, khemdah; “desire”), the preceding plural predicate mandates a collective subject, “desired (things)” or, better, an emendation to a plural form, חֲמֻדֹת (khamudot, “desirable [things],” hence “treasures”). Cf. ASV “the precious things”; NASB “the wealth”; NRSV “the treasure.” In the OT context this has no direct reference to the coming of the Messiah.
69 tn Heb “greater will be the latter splendor of this house than the former”; NAB “greater will be the future glory.”
70 tn In the Hebrew text there is an implicit play on words in the clause “in this place [i.e., Jerusalem] I will give peace”: in יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (yÿrushalayim) there will be שָׁלוֹם (shalom).
71 sn The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of Darius’ second year was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520
72 tn Heb “the word of the
73 tn Heb “Ask the priests a torah, saying”; KJV “concerning the law”; NAB “for a decision”; NCV “for a teaching”; NRSV “for a ruling.”
74 sn This is probably not an appeal to the Torah (i.e., the Pentateuch) as such but to a priestly ruling (known in postbiblical Judaism as a pÿsaq din). There is, however, a Mosaic law that provides the basis for the priestly ruling (Lev 6:27).
75 tn Heb “unclean of a person,” a euphemism for “unclean because of a dead person”; see Lev 21:11; Num 6:6. Cf. NAB “unclean from contact with a corpse.”
76 tn Heb “so this people, and so this nation before me.” In this context “people” and “nation” refer to the same set of individuals; the repetition is emphatic. Cf. CEV “this entire nation.”
77 sn The point here is that the Jews cannot be made holy by unholy fellowship with their pagan neighbors; instead, they and their worship will become corrupted by such associations.
78 tn Heb “and now set your heart from this day and upward.” The juxtaposition of מָעְלָה (ma’lah, “upward”) with the following מִטֶּרֶם (mitterem, “before”) demands a look to the past. Cf. ASV “consider from this day and backward.”
79 sn Before one stone was laid on another in the
80 tn Heb “from their being,” idiomatic for “from the time they were then,” or “since the time.” Cf. KJV “Since those days were.”
81 tn Heb “you, all the work of your hands”; NRSV “you and all the products of your toil”; NIV “all the work of your hands.”
82 tn Heb “and there was not with you.” The context favors the idea that the harvests were so poor that the people took care of only themselves, leaving no offering for the
83 tn Heb “set your heart.” A similar expression occurs in v. 15.
84 sn The twenty-fourth day of the ninth month was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520. See v. 10. Here the reference is to “today,” the day the oracle is being delivered.
85 sn The day work…was resumed. This does not refer to the initial founding of the Jerusalem temple in 536
86 tn Heb “set your heart.” A similar expression occurs in v. 15 and at the beginning of this verse.
87 tn Heb “and the word of the
88 sn Again, the twenty-fourth day of the month was Kislev 24 or December 18, 520
89 tn The participle here suggests an imminent undertaking of action (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “I am about to”). The overall language of the passage is eschatological, but eschatology finds its roots in the present.
90 tn See the note on the word “sky” in 2:6. Most English translations render the Hebrew term as “heavens” here.
91 tn Heb “the kingdoms of the nations.” Cf. KJV “the kingdoms of the heathen”; NIV, NLT “foreign kingdoms.”
92 tn Heb “and horses and their riders will go down, a man with a sword his brother”; KJV “every one by the sword of his brother.”
93 sn The expression on that day appears as a technical eschatological term in a number of other OT passages (cf., e.g., Isa 2:11, 17, 20; 3:7, 18; Amos 8:3, 9; Hos 2:18, 21).
94 sn My servant. The collocation of “servant” and “chosen” bears strong messianic overtones. See the so-called “Servant Songs” and other messianic texts in Isaiah (Isa 41:8; 42:1; 44:4; 49:7).
95 sn The noun signet ring, used also to describe Jehoiachin (Jer 22:24-30), refers to a ring seal worn by a king or other important person and used as his signature. Zerubbabel was a grandson of King Jehoiachin (1 Chr 3:17-19; Matt 1:12); God once pronounced that none of Jehoiachin’s immediate descendants would rule (Jer 22:24-30), but here he reverses that judgment. Zerubbabel never ascended to such a lofty position of rulership; he is rather a prototype of the Messiah who would sit on David’s throne.
96 tn The repetition of the formula “says the