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 Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

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

3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, said the LORD.

4 I will also stretch out my hand on Judah, and on 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;

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

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

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

8 And 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.

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

10 And it shall come to pass in that day, said 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.

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

12 And 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.

13 Therefore 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.

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

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

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

17 And I will bring distress on 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.

18 Neither 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.

The word, &c. Compare Hos 1:1. Joe 1:1. Mic 1:1.

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.

came = became: i.e. came to, or was communicated. Compare Luk 3:2. See App-82.

Zephaniah = hidden of Jehovah, or he whom Jehovah hath hidden ( Psa 27:5; Psa 31:19, Psa 31:20; Psa 83:3). For the connection See Zep 2:3.

Hizkiah = Hezekiah.

utterly consume. Note the Figure of speech Paronomasia (App-6), for emphasis. Hebrew. ’asoph ’aseph = to end, I end.

consume = take away, or make an end of.

all. Omit "things" = All; as in Job 42:2. Psa 8:6. Isa 44:24.

the land. Figure of speech Pleonasm. (App-6) = the face of the land.

land = soil, or ground.

saith the Lord = [is] Jehovah’s oracle.

I will consume. Note the Figure of speech Anaphora. Three times repeated.

man. Hebrew. ’adam with ’eth = humanity App-14.

and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6), for emphasis.

stumblingblocks = ruin. Occurs only here, and Isa 3:6. Figure of speech Metalepsis. "Stumblingblocks" put first for the idols and idolatry, and then idolatry put for the ruin brought about by them.

with = together with. Hebrew. ’eth.

the wicked = the lawless ones. Hebrew. rasha’. App-44.

Mine hand. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia, App-6.

remnant. Septuagint reads "names", reading shem instead of she’ar, as in the next clause.

and. Some codices, with three early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read this "and" in the text.

Chemarims = Kemarim = black-robed, or cassocked. From Hebrew. Kamar, to be black. Used of idolatrous priests because so clothed; not Kohen, as appointed by Jehovah. Occurs only here; 2Ki 23:5, and Hos 10:5.

worship the host of heaven. Reference to Pentateuch ( Deu 4:19; Deu 17:3). App-92. Compare 2Ki 23:11, 2Ki 23:12. Jer 19:13.

Malcham = king-god, or king-idol. Syriac and Vulgate read "Milcom".

from = from after.

sought . . . enquired. Reference to Pentateuch ( Deu 4:29, where the two Hebrew verbs are in the same order, and are rendered "seek . . . seek"). App-92.

LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah.(with ’eth) = Jehovah Himself.

Hold thy peace, &c. See Amo 6:10. Hab 2:20. Zec 3:13.

the Lord. Hebrew Adonai. App-4.

God. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.

a sacrifice. Septuagint reads "His sacrifice".

bid = separated. Hebrew sanctified. See note on Exo 3:5.

the day of the Lord’s sacrifice. See notes on Isa 2:12; Isa 13:6.

day. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for the judgments executed in it.

punish = visit upon. Reference to Pentateuch ( Exo 32:34). App-92. Compare Jer 9:25; Jer 11:22; Jer 13:21, &c.

children = sons: i.e. the royal house. Compare 1Ki 22:26. 2Ki 11:2. Jer 36:26; Jer 38:6, &c.

strange = foreign.

those that leap, &c. No reference to idolatrous practice, as in 1Ki 18:26; but to the servants of rulers sent to enter the houses of others and steal Figure of speech Periphrasis (App-6), for robbers.

on = over.

violence and deceit. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for the booty procured.

the noise of a cry. Figure of speech Pleonasm. App-6.

the second = the new city. See note on 2Ki 22:14,

Maktesh = the mortar. Probably the local name of the merchants’ quarter in the Tyropoeon valley, west of Zion. App-68. So called from its basin-like shape.

cut down = laid low.

candles = lamps.

evil = harm. Hebrew. ra’a’. App-44.

they shall also build, &c. Reference to Pentateuch ( Deu 28:30, Deu 28:39). Compare Amo 5:11. Mic 6:15; and contrast Isa 65:21. Amo 9:14.

wine. Heb yayin. App-27.

The great day, &c. Compare Isa 22:5. Joe 2:1, &c.

is near, &c. Hebrew [is] near, near. Figure of speech Epizeuxis, for emphasis: i.e. very near.

mighty man. Hebrew. gibbor. App-14.

wrath. trouble, &c. Note the Figure of speech Synonymia (App-6).

the trumpet and alarm = an alarming trumpet. Figure of speech Hendiadys = a trumpet, yea, a trumpet [call] "to arms"! Compare Zep 2:2.

towers. Hebrew corners. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for the towers usually fixed there.

they shall walk, &c. Reference to Pentateuch ( Deu 28:29).

land. Not the same word as in verses: Zep 2:3. for, Ginsburg thinks this should be "yea".