Add parallel Print Page Options

On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold,[a]
who fill the house of their master[b] with wealth taken by violence and deceit.[c]
10 On that day,” says the Lord,
“a loud cry will go up[d] from the Fish Gate,[e]
wailing from the city’s newer district,[f]
and a loud crash[g] from the hills.
11 Wail, you who live in the market district,[h]
for all the merchants[i] will disappear[j]
and those who count money[k] will be removed.[l]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 1:9 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).
  2. Zephaniah 1:9 tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.
  3. Zephaniah 1:9 tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.
  4. Zephaniah 1:10 tn The words “will go up” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  5. Zephaniah 1:10 sn The Fish Gate was located on Jerusalem’s north side (cf. 2 Chr 33:14; Neh 3:3; 12:39).
  6. Zephaniah 1:10 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”).
  7. Zephaniah 1:10 tn Heb “great breaking.”
  8. Zephaniah 1:11 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.
  9. Zephaniah 1:11 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).
  10. Zephaniah 1:11 tn Or “be destroyed.”
  11. Zephaniah 1:11 tn Heb “weigh out silver.”
  12. Zephaniah 1:11 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.

On that day I will punish
    all who avoid stepping on the threshold,[a](A)
who fill the temple of their gods
    with violence and deceit.(B)

10 “On that day,(C)
    declares the Lord,
“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,(D)
    wailing(E) from the New Quarter,
    and a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail,(F) you who live in the market district[b];
    all your merchants will be wiped out,
    all who trade with[c] silver will be destroyed.(G)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 1:9 See 1 Samuel 5:5.
  2. Zephaniah 1:11 Or the Mortar
  3. Zephaniah 1:11 Or in