1 The 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.
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith 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, saith the Lord.
4 I 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;
5 And 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;
6 And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him.
7 Hold 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.
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, 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.
11 Howl, ye 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 hasteth 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 wasteness 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 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.
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.
<html><b>I will totally destroy</b> An expression of destruction, as in (Jud. 18:25) “and you will lose your life,” mentioned regarding Micah. The “aleph” is defective in the second word, for it should have been written אֶאֱסֹף There are many [defective alephs] like these, as in (Isa. 13:20) “no Arab shall pitch his tent there,” which is like יֶאֱהַל.</html>
<html><b>and the stumbling blocks with the wicked</b> They are the pagan deities.</html>
<html><b>the remnant of Baal</b> that there shall be no remnant of its remembrance. <b>the name of the idolatrous priests with the ancillary priests</b> Their worshippers with their priests.</html>
<html><b>who swear by the Lord</b> and go back and swear by their king, their pagan deity. They make the pagan deity the main one, saying, “If you do not believe the oath by God, I swear to you by the pagan deity.”</html>
<html><b>He has invited His guests</b> He prepared His armies for the appointed day.</html>
<html><b>gentile garb</b> Ornaments of the idols.</html>
<html><b>who leaps over the threshold</b> <i>Jonathan</i> renders: who follows the customs of the Philistines, who would not step on the threshold of Dagon, as it is stated (I Sam. 5:5): “Therefore, the priests of Dagon… do not tread, etc.”</html>
<html><b>from the fish gate</b> <i>Jonathan</i> renders: from the gate of the fish; there was a gate in Jerusalem called by that name. <b>from the second gate</b> from the gate of the fowl, which was second to it [the fish gate].</html>
<html><b>you inhabitants of Maktesh</b> The Kidron Valley, which is as deep as a mortar. This is according to <i>Targum Jonathan</i>. <b>from the fish gate</b> This is Acre, situated in the bosom of the sea, where many fish are caught. <b>from the Mishneh</b> This is Lod, which is second to Jerusalem. <b>from the hills</b> This is Sepphoris, which is situated at the tops of the mountains like a bird. <b>inhabitants of Maktesh</b> This is Tiberias, which is deeper than all of [the rest of] the land of Israel. <b>for the entire people of Canaan is cut off</b> <i>Jonathan</i> renders: For the entire nation, whose deeds resemble the deeds of the people of the land of Canaan, has been broken. <b>all those laden with silver</b> <i>Jonathan</i> renders: All those wealthy with property, laden with a burden of silver and gold; as in (Prov. 27:3) “The weight of stone, the burden of sand” an expression of a burden.</html>
<html><b>I will search Jerusalem with candles</b> I will judge their iniquities strictly. <b>who are settled</b> float on their lees. [As in] (II Kings 6:6) “And the axe blade floated,” rendered in Aramaic: וּקְפָא פַרְזְלָה. <b>who say in their heart, “The Lord shall do neither good…”</b> to those who obey His will. <b>nor harm</b> to those who transgress His will.</html>
<html><b>wherein the mighty man cries bitterly</b> The mighty man will cry out with a bitter voice.</html>
<html><b>a day of ruin</b>, an expression of desolation. <b>and desolation</b> A greater degree of desolation.</html>
<html><b>And I will bring distress upon men</b> Upon Israel, who is called “man.” <b>and their flesh</b> their flesh. In Arabic, flesh is called <i>al laham</i>. <b>like dung</b> dung.</html>