7 Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign Lord, for the awesome day of the Lord 's judgment is near. The Lord has prepared his people for a great slaughter and has chosen their executioners. 8 "On that day of judgment," says the Lord, "I will punish the leaders and princes of Judah and all those following pagan customs. 9 Yes, I will punish those who participate in pagan worship ceremonies, and those who fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit. 10 "On that day," says the Lord, "a cry of alarm will come from the Fish Gate and echo throughout the New Quarter of the city. And a great crash will sound from the hills. 11 Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area, for all the merchants and traders will be destroyed. 12 "I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem's darkest corners to punish those who sit complacent in their sins. They think the Lord will do nothing to them, either good or bad. 13 So their property will be plundered, their homes will be ransacked. They will build new homes but never live in them. They will plant vineyards but never drink wine from them.
14 "That terrible day of the Lord is near. Swiftly it comes- a day of bitter tears, a day when even strong men will cry out. 15 It will be a day when the Lord 's anger is poured out- a day of terrible distress and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, 16 a day of trumpet calls and battle cries. Down go the walled cities and the strongest battlements! 17 "Because you have sinned against the Lord, I will make you grope around like the blind. Your blood will be poured into the dust, and your bodies will lie rotting on the ground." 18 Your silver and gold will not save you on that day of the Lord 's anger. For the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy. He will make a terrifying end of all the people on earth.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Zephaniah 1:7-18
Commentary on Zephaniah 1:7-13
(Read Zephaniah 1:7-13)
God's day is at hand; the punishment of presumptuous sinners is a sacrifice to the justice of God. The Jewish royal family shall be reckoned with for their pride and vanity; and those that leap on the threshold, invading their neighbours' rights, and seizing their possessions. The trading people and the rich merchants are called to account. Secure and careless people are reckoned with. They are secure and easy; they say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil; that is, they deny his dispensing rewards and punishments. But in the day of the Lord's judgment, it will clearly appear that those who perish, fall a sacrifice to Divine justice for breaking God's law, and because they have no interest by faith in the Redeemer's atoning sacrifice.
Commentary on Zephaniah 1:14-18
(Read Zephaniah 1:14-18)
This warning of approaching destruction, is enough to make the sinners in Zion tremble; it refers to the great day of the Lord, the day in which he will show himself by taking vengeance on them. This day of the Lord is very near; it is a day of God's wrath, wrath to the utmost. It will be a day of trouble and distress to sinners. Let them not be laid asleep by the patience of God. What is a man profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? And what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Let us flee from the wrath to come, and choose the good part that shall never be taken from us; then we shall be prepared for every event; nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.