Yesaya 2:12-22

2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ¹ 

for ²  all the high and mighty,

for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

2:13 for all the cedars of Lebanon,

that are so high and mighty,

for all the oaks of Bashan; ³ 

2:14 for all the tall mountains,

for all the high hills, ⁴ 

2:15 for every high tower,

for every fortified wall,

2:16 for all the large ships, ⁵ 

for all the impressive ⁶  ships. ⁷ 

2:17 Proud men will be humiliated,

arrogant men will be brought low; ⁸ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ⁹ 

in that day.

2:18 The worthless idols will be completely eliminated. ¹⁰ 

2:19 They ¹¹  will go into caves in the rocky cliffs

and into holes in the ground, ¹² 

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ¹³ 

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth. ¹⁴ 

2:20 At that time ¹⁵  men will throw

their silver and gold idols,

which they made for themselves to worship, ¹⁶ 

into the caves where rodents and bats live, ¹⁷ 

2:21 so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs

and the openings under the rocky overhangs, ¹⁸ 

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ¹⁹ 

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth. ²⁰ 

2:22 Stop trusting in human beings,

whose life’s breath is in their nostrils.

For why should they be given special consideration?

Yehezkiel 7:6-12

7:6 An end comes ²¹  – the end comes! ²²  It has awakened against you ²³  – the end is upon you! Look, it is coming! ²⁴  7:7 Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day ²⁵  is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains. ²⁶  7:8 Soon now I will pour out my rage ²⁷  on you; I will fully vent my anger against you. I will judge you according to your behavior. I will hold you accountable for all your abominable practices. 7:9 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare ²⁸  you. For your behavior I will hold you accountable, ²⁹  and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who is striking you. ³⁰ 

7:10 “Look, the day! Look, it is coming! Doom has gone out! The staff has budded, pride has blossomed! 7:11 Violence ³¹  has grown into a staff that supports wickedness. Not one of them will be left ³²  – not from their crowd, not from their wealth, not from their prominence. ³³  7:12 The time has come; the day has struck! The customer should not rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for divine wrath ³⁴  comes against their whole crowd.

Hosea 1:11

1:11 Then the people ³⁵  of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader, ³⁶  and will flourish in the land. ³⁷  Certainly, ³⁸  the day of Jezreel will be great!

Yoel 2:11

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ³⁹  as he leads his army. ⁴⁰ 

Indeed, his warriors ⁴¹  are innumerable; ⁴² 

Surely his command is carried out! ⁴³ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ⁴⁴ 

and very terrifying – who can survive ⁴⁵  it?

Yoel 2:31

2:31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness

and the moon to the color of blood, ⁴⁶ 

before the day of the Lord comes –

that great and terrible day!

Amos 5:18-20

The Lord Demands Justice

5:18 Woe ⁴⁷  to those who wish for the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?

It will bring darkness, not light.

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ⁴⁸ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ⁴⁹  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

5:20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring ⁵⁰  darkness, not light –

gloomy blackness, not bright light?

Zefanya 1:14-18

1:14 The Lord’s great day of judgment ⁵¹  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. ⁵² 

1:15 That day will be a day of God’s anger, ⁵³ 

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 ⁵⁴  and battle cries. ⁵⁵ 

Judgment will fall on ⁵⁶  the fortified cities and the high corner towers.

1:17 I will bring distress on the people ⁵⁷ 

and they will stumble ⁵⁸  like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh ⁵⁹  will be scattered ⁶⁰  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 ⁶¹  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ⁶² 

Indeed, ⁶³  he will bring terrifying destruction ⁶⁴  on all who live on the earth.” ⁶⁵ 

Zakharia 14:1-2

The Sovereignty of the Lord

14:1 A day of the Lord ⁶⁶  is about to come when your possessions ⁶⁷  will be divided as plunder in your midst. 14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem ⁶⁸  to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. ⁶⁹ 

Maleakhi 4:1

4:1 (3:19) ⁷⁰  “For indeed the day ⁷¹  is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It ⁷²  will not leave even a root or branch.

Kisah Para Rasul 2:20

2:20 The sun will be changed to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the great and glorious ⁷³  day of the Lord comes.

Wahyu 6:17

6:17 because the great day of their ⁷⁴  wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” ⁷⁵ 

[2:12]  ¹ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] has a day.”

[2:12]  ² tn Or “against” (NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:13]  ³ sn The cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan were well-known for their size and prominence. They make apt symbols here for powerful men who think of themselves as prominent and secure.

[2:14]  ⁴ sn The high mountains and hills symbolize the apparent security of proud men, as do the high tower and fortified wall of v. 15.

[2:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

[2:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “desirable”; NAB, NIV “stately”; NRSV “beautiful.”

[2:16]  ⁷ tn On the meaning of this word, which appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 41-42.

[2:16]  sn The ships mentioned in this verse were the best of their class, and therefore an apt metaphor for the proud men being denounced in this speech.

[2:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the pride of men will be brought down, and the arrogance of men will be brought low.” As in v. 11, the repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:17]  ⁹ tn Or “elevated”; NCV “praised”; CEV “honored.”

[2:18]  ¹⁰ tc The verb “pass away” is singular in the Hebrew text, despite the plural subject (“worthless idols”) that precedes. The verb should be emended to a plural; the final vav (ו) has been accidentally omitted by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the immediately following form).

[2:18]  tn Heb “will completely pass away”; ASV “shall utterly pass away.”

[2:19]  ¹¹ tn The identity of the grammatical subject is unclear. The “idols” could be the subject; they will “go” into the caves and holes when the idolaters throw them there in their haste to escape God’s judgment (see vv. 20-21). The picture of the idols, which represent the foreign deities worshiped by the people, fleeing from the Lord would be highly polemical and fit the overall mood of the chapter. However it seems more likely that the idolaters themselves are the subject, for v. 10 uses similar language in sarcastically urging them to run from judgment.

[2:19]  ¹² tn Heb “dust”; ASV “into the holes of the earth.”

[2:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “trying to escape” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:19]  ¹⁴ tn Or “land.” It is not certain if these verses are describing the judgment of Judah (see vv. 6-9) or a more universal judgment on all proud men.

[2:20]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[2:20]  ¹⁶ tn Or “bow down to.”

[2:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to the shrews and to the bats.” On the meaning of חֲפַרְפָּרָה (khafarparah, “shrew”), see HALOT 341 s.v. חֲפַרְפָּרָה. The BHS text as it stands (לַחְפֹּר פֵּרוֹת, perot lakhpor), makes no sense. Based on Theodotion’s transliteration and a similar reading in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, most scholars suggest that the MT mistakenly divided a noun (a hapax legomenon) that should be translated “moles,” “shrews,” or “rodents.”

[2:21]  ¹⁸ sn The precise point of vv. 20-21 is not entirely clear. Are they taking the idols into their hiding places with them, because they are so attached to their man-made images? Or are they discarding the idols along the way as they retreat into the darkest places they can find? In either case it is obvious that the gods are incapable of helping them.

[2:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “trying to escape” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:21]  ²⁰ tn Or “land.” It is not certain if these verses are describing the judgment of Judah (see vv. 6-9) or a more universal judgment on all proud men. Almost all English versions translate “earth,” taking this to refer to universal judgment.

[7:6]  ²¹ tn Or “has come.”

[7:6]  ²² tn Or “has come.”

[7:6]  ²³ tc With different vowels the verb rendered “it has awakened” would be the noun “the end,” as in “the end is upon you.” The verb would represent a phonetic wordplay. The noun by virtue of repetition would continue to reinforce the idea of the end. Whether verb or noun, this is the only instance to occur with this preposition.

[7:6]  ²⁴ tc For this entire verse, the LXX has only “the end is come.”

[7:6]  tn In each of the three cases of the verb translated with forms of “to come,” the form may either be a participle (“comes/is coming”) or a perfect (“has come”). Either form would indicate that the end is soon to arrive. This last form appears also to be feminine, although “end” is masculine. This shift may be looking ahead to the next verse, whose first noun (“Doom”) is feminine.

[7:7]  ²⁵ sn The day refers to the day of the Lord, a concept which, beginning in Amos 5:18-20, became a common theme in the OT prophetic books. It refers to a time when the Lord intervenes in human affairs as warrior and judge.

[7:7]  ²⁶ tc The LXX reads “neither tumult nor birth pains.” The LXX varies at many points from the MT in this chapter. The context suggests that one or both of these would be present on a day of judgment, thus favoring the MT. Perhaps more significant is the absence of “the mountains” in the LXX. If the ר (resh) in הָרִים (harim, “the mountains” not “on the mountains”) were a ד (dalet), which is a common letter confusion, then it could be from the same root as the previous word, הֵד (hed), meaning “the day is near – with destruction, not joyful shouting.”

[7:8]  ²⁷ tn The expression “to pour out rage” also occurs in Ezek 9:8; 14:19; 20:8, 13, 21; 22:31; 30:15; 36:18.

[7:9]  ²⁸ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[7:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “According to your behavior I will place on you.”

[7:9]  ³⁰ tn The MT lacks “you.” It has been added for clarification.

[7:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “the violence.”

[7:11]  ³² tc The LXX reads “he will crush the wicked rod without confusion or haste.”

[7:11]  tn The verb has been supplied for the Hebrew text to clarify the sense.

[7:11]  ³³ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[7:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “wrath.” Context clarifies that God’s wrath is in view.

[1:11]  ³⁵ tn Heb “sons” (twice in this verse, so NASB); KJV, ASV “children”; NIV, NRSV, TEV “people.”

[1:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “head” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

[1:11]  ³⁷ tn Alternatively, “gain possession of the land” (cf. NRSV) or “rise up from the land” (cf. NIV). This clause may be understood in two ways: (1) Israel will gain ascendancy over the land or conquer the land (e.g., Exod 1:10; cf. NAB “come up from other lands”) or (2) Israel will be “planted” in the land (Hos 2:24-25; cf. NLT “will…plant his people”).

[1:11]  ³⁸ tn Or “For” (so NASB); NCV “because”; TEV “Yes.”

[2:11]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ⁴² tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ⁴³ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”

[2:31]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “to blood,” but no doubt this is intended to indicate by metonymy the color of blood rather than the substance itself. The blood red color suggests a visual impression here – something that could be caused by fires, volcanic dust, sandstorms, or other atmospheric phenomena.

[5:18]  ⁴⁷ tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.

[5:19]  ⁴⁸ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[5:20]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”

[1:14]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “The great day of the Lord.” The words “of judgment” are supplied in the translation here and later in this verse for clarity. See the note on the expression “day of judgment” in v. 7.

[1:14]  ⁵² tn Heb “the sound of the day of the Lord, bitter [is] one crying out there, a warrior.” The present translation does four things: (1) It takes מַר (mar, “bitter”) with what precedes (contrary to the accentuation of the MT). (2) It understands the participle צָרַח (tsarakh, “cry out in battle”) as verbal with “warrior” as its subject. (3) It takes שָׁם (sham, “there”) in a temporal sense, meaning “then, at that time.” (4) It understands “warrior” as collective.

[1:15]  ⁵³ tn Heb “a day of wrath.” The word “God’s” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:16]  ⁵⁴ 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”).

[1:16]  ⁵⁵ sn This description of the day of the Lord consists of an initial reference to anger, followed by four pairs of synonyms. The joining of synonyms in this way emphasizes the degree of the characteristic being described. The first two pairs focus on the distress and ruin that judgment will bring; the second two pairs picture this day of judgment as being very dark (darkness) and exceedingly overcast (gloom). The description concludes with the pairing of two familiar battle sounds, the blast on the ram’s horn (trumpet blasts) and the war cries of the warriors (battle cries).

[1:16]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “against.” The words “judgment will fall” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:17]  ⁵⁷ tn “The people” refers to mankind in general (see vv. 2-3) or more specifically to the residents of Judah (see vv. 4-13).

[1:17]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “walk.”

[1:17]  ⁵⁹ tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).

[1:17]  ⁶⁰ 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.

[1:18]  ⁶¹ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ⁶² tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ⁶³ tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ⁶⁵ tn It is not certain where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s words begin. It is possible that Zephaniah begins speaking in the middle of v. 17 or at the beginning of v. 18 (note the third person pronouns referring to the Lord).

[14:1]  ⁶⁶ sn The eschatological day of the Lord described here (and through v. 8) is considered by many interpreters to refer to the period known as the great tribulation, a seven year time of great suffering by God’s (Jewish) people culminating in the establishing of the millennial reign of the Lord (vv. 9-21). For other OT and NT references to this aspect of the day of the Lord see Amos 9:8-15; Joel 1:15–2:11; Isa 1:24-31; 2:2-4; 4:2-6; 26:16–27:6; 33:13-24; 59:1–60:22; 65:13-25; Jer 30:7-11; 32:36-44; Ezek 20:33-44; Dan 11:40; 12:1; Matt 24:21, 29; 25:31-46; Rev 19:11-16.

[14:1]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “your plunder.” Cf. NCV “the wealth you have taken.”

[14:2]  ⁶⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:2]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”

[4:1]  ⁷⁰ sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:6 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:19 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:20 HT, etc., through 4:6 ET = 3:24 HT. Thus the book of Malachi in the Hebrew Bible has only three chapters, with 24 verses in ch. 3.

[4:1]  ⁷¹ sn This day is the well-known “day of the Lord” so pervasive in OT eschatological texts (see Joel 2:30-31; Amos 5:18; Obad 15). For the believer it is a day of grace and salvation; for the sinner, a day of judgment and destruction.

[4:1]  ⁷² tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[2:20]  ⁷³ tn Or “and wonderful.”

[6:17]  ⁷⁴ tc Most mss (A Ï bo) change the pronoun “their” to “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou) in order to bring the text in line with the mention of the one seated on the throne in the immediately preceding verse, and to remove the ambiguity about whose wrath is in view here. The reading αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”) is well supported by א C 1611 1854 2053 2329 2344 pc latt sy. On both internal and external grounds, it should be regarded as original.

[6:17]  ⁷⁵ tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).