Yesaya 13:10

13:10 Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations

no longer give out their light; ¹ 

the sun is darkened as soon as it rises,

and the moon does not shine. ² 

Yehezkiel 7:7

7:7 Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day ³  is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains. ⁴ 

Obaja 1:15

The Coming Day of the Lord

1:15 “For the day of the Lord ⁵  is approaching ⁶  for all the nations! ⁷ 

Just as you have done, so it will be done to you.

You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. ⁸ 

Zefanya 1:15

1:15 That day will be a day of God’s anger, ⁹ 

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,

[13:10]  ¹ tn Heb “do not flash forth their light.”

[13:10]  ² tn Heb “does not shed forth its light.”

[7:7]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.”

[1:15]  ⁵ sn The term יוֹם (yom, “day”) is repeated ten times in vv. 11-14 referring to the time period when Judah/Jerusalem suffered calamity which Edom exploited for its own sinful gain. In each of those cases יוֹם was qualified by a following genitive to describe Judah’s plight, e.g., “in the day of your brother’s calamity” (v. 12). Here it appears again but now followed by the divine name to describe the time of God’s judgment against Edom for its crimes against humanity: “the day of the Lord.” In the present translation, the expression בְּיוֹם (bÿyom; literally, “In the day of”) was rendered “When…” in vv. 11-14. However, here it is translated more literally because the expression “the day of the Lord” is a well-known technical expression for a time of divine intervention in judgment. While this expression sometimes refers to the final eschatological day of God’s judgment, it may also refer occasionally to historical acts of judgment.

[1:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “near” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “is coming soon.”

[1:15]  ⁷ sn God’s judgment would not be confined to Edom. Edom would certainly be punished in just measure for its wrongdoing, but “the day of the Lord” would also encompass judgment of the nations (v. 15).

[1:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “your deed will return on your own head.” Verses 15 and 16 provide an example of ironic reversal, whereby the tables are turned and poetic justice is served. This is a motif that is common in prophetic oracles against foreign nations.

[1:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “a day of wrath.” The word “God’s” is supplied in the translation for clarification.