Zephaniah 1:17

Zephaniah 1:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)“I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the Lord; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.”

Context of Zephaniah 1:17

15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and total darkness, 16a day of ram’s horn and battle cry against the fortified cities, and against the high corner towers. I will bring distress on mankind, and they will walk like the blind because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung. 18Their silver and their gold will be unable to rescue them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete, yes, a horrifying end of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zephaniah 1:17 word by word

וַהֲצֵרֹ֣תִי לָאָדָ֗ם וְהָֽלְכוּ֙ כַּֽעִוְרִ֔ים כִּ֥י לַֽיהוָ֖ה חָטָ֑אוּ וְשֻׁפַּ֤ךְ דָּמָם֙ כֶּֽעָפָ֔ר וּלְחֻמָ֖ם כַּגְּלָלִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And I will bring distressצָרַרtsârar · to constrainH6887
• upon menאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• that they shall walkהָלַךְhâlak · to go: walkH1980
• like blind menעִוֵּר‛ivvêr · blindH5787
• because they have sinnedחָטָאchâţâ' · to sinH2398
• against the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• and their bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
• shall be poured outשָׁפַךְshâphak · to pour: pourH8210
• as dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
• and their fleshלְחוּםlâchûm lâchûm · intestineH3894
• as the dungגֵּלgêlel · dungH1561

Cross-references for Zephaniah 1:17

• Deuteronomy 28:28The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness, and mental confusion,
• Psalms 79:3They poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
• Isaiah 29:10For the Lord has poured out on you an overwhelming urge to sleep; he has shut your eyes (the prophets) and covered your heads (the seers).
• Isaiah 59:9Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we live in the night.
• Lamentations 4:14Blind, they stumbled in the streets, defiled by this blood, so that no one dared to touch their garments.
• Matthew 15:14Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
• John 9:40Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”
• Romans 11:7What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened,
• 2 Corinthians 4:4In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
• 2 Peter 1:9The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.
• 1 John 2:11But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
• Revelation 3:17For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
• Isaiah 24:5The earth is polluted by its inhabitants, for they have transgressed teachings, overstepped decrees, and broken the permanent covenant.
• Isaiah 50:1This is what the Lord says: Where is your mother’s divorce certificate that I used to send her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and your mother was sent away because of your transgressions.
• Isaiah 59:12For our transgressions have multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities:
• Jeremiah 2:17Have you not brought this on yourself by abandoning the Lord your God while he was leading you along the way?

Commentaries on Zephaniah 1:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17They shall walk like blind men - Be in the most perplexing doubt and uncertainty; and while in this state, have their blood poured out by the sword of their enemies, and their flesh trodden under foot.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17I will bring distress upon men - I will hem them in, in anguish on all sides. God Himself shall meet them with His terrors, wherever they turn. “I will hem them in, that they may find it so”. That they shall walk like blind men - Utterly bereft of counsel, seeing no more than the blind which way to turn, grasping blindly and franticly at anything, and going on headlong to their own destruction. So God forewarned them in the law; “Thou shalt grope at noon…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-18Verses 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17walk like the blind: This is an example of God's justice (see also Romans 1:21–32). God’s people were blind in their moral choices and in their relationship with him. They could not see what was right or wrong (see Exodus 23:8; Romans 2:19; 1 John 2:11). Because they sinned against the Lord and disobeyed his commands, they received the punishments promised in God’s covenant (Deuteronomy 28:28–29).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. like blind men--unable to see whither to turn themselves so as to find an escape from existing evils. flesh--Hebrew, "bread"; so the Arabic term for "bread" is used for "flesh" (Mt 26:26).Read the comment

Topics related to Zephaniah 1:17

• War
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Crashing
• Wasteness
• Molech; Moloch
• Zephaniah, Book of

Commentaries on Zephaniah 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings