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

15It 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, 16a day of trumpet calls and battle cries. Down go the walled cities and the strongest battlements! “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.” 18Your 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.

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 strike you with madness, blindness, and panic.
• Psalms 79:3Blood has flowed like water all around Jerusalem; no one is left to bury the dead.
• Isaiah 29:10For the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries.
• Isaiah 59:9So there is no justice among us, and we know nothing about right living. We look for light but find only darkness. We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.
• Lamentations 4:14They wandered blindly through the streets, so defiled by blood that no one dared touch them.
• Matthew 15:14so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”
• John 9:40Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”
• Romans 11:7So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have—the ones God has chosen—but the hearts of the rest were hardened.
• 2 Corinthians 4:4Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
• 2 Peter 1:9But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
• 1 John 2:11But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
• Revelation 3:17You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
• Isaiah 24:5The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God’s instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant.
• Isaiah 50:1This is what the Lord says: “Was your mother sent away because I divorced her? Did I sell you as slaves to my creditors? No, you were sold because of your sins. And your mother, too, was taken because of your sins.
• Isaiah 59:12For our sins are piled up before God and testify against us. Yes, we know what sinners we are.
• Jeremiah 2:17And you have brought this upon yourselves by rebelling against the Lord your God, even though he was leading you on 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