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 devastating storm and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16a day of shofar and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers. I will bring such distress upon mankind that they will walk like the blind— for they have sinned against Adonai. Their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. 18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to rescue them on the day of Adonai’s wrath. With the fire of His passion the entire earth will be consumed. For He will make a total, dreadful annihilation 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 28:28“Adonai will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with confusion of heart.
• Psalms 79:3They poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
• Isaiah 29:10For Adonai has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has shut your eyes—the prophets, and covered your heads—the seers.
• Isaiah 59:9That is why justice is far from us and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but behold darkness, for brightness, but walk in gloom.
• Lamentations 4:14They wander in the streets, like blind men. They are so defiled with blood, no one can touch their garments.
• Matthew 15:14Leave them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
• John 9:40Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say this and asked, “We’re not blind too, are we?”
• Romans 11:7What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained; but the elect obtained it, and the rest were hardened—
• 2 Corinthians 4:4In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so they might not see the light of the Good News of the glory of Messiah, who is the image of God.
• 2 Peter 1:9But anyone who lacks these qualities is blind—nearsighted because he has forgotten his cleansing from past sins.
• 1 John 2:11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has made his eyes blind.
• Revelation 3:17For you say, ‘I am rich, I have made myself wealthy, and I need nothing.’ But you do not know that you are miserable and pitiable and poor and blind and naked.
• Isaiah 24:5The land is polluted by its inhabitants, for they have transgressed Torah, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.
• Isaiah 50:1Thus says Adonai: “Where is the divorce certificate, by which I sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I sell you? See, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
• Isaiah 59:12For our transgressions are 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, when He led you in 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