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Zephaniah 1
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| 1:1
The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son
of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah
the son of Amon, king of Judah. |
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| 1:2
I will utterly consume
all things from off the land, saith the LORD. |
(1:2-3)
"I will consume man and beast."
God plans to kill every living thing.
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| 1:3
I will consume man and
beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea,
and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the
LORD.
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| 1:4
I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants
of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and
the name of the Chemarims with the priests; |
(1:4-6)
God will "cut off" all those who "have
not sought the Lord" or who worship another god.
 (1:4-5) "I will cut off ... them that worship the host of
heaven."
Some Christians interpret this to be a condemnation of astrology.1
Does the Bible condemn astrology?
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| 1:5
And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that
worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
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| 1:6
And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not
sought the LORD, nor enquired for him. |
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| 1:7
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is
at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. |
"The day of the LORD is at hand."
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| 1:8
And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD's sacrifice, that I will
punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed
with strange apparel. |
(1:8-9)
God "will punish
the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with
strange apparel" or "leap on the threshold."
Are we punished for the sins of others?
What the Bible says about clothing and fashion
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| 1:9
In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold,
which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.
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| 1:10
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be
the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a
great crashing from the hills. |
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| 1:11
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down;
all they that bear silver are cut off. |
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| 1:12
And it shall come to pass at
that time, that I will search Jerusalem with
candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in
their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. |
"I will search Jerusalem with candles."
God doesn't have night-vision, so he needs candles when he comes to punish the people
that say, "The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil."
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| 1:13
Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation:
they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant
vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. |
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| 1:14
The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even
the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. |
"The great day of the LORD is near."
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| 1:15
That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of
wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds
and thick darkness,
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| 1:16
A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the
high towers. |
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| 1:17
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. |
(1:17-18)
"Their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung."
God will "bring distress upon men"
so that they "walk like blind men." He will pour out their blood like
dust and "their flesh as dung."
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| 1:18
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the
day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of
his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that
dwell in the land.
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