Thy Strong Word — Zephaniah 1:1-18: The Great Day of the LORD: Wrath and Warning

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“I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD. In the days King Josiah, Zephaniah speaks God’s Word of judgement. Focusing on Judah, he admonishes the worshipers on rooftops bowing to the stars, priests swearing to the YHWH in one breath and by Milcom in the next. His prophecy is clear: the great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast, a day of wrath, distress, and thick darkness, and neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them.

The Rev. Greyson Grenz, pastor of Community Lutheran Church in Flat Rock, MI, and Trinity Lutheran Church in Monroe, MI, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Zephaniah 1:1-18.

To learn more about Trinity in Monroe, visit tlcmonroe.org.

Edom stands at the crossroads and watches his brother Judah dragged off in chains, and Obadiah announces that the day of the LORD is coming for the bystander, too. Joel sees a locust swarm strip a nation bare in a single season, calls the people to rend their hearts and not their garments, and promises a Spirit poured out on all flesh. Nahum returns to Nineveh a century after Jonah’s revival, and this time the superpower does not repent. Zephaniah spends two chapters on the day of wrath and then ends with the Lord singing over the people He has rescued. This series on Thy Strong Word works through these selected books of the so-called “minor” prophets verse by verse, showing how the Lord judges the nations while also keeping his promises to gather His people home.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Zephaniah 1:1-18

[1] The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

The Coming Judgment on Judah

[2] “I will utterly sweep away everything

from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.

[3] “I will sweep away man and beast;

I will sweep away the birds of the heavens

and the fish of the sea,

and the rubble with the wicked.

I will cut off mankind

from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.

[4] “I will stretch out my hand against Judah

and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal

and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,

[5] those who bow down on the roofs

to the host of the heavens,

those who bow down and swear to the LORD

and yet swear by Milcom,

[6] those who have turned back from following the LORD,

who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him.”

The Day of the LORD Is Near

[7] Be silent before the Lord GOD!

For the day of the LORD is near;

the LORD has prepared a sacrifice

and consecrated his guests.

[8] And on the day of the LORD’s sacrifice—

“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons

and all who array themselves in foreign attire.

[9] On that day I will punish

everyone who leaps over the threshold,

and those who fill their master’s house

with violence and fraud.

[10] “On that day,” declares the LORD,

“a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,

a wail from the Second Quarter,

a loud crash from the hills.

[11] Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!

For all the traders are no more;

all who weigh out silver are cut off.

[12] At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

and I will punish the men

who are complacent,

those who say in their hearts,

‘The LORD will not do good,

nor will he do ill.’

[13] Their goods shall be plundered,

and their houses laid waste.

Though they build houses,

they shall not inhabit them;

though they plant vineyards,

they shall not drink wine from them.”

[14] The great day of the LORD is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter;

the mighty man cries aloud there.

[15] A day of wrath is that day,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ruin and devastation,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness,

[16] a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

against the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

[17] 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.

[18] Neither their silver nor their gold

shall be able to deliver them

on the day of the wrath of the LORD.

In the fire of his jealousy,

all the earth shall be consumed;

for a full and sudden end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.