Zephaniah 1:10
What does Zephaniah 1:10 mean?
A plain-English look at Zephaniah 1:10 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Zephaniah 1:10 means
The Lord describes the city’s unraveling: a cry at the fish gate (likely the northern entrance), wailing from the second quarter (a residential district), and a great crashing from the hills surrounding Jerusalem. The scene suggests invasion and internal collapse. What was once bustling becomes a chorus of fear and ruin. By naming familiar places, the prophecy makes judgment concrete and local. It is not an abstract threat but a coming disruption residents would recognize. The fortifications, neighborhoods, and natural defenses will not quiet the alarms. God’s word reaches the street level, reminding all that no corner of the city—commercial, domestic, or topographical—can mute the voice of His justice.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And in that day, saith Jehovah, there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And 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.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And in that day, saith Jehovah, there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And in that day, says the Lord, there will be the sound of a cry from the fish doorway, and an outcry from the new town, and a great thundering from the hills, and cries of grief from the people of the Hollow;
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And there hath been in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah, The noise of a cry from the fish-gate, And of a howling from the Second, And of great destruction from the hills.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And there shall be in that day, saith the Lord, the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and a howling from the Second, and a great destruction from the hills.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And in that day, saith Jehovah, there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish-gate, and a howling from the second [quarter], and a great crashing from the hills.
Context
Verses 8–9 condemned leadership and household agents. Verse 10 shifts to the city’s geography to portray the spread of panic and destruction. This prepares for verse 11, where the merchant district mourns economic loss. The sequence underscores how sin at the top filters down into civic breakdown, affecting gates, quarters, and hills—every sphere of life becomes vulnerable when God’s protective favor is withdrawn.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Zephaniah 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,
- Jeremiah 39:2
in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city),
- Zephaniah 1:7
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord Jehovah; for the day of Jehovah is at hand: for Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath consecrated his guests.
- Isaiah 22:4
Therefore said I, Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; labor not to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Nehemiah 3:3
And the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the bolts thereof, and the bars thereof.
- 2 Samuel 5:9
And David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.
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