Zephaniah 1:17
What does Zephaniah 1:17 mean?
A plain-English look at Zephaniah 1:17 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Zephaniah 1:17 means
God Himself brings distress so severe that people will grope like the blind. The cause is explicit: “because they have sinned against Jehovah.” This is not random tragedy but righteous recompense. The violent imagery—blood poured out like dust, flesh like dung—conveys the degradation and enormity of the judgment. Sin dehumanizes, and judgment exposes that loss of dignity in stark terms. Blindness suggests loss of moral and spiritual sight; having turned from the light, they stumble in darkness. The verse strips away excuses: the crisis is not ultimately political, economic, or military. It is theological. Rebellion against Jehovah leads to ruin, and only returning to Him can restore vision and life.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And 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.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And I will send trouble on men so that they will go about like the blind, because they have done evil against the Lord: and their blood will be drained out like dust, and their strength like waste.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And I have sent distress to men, And they have walked as the blind, For against Jehovah they have sinned, And poured out is their blood as dust, And their flesh <FI>is<Fi> as dung.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And I will distress men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as earth, and their bodies as dung.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men; for they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung:
Context
After the military alarms (verse 16), verse 17 supplies the reason for the calamity and its ghastly results. It ties the external chaos directly to sin against Jehovah. This paves the way for the final summary in verse 18, which declares the utter futility of wealth to avert the day of wrath and the totality of the judgment that will consume the land.
v.16a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements.
v.17This passage
v.18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he will make an end, yea, a terrible end, of all them that dwell in the land.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 1 John 2:11
But he that hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes.
- Isaiah 29:10
For Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, hath he covered.
- Matthew 15:14
Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit.
- Micah 7:13
Yet shall the land be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
- Revelation 3:17
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked:
- Jeremiah 10:18
For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it.
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