Zephaniah 1:2
What does Zephaniah 1:2 mean?
A plain-English look at Zephaniah 1:2 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Zephaniah 1:2 means
God announces a total, devastating judgment: He will “utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground.” The language is deliberate and comprehensive. It is the Creator speaking with the authority to unmake what He made. This is not random destruction but an expression of holy justice against a world that has turned from Him. The verse communicates the seriousness of sin and the certainty that God will act. It is as if the moral fabric of creation has so frayed that only the decisive hand of Jehovah can address it, reminding us that His patience has an end and His judgments are real and inescapable.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah.
KJV
King James Version · 1611I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949I will take away everything from the face of the earth, says the Lord.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862I utterly consume all from off the face of the ground, An affirmation of Jehovah.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Gathering, I will gather together all things from off the face of the land, saith the Lord:
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890I will utterly take away everything from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah:
Context
After the personal introduction, the book immediately turns to a sweeping pronouncement of judgment. Verse 2 signals the breadth of what is coming, preparing readers for the detailed list in verse 3. The universal scope sets a backdrop of cosmic seriousness before the prophet narrows focus to Judah and Jerusalem in verse 4. This progression—from universal to particular—helps us see Judah’s sins within a larger moral crisis that demands God’s intervention.
v.1The word of Jehovah which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
v.2This passage
v.3I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Genesis 6:7
And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground; both man, and beast, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
- Jeremiah 36:29
And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah thou shalt say, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
- Isaiah 6:11
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste,
- 2 Chronicles 36:21
to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths: for as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
- Jeremiah 6:8
Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee; lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.
- Jeremiah 34:22
Behold, I will command, saith Jehovah, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.
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