SOPHONIAS, whose name, saith St. Jerome, signifies The
Watchman of the Lord, or The hidden of the Lord, prophesied
in the beginning of the reign of Josias. He was a native of
Sarabatha, and of the tribe of Simeon, according to the
more general opinion. He prophesied the punishments of the
Jews, for their idolatry and other crimes; also the
punishments that were to come on divers nations; the coming
of Christ, the conversion of the Gentiles, the blindness of
the Jews, and their conversion towards the end of the
world.
Sophonias Chapter 1
For divers enormous sins, the kingdom of Juda is threatened
with severe judgment.
1:1. The word of the Lord that came to Sophonias the son of
Chusi, the son of Godolias, the son of Amarias, the son of
Ezechias, in the days of Josias, the son of Amon king of
Juda.
1:2. Gathering, I will gather together all things from off
the face of the land, saith the Lord:
Gathering, I will gather, etc... That is, I will assuredly
take away, and wholly consume, either by captivity, or
death, both men and beasts out of this land.
1:3. I will gather man, and beast, I will gather the birds
of the air, and the fishes of the sea: and the ungodly
shall meet with ruin: and I will destroy men from off the
face of the land, saith the Lord.
1:4. And I will stretch out my hand upon Juda, and upon all
the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and I will destroy out of
this place the remnant of Baal, and the names of the
wardens of the temples with the priests:
The wardens, etc... Viz., of the temples of the idols.
AEdituos, in Hebrew, the Chemarims, that is, such as
kindle the fires, or burn incense.
1:5. And them that worship the host of heaven upon the tops
of houses, and them that adore, and swear by the Lord, and
swear by Melchom.
Melchom... The idol of the Ammonites.
1:6. And them that turn away from following after the Lord,
and that have not sought the Lord, nor searched after him.
1:7. Be silent before the face of the Lord God: for the day
of the Lord is near, for the Lord hath prepared a victim,
he hath sanctified his guests.
1:8. And it shall come to pass in the day of the victim of
the Lord, that I will visit upon the princes, and upon the
king's sons, and upon all such as are clothed with strange
apparel:
1:9. And I will visit in that day upon every one that
entereth arrogantly over the threshold: them that fill the
house of the Lord their God with iniquity and deceit.
1:10. And 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.
The Second... A part of the city so called.
1:11. Howl, ye inhabitants of the Morter. All the people of
Chanaan is hush, all are cut off that were wrapped up in
silver.
The Morter... Maktesh. A valley in or near Jerusalem.
Ibid. The people of Chanaan... So he calls the Jews, from
their following the wicked ways of the Chanaanites.
1:12. And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will
search Jerusalem with lamps, and will visit upon the men
that are settled on their lees: that say in their hearts:
The Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil.
Settled on their lees... That is, the wealthy, and such as
live at their ease, resting upon their riches, like wine
upon the lees.
1:13. And their strength shall become a booty, and their
houses as a desert: and they shall build houses, and shall
not dwell in them: and they shall plant vineyards, and
shall not drink the wine of them.
1:14. The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and
exceeding swift: the voice of the day of the Lord is
bitter, the mighty man shall there meet with tribu- lation.
1:15. That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and
distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness
and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds,
1:16. A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced
cities, and against the high bulwarks.
1:17. And 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.
1:18. Neither shall their silver and their gold be able to
deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: all the
land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he
shall make even a speedy destruction of all them that dwell
in the land.
Sophonias Chapter 2
An exhortation to repentance. The judgment of the
Philistines, of the Moabites, and the Ammonites; of the
Ethiopians and the Assyrians.
2:1.Assemble yourselves together, be gathered together, O
nation not worthy to be loved:
2:2. Before the decree bring forth the day as dust passing
away, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you,
before the day of the Lord's indignation come upon you.
2:3. Seek the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, you that have
wrought his judgment: seek the just, seek the meek: if by
any means you may be hid in the day of the Lord's
indignation.
2:4. For Gaza shall be destroyed, and Ascalon shall be a
desert, they shall cast out Azotus at noonday, and Accaron
shall be rooted up.
2:5. Woe to you that inhabit the sea coast, O nation of
reprobates: the word of the Lord upon you, O Chanaan, the
land of the Philistines, and I will destroy thee, so that
there shall not be an inhabitant.
2:6. And the sea coast shall be the resting place of
shepherds, and folds for cattle:
2:7. And it shall be the portion of him that shall remain
of the house of Juda, there they shall feed: in the houses
of Ascalon they shall rest in the evening: because the Lord
their God will visit them, and bring back their captivity.
2:8. I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the blasphemies
of the children of Ammon, with which they reproached my
people, and have magnified themselves upon their borders.
2:9. Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts the God
of Israel, Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of
Ammon as Gomorrha, the dryness of thorns, and heaps of
salt, and a desert even for ever: the remnant of my people
shall make a spoil of them, and the residue of my nation
shall possess them.
2:10. This shall befall them for their pride: because they
have blasphemed, and have been magnified against the people
of the Lord of hosts.
2:11. The Lord shall be terrible upon them, and shall
consume all the gods of the earth: and they shall adore him
every man from his own place, all the islands of the
Gentiles.
2:12. You Ethiopians, also shall be slain with my sword.
2:13. And he will stretch out his hand upon the north, and
will destroy Assyria: and he will make the beautiful city a
wilderness, and as a place not passable, and as a desert.
The beautiful city, viz... Ninive, which was destroyed
soon after this, viz., in the sixteenth year of the reign
of Josias.
2:14. And flocks shall lie down in the midst thereof, all
the beasts of the nations: and the bittern and the urchin
shall lodge in the threshold thereof: the voice of the
singing bird in the window, the raven on the upper post,
for I will consume her strength.
2:15. This is the glorious city that dwelt in security:
that said in her heart: I am, and there is none beside me:
how is she become a desert, a place for beasts to lie down
in? every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his
hand.
Sophonias Chapter 3
A woe to Jerusalem for her sins. A prophecy of the
conversion of the Gentiles, and of the poor of Israel: God
shall be with them. The Jews shall be converted at last.
3:1. Woe to the provoking and redeemed city, the dove.
3:2. She hath not hearkened to the voice, neither hath she
received discipline: she hath not trusted in the Lord, she
drew not near to her God.
3:3. Her princes are in the midst of her as roaring lions:
her judges are evening wolves, they left nothing for the
morning.
3:4. Her prophets are senseless, men without faith: her
priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have acted
unjustly against the law.
3:5. The just Lord is in the midst thereof, he will not do
iniquity: in the morning, in the morning he will bring his
judgment to light, and it shall not be hid: but the wicked
man hath not known shame.
3:6. I have destroyed the nations, and their towers are
beaten down: I have made their ways desert, so that there
is none that passeth by: their cities are desolate, there
is not a man remaining, nor any inhabitant.
3:7. I said: Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive
correction: and her dwelling shall not perish, for all
things wherein I have visited her: but they rose early, and
corrupted all their thoughts.
3:8. Wherefore expect me, saith the Lord, in the day of my
resurrection that is to come, for my judgment is to
assemble the Gentiles, and to gather the kingdoms: and to
pour upon them my indignation, all my fierce anger: for
with the fire of my jealousy shall all the earth be
devoured.
3:9. Because then I will restore to the people a chosen
lip, that all may call upon the name of the Lord, and may
serve him with one shoulder.
3:10. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, shall my
suppliants, the children of my dispersed people, bring me
an offering.
3:11. In that day thou shalt not be ashamed for all thy
doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me for then I
will take away out of the midst of thee thy proud boasters,
and thou shalt no more be lifted up because of my holy
mountain.
3:12. And I will leave in the midst of thee a poor and
needy people: and they shall hope in the name of the Lord.
3:13. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor
speak lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their
mouth: for they shall feed, and shall lie down, and there
shall be none to make them afraid.
3:14. Give praise, O daughter of Sion: shout, O Israel: be
glad, and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of
Jerusalem.
3:15. The Lord hath taken away thy judgment, he hath turned
away thy enemies: the king of Israel, the Lord, is in the
midst of thee, thou shalt fear evil no more.
3:16. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not:
to Sion: Let not thy hands be weakened.
3:17. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he
will save: he will rejoice over thee with gladness, he will
be silent in his love, he will be joyful over thee in
praise.
3:18. The triflers that were departed from the law, I will
gather together, because they were of thee: that thou
mayest no more suffer reproach for them.
3:19. Behold I will cut off all that have afflicted thee at
that time: and I will save her that halteth, and will
gather her that was cast out: and I will get them praise,
and a name, in all the land where they had been put to
confusion.
3:20. At that time, when I will bring you: and at the time
that I will gather you: for I will give you a name, and
praise among all the people of the earth, when I shall have
brought back your captivity before your eyes, saith the
Lord.
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