Bible Strands
Zephaniah 1:14
The great Day of the LORD is near—near and coming quickly. Listen, the Day of the LORD! Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Zephaniah addresses Judah, bracketing the verse between their plundered wealth (1:13) and the full catalogue of that day's character (1:15). The prophet announces an imminent event, not a distant one.
The words — קָרֹב (qarob, "near") appears twice, and וּמַהֵר (umaher, "and hurrying") adds urgency beyond mere proximity. The repetition plus the intensifier compresses the time-frame to the point of arrival.
The thread — The same "great and awesome Day of the LORD" appears in Malachi 4:5, where it is preceded by the sending of Elijah. Ezekiel 30:3 uses the identical "the day is near, the Day of the LORD is near" formula for a day of clouds and doom for the nations.
Why it lands — The verse commands "Listen" and then describes the cry of the mighty as bitter, meaning no one is exempt from the coming sound. It asks the reader to stop treating the Day as abstract and treat it as arriving.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 30:3 For the day is near, the Day of the LORD is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
- Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Zephaniah 1:7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD, for the Day of the LORD is near. Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise.
- Isaiah 15:4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voices are heard as far as Jahaz. Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out; their souls tremble within.
- Isaiah 33:7 Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
- Ezekiel 7:12 The time has come; the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice and the seller not mourn, for wrath is upon the whole multitude.
- Joel 2:11 The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the LORD is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it?
- Isaiah 22:4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
- Ezekiel 7:6 The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. Behold, it has come!