Bible Strands
Zephaniah 1:8
“On the Day of the LORD’s sacrifice I will punish the princes, the sons of the king, and all who are dressed in foreign apparel.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Zephaniah delivers Yahweh’s warning to Judah’s leadership and citizens as the Day of the LORD approaches. The speaker identifies Himself as the one who has prepared a sacrificial gathering and will execute judgment upon it.
The words — The text centers on פָּקַדְתִּי (paqadti), meaning “I will visit [judgment],” and זֶבַח (zevach), meaning “[the] sacrifice.” These terms frame the coming event not as a ritual of peace, but as a divine reckoning enacted at a consecrated assembly.
The thread — The pattern of Yahweh judging high officials and royal figures appears in Isaiah 24:21, which describes punishment of earthly kings, and 2 Kings 25:19, which records the seizure of court officials. The theme of stripping foreign or luxurious garments runs into Isaiah 3:18, where the Lord removes finery as part of judgment.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to acknowledge that divine judgment targets both political authority and cultural compromise. It demands immediate silence and self-examination before the appointed day of reckoning arrives.
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
And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 24:21 In that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and the kings of the earth below.
- 2 Kings 25:19 Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as five royal advisors. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.
- Isaiah 3:18 In that day the Lord will take away their finery: their anklets and headbands and crescents;
- Isaiah 39:7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
- Jeremiah 22:11 For this is what the LORD says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah but has gone forth from this place: “He will never return,
- Jeremiah 22:24 “As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Coniah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on My right hand, I would pull you off.
- Jeremiah 39:6 There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the nobles of Judah.
- 2 Kings 23:30 From Megiddo his servants carried his body in a chariot, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.
- 2 Kings 25:6 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him.
- 2 Kings 10:22 And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them.