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After the title of the book (Zep 1:1) here is, I. A threatening of the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, an utter destruction, by the Chaldeans, Zep 1:2-4. II. A charge against them for their gross sin, which provoked God to bring that destruction upon them (Zep 1:5,6); and so he goes on in the rest of the chapter, setting both the judgments before them, that they might prevent them or prepare for them, and the sins that destroy them, that they might judge themselves, and justify God in what was brought upon them. 1. They must hold their peace because they had greatly sinned, Zep 1:7-9. But, 2, They shall howl because the trouble will be great. The day of the Lord is near, and it will be a terrible day, Zep 1:10-18. Such fair and timely warning as this did God give to the Jews of the approaching captivity; but they hardened their neck, which made their destruction remediless.
1-6
Judgment Predicted (612 BC)
简体中文
审判的预言（主前 612 年）
¹ 当犹大王亚们的儿子约西亚在位的时候，耶和华的话临到希西家的曾孙、亚玛利雅的孙子、基大利利的儿子、古示的儿子西番雅。 ² 耶和华说：我必从地上彻底扫除万有。 ³ 我必灭绝人与牲畜；我必灭绝天上的飞鸟、海里的鱼，以及使恶人跌倒之物与恶人；我必将人从地上剪除。这是耶和华说的。 ⁴ 我必伸手攻击犹大，与耶路撒冷的一切居民；也必从这地方剪除巴力所剩的人，并基玛琳的众祭司之名； ⁵ 与那些在房顶上敬拜天上万象的；并那些敬拜耶和华、指着耶和华起誓、又指着玛勒堪起誓的； ⁶ 与那些转去不跟从耶和华的，和那些不寻求耶和华、不访问他的。
此处有：I. 本书卷的标题（番1:1）。在其中我们留意：第一，它有何权威，是谁赐它此权威；它是从天上来的，不是出于人：这是耶和华的话。第二，谁是将之传给教会的器皿。他的名为西番雅，意为耶和华的仆人，因为神将自己的奥秘指示他仆人众先知。其他我们所知其谱系的先知，追溯不过其父——除了撒迦利亚，其祖父也被提及。但西番雅的谱系追溯四代，最高所提及的是希西家——原文与犹大王希西家同名（王下18:1），大概指他；若如此，我们的先知既是那敬虔亲王的直系后裔，既是王室中人，便能更得体地责备王家之子的愚妄，如他所行的（番1:8）。第三，这位先知何时说预言——当犹大王约西亚在位的时候；约西亚行善政，在其在位第十二年开始大发热心，大力推行改革之工，毁除偶像与偶像崇拜。如今我们不能确定西番雅是在约西亚在位之初说预言；若是如此，我们可假定其预言对那场改革大有良好影响。当他作为神的使者责备耶路撒冷的偶像崇拜之时，约西亚作为神的代理人将之除掉；当官长与传道人都尽己分之时，改革便有望推进兴盛。若他是在约西亚在位之末说预言，我们便忧伤地看见一个败坏的百姓如何回到先前的旧疾。约西亚所废的偶像崇拜，看来在他自己的时代、当改革的热潮稍减、稍见消退之时便又回来了。对那恨恶改革、仿佛渴望灭亡的百姓，最好的改革者又能作什么善事呢？
II. 本书的摘要，或内容。其中所含的总命题是：因罪的缘故，全然的毁灭正速速临到犹大与耶路撒冷。他没有前言，也没有道歉，便突然开始（番1:2）：我必从地面上彻底扫除万有，这是耶和华说的。 毁灭将到——全然的毁灭、来自全能者的毁灭。那能成就、也必成就他所说的，已经说了：我必彻底扫除万有。 我必聚集万有（有人如此读）；"我必收回我所赐的一切福分，因他们滥用而失丧了。"所定的灭绝必取去：第一，低等受造之物：我必灭绝牲畜、天上的飞鸟和海里的鱼（番1:3），如洪水之时，凡地上有血肉的活物都被除灭了（创7:23）。受造之物为人所用而造，所以当人误用了它们、使它们服在虚空之下之时，神为显明他对人之罪的不悦之大，也将它们牵连于其刑罚之中。这些话是比喻性的，表示普遍的荒凉。那些飞得再高——如天上的飞鸟——自以为已在仇敌所能及之范围之外的；那些藏得再深——如海里的鱼——自以为已在仇敌眼目之外的；却仍必成为其掠物，被全然吞灭。第二，世人：我必灭绝人；我必将人从地上剪除。 地必被剥夺居民、变为荒无人烟；我必毁灭的不仅是以色列人，而是人。地必享受其安息。我必剪除的不仅是恶人，乃是一切人；连其中少数善良的也必被牵连于这共同的灾祸之中。他们虽不至从主被剪除，却必从地上被剪除。神所与之争辩的正是犹大与耶路撒冷——无论城乡——他必向他们伸手——他权能之手、他震怒之手；谁能晓得他怒气的权能呢？（番1:4）。那些不愿在神大能手下自卑的人，必被那手所自卑、所降卑。注意，连犹大——神所认识之地——与耶路撒冷——他居所之处——若背离他、背叛他，他的手也必伸出来攻击他们。第三，一切恶人，以及一切作为他们恶行之缘由的事物（番1:3）：我必灭绝使恶人跌倒之物与恶人——偶像与拜偶像者，绊脚石与犯罪者。约西亚既已除掉绊脚石，并尽其所能清除了偶像崇拜的记念物，盼望不再有偶像崇拜；但恶人仍必行恶，狗要回到自己所吐的；所以罪既不能以别法治愈，罪人自己便必被吞灭——连恶人并其罪的绊脚石（结14:3）。此事既未以公义之剑成就，便必以战争之剑成就。请看哪些罪人必被吞灭。（一）公然的拜偶像者——那些公然行偶像崇拜、与之结盟的。巴力所剩的人必被剪除——巴力的偶像与那些偶像的敬拜者。约西亚已剪除了大量的巴力；但那对约西亚的眼目隐藏得如此紧密、或对他公义的手逃避得如此大胆的，神必剪除——连其一切残余。迦勒底人必不放过巴力的任何偶像，或其敬拜者。基玛琳必被剪除；我们在约西亚改革的历史中读到他们。王下23:5，他废掉了那些拜偶像的祭司：原文便是基玛琳。此词意为黑衣人——有人以为因为他们穿黑衣，装作庄重；有人以为因为他们的脸因伺候祭坛、或因将儿女烧给摩洛的火而变黑。他们似乎是巴力事奉中直接的伺候者。他们必与祭司一同被剪除——正规的与世俗的一并。连他们的名也必被剪除；这等次必全然废除，以致被遗忘，或被记念时令人憎恶。在其他拜偶像者中，在房顶上敬拜天上万象的也必被剪除（番1:5）——他们以自己的偶像崇拜自辩，说他们并不敬拜偶像——自己手所做的工，而是直接在自家房顶上向日、月、星献祭焚香。但神必让他们知道他是忌邪的神，不容任何对手；虽然有人以为那是最堂皇、最合理的偶像崇拜，然而将神圣之敬拜归给一颗星，与归给一块石头或一根木头一样，同为得罪神。连敬拜天上万象的人也必被吞灭，正如敬拜地上走兽或地狱邪灵的人一样。淫妇之罪并不因奸夫之华美而减轻其罪。（二）那些想要在神与偶像之间调和、在两者之间保持平衡的人也必被吞灭——那些在神与巴力之间心持两意的，在耶和华与摩洛之间敬拜的，指着两者起誓的；或更恰当地读作：指着耶和华起誓，又指着玛勒堪起誓。他们以誓言与盟约约束自己，既事奉神又事奉偶像。他们对以色列神的敬拜有好评；那是他们本国的宗教，由来已久，所以他们绝不放弃；但他们以为若将摩洛的敬拜与之相配，便大加改善、大加美化——因为那在别国也大行其道，旅客赞不绝口；其中大有美妙的幻想与猛烈的火焰。他们不能一直敬拜一位他们无可具形之神，所以他们必须有偶像；有什么比摩洛——一位王的偶像更好呢？他们以为若指着摩洛起誓，并照此誓言将儿女焚烧献祭给那偶像，便有效地为自己的罪赎了；然而他们若在那事上错了，便盼望也敬拜以色列神来赎罪。注意，那些想在神与偶像之间分心、分敬拜的人，不仅不能蒙神悦纳，反必与最坏的拜偶像者同受其判语；因为光与暗、基督与彼列、神与玛门之间能有什么相交呢？那不是自己孩子的母亲主张把孩子劈开——因为撒但若得一半，便要得全部；但真母亲说：不要劈开——因为神若只得一半，他便一无所得。这样的水若出自同一泉源——那也发出苦水的——必不会长久甘甜；那些指着玛勒堪起誓的人，凭什么指着耶和华起誓呢？（三）那些从神背道之人，连同那些从未将自己名归他名下的人，也必被吞灭（番1:6）。我必剪除：[一] 那些转去不跟从耶和华的——那受过良好教导、起过好头、曾将自己名归他、起初在敬拜他之事上启程，却已偏离、转去、落入拜偶像者之中，抛弃了他们自小所受教的神的善道，并藐视之的。那些从神事奉上叛逃的人，神必与他们算账——那些始于灵而终于肉体的；他们必被当作逃兵对待——对他们不留怜悯。[二] 那些不寻求耶和华，也未曾访问他的——从未作出任何宗教认信的，并企图以此自辩的，必发觉这并不能为他们开脱；不，这正是所控于他们之事；他们是 atheism 不敬虔、漫不经心之人，在世上没有神；如此行的人，实在不配在世上靠神而活。
英文原文
Judgment Predicted (612 BC)
¹ The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
² I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
³ I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
⁴ I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
⁵ And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
⁶ And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
Here is, I. The title-page of this book (Zep 1:1), in which we observe, 1. What authority it has, and who gave it that authority; it is from heaven, and not of men: It is the word of the Lord. 2. Who was the instrument of conveying it to the church. His name was Zephaniah, which signifies the servant of the Lord, for God revealed his secrets to his servants the prophets. The pedigree of other prophets, whose extraction we have an account of, goes no further back than their father, except Zecharias, whose grandfather also is named. But this of Zephaniah goes back four generations, and the highest mentioned is Hizkiah; it is the very same name in the original with that of Hezekiah king of Judah (2Ki 18:1), and refers probably to him; if so, our prophet, being lineally descended from that pious prince, and being of the royal family, could with the better grace reprove the folly of the king's children as he does, Zep 1:8. 3. When this prophet prophesied—in the days of Josiah king of Judah, who reigned well, and in the twelfth year of his reign began vigorously, and carried on a work of reformation, in which he destroyed idols and idolatry. Now it does not appear whether Zephaniah prophesied in the beginning of his reign; if so, we may suppose his prophesying had a great and good influence on that reformation. When he, as God's messenger, reproved the idolatries of Jerusalem, Josiah, as God's vice-gerent, removed them; and reformation is likely to go on and prosper when both magistrates and ministers do their part towards it. If it were towards the latter end of his reign that he prophesied, we sadly see how a corrupt people relapse into their former distempers. The idolatries Josiah had abolished, it should seem, returned in his own time, when the heat of the reformation began a little to abate and wear off. What good can the best reformers do with a people that hate to be reformed, as if they longed to be ruined?
II. The summary, or contents, of this book. The general proposition contained in it is, That utter destruction is coming apace upon Judah and Jerusalem for sin. Without preamble, or apology, he begins abruptly (Zep 1:2): By taking away I will make an end of all things from off the face of the land, Saith the Lord. Ruin is coming, utter ruin, destruction from the Almighty. He has said it who can, and will, make good what he has said: "I will utterly consume all things. I will gather all things" (so some); "I will recall all the blessings I have bestowed, because they have abused them and so forfeited them." The consumption determined shall take away, 1. The inferior creatures: I will consume the beasts, the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea (Zep 1:3), as, in the deluge, every living substance was destroyed that was upon the face of the ground, Ge 7:23. The creatures were made for man's use, and therefore when he has perverted the use of them, and made them subject to vanity, God, to show the greatness of his displeasure against the sin of man, involves them in his punishment. The expressions are figurative, denoting universal desolation. Those that fly ever so high, as the fowls of heaven, and think themselves out of the reach of the enemies' hand—those that hide ever so close, as the fishes of the sea, and think themselves out of the reach of the enemies' eye—shall yet become a prey to them, and be utterly consumed. 2. The children of men: "I will consume man; I will cut off man from the land. The land shall be dispeopled and left uninhabited; I will destroy, not only Israel, but man. The land shall enjoy her sabbaths. I will cut off, not only the wicked men, but all men; even the few among them that are good shall be involved in this common calamity. Though they shall not be cut off from the Lord, yet they shall be cut off from the land." It is with Judah and Jerusalem that God has this quarrel, both city and country, and upon them he will stretch out his hand, the hand of his power, the hand of his wrath; and who knows the power of his anger? Zep 1:4. Those that will not humble themselves under God's mighty hand shall be humbled and brought down by it. Note, Even Judah, where God is known, and Jerusalem, where his dwelling-place is, if they revolt from him and rebel against him, shall have his hand stretched out against them. 3. All wicked people, and all those things that are the matter of their wickedness (Zep 1:3): "I will consume the stumbling-blocks with the wicked, the idols with the idolaters, the offences with the offenders." Josiah had taken away the stumbling-blocks, and, as far as he could, had purged the land of the monuments of idolatry, hoping that there would be no more idolatry; but the wicked will do wickedly, the dog will return to his vomit, and therefore, since the sin will not otherwise be cured, the sinners must themselves be consumed, even the wicked with the stumbling-blocks of their iniquity, Eze 14:3. Since it was not done by the sword of justice, it shall be done by the sword of war. See who the sinners are that shall be consumed. (1.) The professed idolaters, who avowed idolatry, and were wedded to it. The remnant of Baal shall be cut off, the images of Baal, and the worshippers of those images. Josiah cut off a great deal of Baal; but that which was so close as to escape the eye, or so bold as to escape the hand, of his justice, God will cut off, even all the remains of it. The Chaldeans would spare none of the images of Baal, or the worshippers of those images. The Chemarim shall be cut off; we read of them in the history of Josiah's reformation. 2Ki 23:5, He put down the idolatrous priests: the word is the Chemarim. The word signifies black men, some think because they wore black clothes, affecting to appear grave, others because their faces were black with attending the altars, or the fires in which they burnt their children to Moloch. They seem to have been immediate attendants upon the service of Baal. They shall be cut off with the priests, the regulars with the seculars. The very name of them shall be cut off; the order shall be quite abolished, so as to be forgotten, or remembered with detestation. And, among other idolaters, the worshippers of the host of heaven upon the house-tops shall be cut off (Zep 1:5), who justified themselves in their idolatry with those that did not worship images, the work of their own hands, but offered their sacrifices and burnt their incense to the sun, moon, and stars, immediately upon the tops of their houses. But God will let them know that he is a jealous God, and will not endure any rival; and, though some have thought that the most specious and plausible idolatry, yet it will appear as great an offence to God to give divine honours to a star as to give them to a stone or a stock. Even the worshippers of the host of heaven shall be consumed as well as the worshippers of the beasts of the earth or the fiends of hell. The sin of the adulteress is not the less sinful for the gaiety of the adulterer. (2.) Those also shall be consumed that think to compound the matter between God and idols, and keep an even hand between them, that halt between God and Baal, and worship between Jehovah and Moloch, and swear by both; or, as it might better be read, swear to the Lord and to Malcham. They bind themselves by oath and covenant to the service both of God and idols. They have a good opinion of the worship of the God of Israel; it is the religion of their country, and has been long so, and therefore they will by no means quit it; but they think it will be very much improved and beautified if they join with it the worship of Moloch, for that also is much used in other countries, and travellers admire it; there is a great deal of good fancy and strong flame in it. They cannot keep always to the worship of a God whom they have no visible representation of, and therefore they must have an image; and what better than the image of Moloch—a king? They think they shall effectually atone for their sin if they swear to Moloch, and, pursuant to that oath, burn their children in sacrifice to that idol; and yet, if they do amiss in that, they hope to atone for it in worshipping the God of Israel too. Note, Those that think to divide their affections and adorations between God and idols will not only come short of acceptance with God, but will have their doom with the worst of idolaters; for what communion can there be between light and darkness, Christ and Belial, God and mammon? She whose own the child is not pleads for the dividing of it, for, if Satan have half, he will have all; but the true mother says, Divide it not, for, if God have but half, he will have none. Such waters will not be long sweet, if they come from a fountain that sends forth bitter water too; what have those to do to swear by the Lord that swear by Malcham? (3.) Those also shall be consumed that have apostatized from God, together with those that never gave up their names to him, Zep 1:6. I will cut off, [1.] Those that are turned back from the Lord, that were well taught, and began well, that had given up their names to him, and set out at first in the worship of him, but have flown off, and turned aside, and fallen in with idolaters, and deserted those good ways of God which they were brought up in, and despised them. Those God will be sure to reckon with who are renegadoes from his service, who began in the Spirit and ended in the flesh; they shall be treated as deserters, to whom no mercy is shown. [2.] Those that have not sought the Lord, nor ever enquired for him, never made any profession of religion, and think to excuse themselves with that, shall find that this will not excuse them; nay, this is the thing laid to their charge; they are atheistical careless people, that live without God in the world; and those that do so are certainly unworthy to live upon God in the world.
7-13
Judgment Predicted (612 BC)
简体中文
审判的预言（主前 612 年）
⁷ 你要在主耶和华面前静默无声；因为耶和华的日子临近了；因为耶和华已经预备祭物，将他所请的客分别为圣。 ⁸ 到了耶和华献祭的日子，必惩罚首领和王子，并一切穿外邦衣服的。 ⁹ 到那日，我必惩罚一切跳过门槛的，他们以强暴诡诈充满主人房屋的。 ¹⁰ 耶和华说：当那日，从鱼门必发出哀号的声音，从二城发出哀哭的声音，从山间发出大破裂的响声。 ¹¹ 玛革提施的居民哪，你们要哀号，因为商家的人都灭绝了；凡带银子的人都被剪除。 ¹² 那时，我必用灯巡查耶路撒冷；我必惩罚那些如酒在渣滓上澄清的，他们心里说：耶和华必不降福，也不降祸。 ¹³ 他们的财宝必成为掠物，他们的房屋必变为荒场；他们建造房屋，却不得住在其中；栽种葡萄园，却不得喝所出的酒。
此处向犹大与耶路撒冷发出通知：神正出来攻击他们，不久便必临到他们；他作为公义报应者的同在、他审判与震怒的日子——他的那日——已不远了（番1:7）。那些不以神如父亲般的同在为益而犯罪失去那同在的人，可以预期他如审判者般的同在——要他们为藐视他的恩典而交账。耶和华的日子必到。人如今有他们的日子——任意而行；但神的日子近了；此处称为他的祭物——他所预备的祭物，因为惩罚狂妄的罪人乃是对神公义的献祭，是对他所受侮辱的若干补偿。那些将祭物带向别神的人，自己公义地成了真神的祭物。献祭之日大有宰杀；耶路撒冷也必如此；人必如羔羊被宰于祭坛，被杀之速、被杀之少所惜——耶和华所杀的必多。献祭之日也大设筵席于祭物之上；犹大与耶路撒冷的居民也必被其仇敌迦勒底人所饱餐；这些便是神所预备、所邀请来尽情饕餮的客人——以杀戮满足其报复，以掠夺满足其贪婪。如今当注意——
I. 那些被定为祭物的是谁——在这算账之日将受查访、受刑罚的是谁，以及他们要为何事受审。第一，王室因其地位的尊贵，将首先因其骄傲、虚荣与矫饰受审（番1:8）：我必惩罚首领和王子——他们自以为不必向神交账，以为自己虽高，神却在他们之上。他们必受罚，并一切如他们一样穿外邦衣服的——他们藐视本国（大概那里以极朴素的装束为风俗，与那为人安静的雅各之后裔相称），偏爱以外邦的时尚出现，并引入他们的服饰样式，刻意要像那些神所吩咐他们——连衣服上也要——与之分别出来的人。首领和王子不屑于穿本国所织的料子，虽然神已为他们预备了细麻衣与丝绸（结16:10），他们却必派人到外国去买衣裳——非远求、非高价便不以为美；连低阶层的人也仿效首领与王子。衣饰上的骄傲得罪神，是一个民族堕落的征兆。第二，贵族，以及他们的管事与仆人，接着受审（番1:9）：到那日我必惩罚一切跳过门槛的——这无疑是一句当时尽人皆知的话，大概表示侵犯邻舍的权利。他们以暴力强入其宅，霸占其产，跳过门槛——等于宣告那宅子是自己的，他们要据为己有；于是他们将其中一切能拿到手的据为己有，以强暴诡诈所得之物充满主人房屋，并因此所招的一切罪咎。他们不能以"非法所得非为自己、乃为主人"，或"所行皆奉主人之命"为辞开脱，因为我们所负于遵守神诫命的义务，先于、也高于我们事奉地上任何主人利益的义务。第三，经商的人与富商接着受审。在他们城的商业一端也发现了不义——在玛革提施的居民中，那是耶路撒冷的低洼之处，深如臼（原文如此）；银匠住在那里（尼3:32），商人也在那里；他们如今被剪除（他们破产了，关了店，成了倒闭者）；不，凡带银子的人首当其冲被入侵者剪除——因为他们随身带银；银子不但不能保护他们，反倒暴露他们、出卖他们。征服者瞄准富人，先将他们掳去，而地上的穷人逃脱。或可指商业普遍衰落——那是全地普遍毁灭的前奏与序曲。大商人被剪除、大银行家被剪除而倒闭，乃是一国衰颓之兆——他们不能独倒，必随自己牵连许多人同毁。第四，一切安逸漫不经心之人——那些以纵乐为务、过放荡闲懒生活的人——接着受审（番1:12）；他们从各地来到这王国的中枢，在那里租下隐密寓所，沉溺于安逸奢华；但神必找出他们、惩罚他们：那时我必用灯巡查耶路撒冷——发现他们，使他们被带出受应得之刑。这暗示他们隐藏自己——或因罪之羞耻，或因罚之恐惧；当神的审判遍行之时，他们盼望以隐匿、以避开而逃脱，但神必巡查耶路撒冷——如搜索一个乔装改扮、被同伙藏匿的通缉犯。神的手必找出他一切仇敌，无论他们藏于何处；他必惩罚的不仅是隐密的拜偶像者，更是隐密的纵乐者与亵渎者；这正是此处所描述的人，严格搜查之时必被发现，其记号也明。 （一）他们的性情是感官的：他们如酒在渣滓上澄清——沉醉于自己的享乐，在自己的财富与恶行中自恃；他们安逸自在，因未曾经过变迁，便不畏变迁，如摩押（耶48:11），未曾被从这器皿倒在那器皿里。他们以新酒浓酒充实自己，驱逐一切思想，说：明日必如今日（赛56:12）。他们在渣滓上澄清，意同被自己的脂油包裹（诗17:10）。（二）他们的观念是无神的。他们过如此放荡的生活，却不能不心里说：耶和华必不降福，也不降祸——即他什么都不作。他们否认他以护理治理世界："世上的祸福都出于命运之轮，不在于一位智慧至高主宰的安排。"他们否认他的道德治理、否认他赏善罚恶：耶和华不向事奉他的降福，也不向背叛他的降祸；所以宗教无所得，罪也无所失。"这是他们纵欲的结果；他们若非沉溺于感官，便不至如此无感觉，若非以爱享乐使自己麻木，也不至如此愚顽。这也是他们纵欲的原因；人若非起初在想象中变为如此虚妄、如此卑劣，以为那造他们的神与他们全然一样*，便不会以自己的肚腹为神。但神必惩罚他们；他们的结局就是沉沦（腓3:19）。
II. 神用以惩罚这些罪人的毁灭是什么，他将如何处置他们。第一，他必使他们哑口无言（番1:7）：你要在主耶和华面前静默无声。 他必迫使他们闭口——以恐怖惊惶使之哑然。他们必无话可答。他们一切罪的借口、一切对判语的异议，都必被驳回，他们必不能为自己说一句话。第二，他必以他们为祭物，因为这是耶和华献祭的日子（番1:8）；他必将他们交于仇敌之手，并藉此得荣。第三，他必使城乡都充满哀号（番1:10）：当那日，从鱼门必发出哀号的声音——鱼门之称或因其近鱼池、或因其近鱼市。它属于大卫城（代下33:14，尼3:3）；也许与所谓第一门（亚14:10）相同；若是如此，便可解释此处所接的——从二城发出哀哭的声音，即第二门，紧邻那鱼门。警号必从耶路撒冷的城墙上传开，从一门到另一门；又必有从山间发出大破裂的响声——耶路撒冷周围山上的大响——或出自得胜入侵者的欢呼，或出自胆怯被侵者的哀号，或兼而有之。城中的居民——连城中最为隐密安全之处的居民——也必哀号（番1:11），哀声必如此喧嚷。第四，他们必被剥夺一切所有；那必成为仇敌的掠物（番1:13）：他们的财物——家中的、店中的——必成为掠物，且必是丰厚的掠物；他们的房屋必被夷为平地、变为荒场；其中新建房屋的不得住在其中，入侵者必取得并占据之。他们所栽种的葡萄园，他们不得喝所出的酒；他们非但不能以之苏醒其中疲乏的友人，反要以之激励与他们作战的仇敌（申28:30）。
英文原文
Judgment Predicted (612 BC)
⁷ Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
⁸ 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.
⁹ In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.
¹⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
¹¹ Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
¹² And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
¹³ Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
Notice is here given to Judah and Jerusalem that God is coming forth against them, and will be with them shortly; his presence, as a just avenger, his day, the day of his judgment and his wrath, are not far off, Zep 1:7. Those that improve not the presence of God with them as a Father, but sin away that presence, may expect his presence with them as a Judge, to call them to an account for the contempt put upon his grace. The day of the Lord will come. Men have their day now, when they take a liberty to do what they please; but God's day is at hand; it is here called his sacrifice, a sacrifice of his preparing, for the punishing of presumptuous sinners is a sacrifice to the justice of God, some reparation to his injured honour. Those that brought their offerings to other gods were themselves justly made victims to the true God. On a day of sacrifice great slaughter was made; so shall there be in Jerusalem; men shall be killed up as fast as lambs for the altar, with as little regret, with as much pleasure: The slain of the Lord shall be many. On a day of sacrifice great feasts were made upon the sacrifices; so the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem shall be feasted upon by their enemies the Chaldeans; these are the guests God has prepared and invited to come and glut themselves—their revenge with slaughter and their covetousness with plunder. Now observe,
I. Who those are that are marked to be sacrificed, that shall be visited and punished in this day of reckoning, and what it is they shall be called to an account for. 1. The royal family, because of the dignity of their place, shall be first reckoned with for their pride, and vanity, and affectation (Zep 1:8): I will punish the princes, and the king's children, who think themselves accountable to God, and that, high as they are, he is above them. They shall be punished, and all such as, like them, are clothed with strange apparel, such as, in contempt of their own country (where, probably, it was the custom to go in a very plain dress, as became the seed of Jacob that plain man), affected to appear in the fashion of other nations and introduced their modes in apparel, studying to resemble those from whom God had appointed them, even in their clothes, industriously to distinguish themselves. The princes and the king's children scorned to wear any home-made stuffs, though God had provided them fine linen and silks (Eze 16:10), but they must send abroad to strange countries for their clothes, which would not please unless they were far-fetched and dear-bought; and even those of inferior rank affected to imitate the princes and the king's children. Pride in apparel is displeasing to God, and a symptom of the degeneracy of a people. 2. The noblemen, and their stewards and servants, come next to be reckoned with (Zep 1:9): In the same day will I punish those that leap on the threshold, a phrase, no doubt, well understood then, and which probably signified the invading of their neighbour's rights. Entering their houses by force and violence, and seizing their possessions, they leap on the threshold, as much as to say that the house is their own and they will keep their hold of it; and, accordingly, they make all in it their own that they can lay their hands on, and so fill their masters' houses with goods gotten by violence and deceit and with all the guilt thereby contracted. Nor shall it suffice them to say that the ill-gotten gains were not for themselves but for their masters, and that what they did was by their order; for the obligations we lie under to keep God's commandments are prior and superior to the obligations we lie under to serve the interests of any master on earth. 3. The trading people, and the rich merchants, are next called to account. Iniquity is found in their end of the town, among the inhabitants of Maktesh, a low part of Jerusalem, deep like a mortar (for so the word signifies); the goldsmiths lived there (Ne 3:32) and the merchants; and they are now cut down (they are broken, and have shut up their shops, and become bankrupts); nay, All those that bear silver are cut off, in the first place, by the invaders, for the sake of the silver they carry, which is so far from being a protection to them that it will expose and betray them. The conquerors aimed at the wealthy men, and carried them off first, while the poor of the land escaped. Or it may be meant of a general decay of trade, which was a preface and introduction to the general destruction of the land. It is the token of a declining state when great dealers are cut down, and great bankers are cut off and become bankrupts, who cannot fall alone, but with themselves ruin many. 4. All the secure and careless people, the sons of pleasure, that live a loose idle life, are next reckoned with (Zep 1:12); they come from all parts of the country, to take up their quarters in the head-quarters of the kingdom, where they take private lodgings, and indulge themselves in ease and luxury; but God will find them out, and punish them: At that time I will search Jerusalem with candles, to discover them, that they may be brought out to condign punishment. This intimates that they conceal themselves, as being either ashamed of the sin or afraid of the punishment of it; when the judgments of God are abroad they hope to escape by absconding and getting out of the way, but God will search Jerusalem, as search is made for a malefactor in disguise, that is harboured by his accomplices. God's hand will find out all his enemies, wherever they lie hid, and will punish not only the secret idolaters, but the secret epicures and profane; and those are the persons that are here described, and marks are given by which they will be discovered when strict search is made for them. (1.) Their dispositions are sensual: They are settled on their lees, intoxicated with their pleasures, strengthening themselves in their wealth and wickedness; they are secure and easy, and, because they have had no changes, they fear none, as Moab, Jer 48:11. They have not been emptied from vessel to vessel. They fill themselves with wine and strong drink, and banish all thought, saying, To-morrow shall be as this day, Isa 56:12. Their being settled on their lees signifies the same with being enclosed in their own fat, Ps 17:10. (2.) Their notions are atheistical. They could not live such loose lives but that they say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil; that is, He will do nothing. They deny his providential government of the world: "What good and evil there is in the world comes by the wheel of fortune, and not by the disposal of a wise and supreme director." They deny his moral government, and his dispensing rewards and punishments: "The Lord will not do good to those that serve him, nor do evil to those that rebel against him; and therefore there is nothing got by religion, nor lost by sin." This was the effect of their sensuality; if they were not drowned in sense, they could not be thus senseless, nor could they be so stupid if they had not stupefied themselves with the love of pleasure. It was also the cause of their sensuality; men would not make a god of their belly if they had not at first become so vain, so vile, in their imaginations, as to think the God that made them altogether such a one as themselves. But God will punish them; their end is destruction, Php 3:19.
II. What the destruction will be with which God will punish these sinners, and what course he will take with them. 1. He will silence them (Zep 1:7): Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord. He will force them to hold their peace, will strike them dumb with horror and amazement. They shall be speechless. All the excuses of their sin, and exceptions against the sentence, will be overruled, and they shall not have a word to say for themselves. 2. He will sacrifice them, for it is the day of the Lord's sacrifice (Zep 1:8); he will give them into the hands of their enemies, and glorify himself thereby. 3. He will fill both city and country with lamentation (Zep 1:10): In that day there shall be a noise of a cry from the fish-gate, so called because near either to the fish-ponds or to the fish-market. It belonged to the city of David (2Ch 33:14, Ne 3:3); perhaps the same with that which is called the first gate (Zec 14:10), and, if so, it will explain what follows here, And a howling from the second, that is, the second gate, which was next to that fish-gate. The alarm shall go round the walls of Jerusalem from gate to gate; and there shall be a great crashing from the hills, a mighty noise from the mountains round about Jerusalem, from the acclamations of the victorious invaders, or from the lamentations of the timorous invaded, or from both. The inhabitants of the city, even of the closest safest part of the city, shall howl (Zep 1:11), so clamorous shall the grief be. 4. They shall be stripped of all they have; it shall be a prey to the enemy (Zep 1:13): Their household goods, and shop-goods, shall become a booty, and a rich booty they shall be; their houses shall be levelled with the ground and be a desolation; those of them that have built new houses shall not inherit them, but the invaders shall get and keep possession of them. And the vineyards they have planted they shall not drink the wine of, but, instead of having it for the relief of their friends that faint among them, they shall part with it for the animating of their foes that fight against them, De 28:30.
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Judgment Predicted (612 BC)
简体中文
审判的预言（主前 612 年）
¹⁴ 耶和华的大日临近，临近而且甚快；就是耶和华日子的呼声；勇士必在其中痛痛地哭泣。 ¹⁵ 那日是忿怒的日子，是急难困苦的日子，是荒废凄凉的日子，是黑暗幽冥的日子，是密云乌黑的日子； ¹⁶ 是吹角呐喊的日子，要攻击坚固城，攻击高大的城楼。 ¹⁷ 我必使灾祸临到人身上，使他们行走如同瞎眼，因为他们得罪了耶和华；他们的血必倒出如灰尘，他们的肉必抛弃如粪土。 ¹⁸ 当耶和华发怒的日子，他们的金银不能救他们；全地必被他嫉妒的烈火吞灭；因为他必使这地的一切居民快快灭绝。
此处向犹大与耶路撒冷所发的、关于迦勒底人将临之毁灭的警告，其精神之活泼、言辞之生动，再无别处可比，正合惊醒安逸漫不经心之百姓之用。这已足以使锡安中的罪人战兢——这是耶和华的日子，是他必显明自己向他们报仇之日。这是耶和华的大日——审判之日的样本，一种末日——正如耶路撒冷被罗马人最后毁灭，在我们主关于它的预言中也如此呈现（太24:27）。
I. 此处论到这耶和华的日子已甚近。这异象不是为许久之后——如那些将灾祸之日推远之人所想象的。那些以为它尚远的人是自欺，因为它临近了——临近了——甚快。先知发出警号，如一个极其认真的人，如一个在邻舍起火之时以"着火了！着火了！"之声唤醒一家之人：它临近了！它临近了！ 所以及时奋起、在未为时太晚之前尽力自保，乃是刻不容缓。那些灭亡不迟延之人却沉睡，它既速速临近却仍耽延，乃是疯狂。
II. 它被论为一日极其可畏之日。这耶和华的日子的呼声——它临近之时的响声——其本身便如此可畏，以致勇士必在其中痛痛地哭泣——如孩童因恐惧而哭。听见它的风声便觉烦恼。在耶和华末后的大日，勇士必痛痛地向岩石山岭呼求庇护，却归于徒然。请看先知何等有力地论到这将临之日（番1:15）：那是忿怒之日——神的忿怒，忿怒的完全，忿怒的极致。对罪人而言，那必是急难困苦之日；他们必在痛苦之中，却看不见任何减轻或自救之法。被定罪之人的灾祸（也许正参照此处）总归于神的震怒与忿怒——那是因；以及罪人灵魂的患难与痛苦——那是果（罗2:8-9）。对居民而言，那必是急难困苦之日；对全地而言，那必是荒废凄凉之日；那多结果子之地必变为荒野。那必是黑暗幽冥之日；凡事都显得阴森可怖，毫无安慰的丝毫微光、毫无盼望的一线曙光；环顾四方尽是黑暗。那是密云乌黑之日；不仅毫无令人鼓舞之处，凡事皆充满威胁；密云中酝酿着风暴。
III. 它被论为一毁灭之日（番1:16-17）。其毁灭在于：第一，对地——连最坚固、防御最完备的：是吹角呐喊的日子，要攻击坚固城以攻破之，攻击高大的城楼以拉倒之；因为有何堡垒、有何防御能抵挡神的震怒？第二，对人（番1:17）：我必使灾祸临到人身上——最强壮、最刚强的人；他们的心手都必失效；他们必行走如同瞎眼——无尽地漂泊，因为他们得罪了耶和华。注意，那些如恶人般行走的人，必公义地被任凭如瞎子般行走——常在黑暗之中，在疑惑与危险之中，毫无引导、毫无安慰，至终跌入坑中。因为他们得罪了耶和华，他必将他们交于残忍仇敌之手，他们必将其血倒出如灰尘——如此慷慨、如此不以为惜；他们的肉必如粪土般被抛在粪堆之上。
IV. 那日的毁灭必无可避免、无可逃脱（番1:18）。第一，不能以赎价逃脱：他们的金银——他们如此贪婪地为之积存以备灾祸之日的，或他们如此挥霍地用以结交朋友以备此时之需的——当耶和华发怒的日子不能救他们。另一位先知就此同一事件借用了这些话（结7:19）。注意，发怒的日子资财无益（箴11:4）。不，财富反招致人的怒气（传5:13），被滥用的财富更招致神的怒气。第二，不能以逃匿逃脱；因为全地必被他嫉妒的烈火吞灭——那时何处能寻得藏身之所？请看神嫉妒之烈火为何、其力为何——它能吞灭全地；个人又怎能站立其前？他必快快灭绝这地的一切居民——如农人清理其地之时，将一切荆棘蒺藜尽行割下投入火中。注意，有时神的审判对有罪之国行灭绝——甚至是全然的灭绝、速速的灭绝；他们的毁灭在短时之内便完成。莫让罪人因神的忍耐而沉睡，因为他们的罪孽之量一满，他的公义必追上又胜过——必速速作工，也必彻彻底底。
英文原文
Judgment Predicted (612 BC)
¹⁴ 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.
¹⁵ That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
¹⁶ A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
¹⁷ And 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.
¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
Nothing could be expressed with more spirit and life, nor in words more proper to startle and awaken a secure and careless people, than the warning here given to Judah and Jerusalem of the approaching destruction by the Chaldeans. That is enough to make the sinners in Zion tremble—that it is the day of the Lord, the day in which he will manifest himself by taking vengeance on them. It is the great day of the Lord, a specimen of the day of judgment, a kind of doom's-day, as the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans is represented to be in our Saviour's prediction concerning it, Mt 24:27.
I. This day of the Lord is here spoken of as very near. The vision is not for a great while to come, as those imagine who put the evil day far from them. Those deceive themselves who look upon it as a thing at a distance, for it is near—it is near—it hastens greatly. The prophet gives the alarm like one that is in earnest, like one that awakens a family with the cry of Fire! fire! when it is at the next door that the danger is: "It is near! it is near! and therefore it is high time to bestir yourselves, and do what you can for your own safety before it be too late." It is madness for those to slumber whose damnation slumbers not, and to linger when it hastens.
II. It is spoken of as a very dreadful day. The very voice of this day of the Lord, the noise of it, when it is coming, shall be so terrible as to make the mighty men cry there bitterly, cry for fear as children do. It shall be a vexation to hear the report of it. In the last great day of the Lord the mighty men shall cry bitterly to rocks and mountains to shelter them; but in vain. Observe how emphatically the prophet speaks of this day approaching (Zep 1:15): It is a day of wrath, God's wrath, wrath in perfection, wrath to the utmost. It will be a day of trouble and distress to the sinners; they shall be in pain, and shall see no ways of easing or helping themselves. The miseries of the damned are summed up (perhaps with reference to this) in the indignation and wrath of God, which are the cause, and the tribulation and anguish of the sinner's soul, which are the effect, Ro 2:8,9. It will be a day of trouble and distress to the inhabitants, and a day of wasteness and desolation to the whole land; that fruitful land shall be turned into a wilderness. It shall be a day of darkness and gloominess; every thing shall look dismal, and there shall not be the least gleam of comfort, or glimpse of hope; look round, and it is all black. It is a day of clouds and thick darkness; there is not only nothing encouraging, but every thing threatening; the thick clouds are big with storms and tempests.
III. It is spoken of as a destroying day, Zep 1:16,17. It shall be destroying, 1. To places, even the strongest and best fortified: A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, to break into them, and against the high towers, to bring them down; for what forts, what fences, can hold out against the wrath of God? 2. To persons (Zep 1:17): "I will bring distress upon men, the strongest and stoutest of men; their hearts and hands shall fail them; they shall walk like blind men, wandering endlessly, because they have sinned against the Lord." Note, Those that walk as bad men will justly be left to walk as blind men, always in the dark, in doubt and danger, without any guide or comfort, and falling at length into the ditch. Because they have sinned against the Lord he will deliver them into the hands of cruel enemies, that shall pour out their blood as dust, so profusely, and with as little regret, and their flesh shall be thrown as dung upon the dunghill.
IV. The destruction of that day will be unavoidable and universal, Zep 1:18. 1. There shall be no escaping it by ransom: Neither their silver nor their gold, which they have hoarded up so covetously against the evil day, or which they have spent so prodigally to make friends for such a time, shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath. Another prophet borrowed these words from this, with reference to the same event, Eze 7:19. Note, Riches profit not in the day of wrath, Pr 11:4. Nay, riches expose to the wrath of men (Ec 5:13), and riches abused to the wrath of God. 2. There shall be no escaping it by flight or concealment; for the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, and where then can a hiding-place be found? See what the fire of God's jealousy is, and what the force of it; it will devour whole lands; how then can particular persons stand before it? He shall make riddance, a speedy riddance, of all those that dwell in the land, as the husbandman, when he rids his ground, cuts up all the briers and thorns for the fire. Note, Sometimes the judgments of God make riddance, even utter riddance, with sinful nations, a speedy riddance; their destruction is effected, is completed, in a little time. Let not sinners be laid asleep by the patience of God, for when the measure of their iniquity is full his justice will both overtake and overcome, will make quick work and thorough work.
在本书的标题（番 1:1）之后，此处有：I. 借迦勒底人之手对犹大和耶路撒冷施行彻底毁灭的威吓（番 1:2-4）。II. 指控他们那重大的罪，正是这罪惹动神将那毁灭降在他们身上（番 1:5-6）；如此他在本章余下的部分继续将两件事摆在他们面前——一方面是审判，好叫他们得以防避或为之预备；另一方面是那毁灭他们的罪，好叫他们自审，并在神所降的事上自显为义。1. 他们当静默无声，因为他们大大犯罪（番 1:7-9）。然而 2. 他们必哀号，因为苦难必大。耶和华的日子临近了，那必是可怕之日（番 1:10-18）。神向犹太人发出关于被掳即将临近如此公正而合时的警戒；他们却硬着颈项，这便使他们的毁灭无可挽救。