great crashing from the hills *. 11. Howl, ye inhabitants of the valley f, for all the Canaanitish 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 for they have built houses, but they shall not inhabit them; and they have planted vineyards, but shall not drink the wine thereof.

14. The great day of the Lord is near; it is near, and hasteth greatly: the voice of the day of

it Masiva. In the second they do the same, writing it with some little variation Maravas. In the present passage of Zephaniah, they simply translate it ano τns dilepas, from the second. In a similar manner the Vulgate, a secunda: the Latin transla tion of the Syriac, ab altera: and the Latin translation of the Arabic, e secunda.

* A great crashing from the hills.] "From the mountains "of Zion and Moriah, whereon the temple and the king's 46 palace was built. See 2 Chron. iii. 1." Mr. Lowth in loc. ↑ Ye inhabitants of the valley.] Michtash in the Chaldee Targum is rendered the brook or torrent of Kedron. This brook was near the fish-gate. The passage therefore may relate to those who lived in the valley through which this brook flowed. But I ain more inclined to think with Castell, that Michtash means the valley, which (according to Josephus's description of Jeru salem) divided the upper from the lower city. See Joseph. Ant. L. v. C. 4. § 1. Parkhurst's Heb. Lex. Vox wnɔn. and Well's Geog. Vol. ii. p. 28, 29, 30. and the map of Jerusalem at p. 23.

the

the Lord is bitter: there the mighty one roareth aloud. 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 earth shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the earth.

ii. 1. Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired. 2. Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you. 3. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. 4. For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation -5.-O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. -7. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses

houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening for the Lord their God shall visit them, and bring back their captivity *—9. As I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah :-the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them †-11. The Lord will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth and men shall worship him, every one from his place; all the isles of the nations. 12. Ye Cuthim also, ye shall be slain by my sword.

13. And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria: and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. 14. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations; both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in her upper lintels; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar-work. 15. This is the exulting city, that dwelt in con

* Their captivity.] A noun of number, meaning, as elsewhere, the multitude of their captives.

+ The remnant of my people shall possess them.] Though Mr. Lowth refers this passage primarily to the conquests of the Masabees, he allows that "this and the seventh verse will receive "their utmost completion at the general restoration of the "Jewish nation. Those, that then escape and return from "their several dispersions, are elsewhere called by the name "of the residue and the remnant. Compare chap. iii. 13. and "Micah iv. 7." Mr. Lowth in loc.

fident security; that said in her heart, I am she, and there is none beside me. How is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! Every one, that passeth by her, shall hiss and wag his hand. iii. 1. Woe to her that swelleth with pride, and yet is polluted! woe to the city of the dove! 2. She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God. 3. Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are wolves of the evening, they finish not until the morning. 4. Her prophets are licentiously extravagant, hypocritical men: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. 5. The just Lord is in the midst of her; he will not do iniquity morning by morning will he bring his judgment to light; he will not fail: but the unjust knoweth no shame. 6. I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate: I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant. 7. I said, surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; and her dwellingplace shall not entirely be cut off, inasmuch as I have visited her. Yet they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.

8. Therefore wait ye for me*, saith the Lord,

until

Therefore wait ye for me.] "I exhort the godly among "you to expect the fulfilling of the promises I have made of "restoring

until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations*, to assemble unto me the kingdoms, to pour upon them my indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

9. But then will I turn unto the peoples a pure religious confession †, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, that they may serve him with one consent.

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10. My worshippers, beyond the rivers of Cush+,

shall

restoring the Jewish nation to my wonted favour in the latter ages of the world: in order to which great crisis, I will exe"cute remarkable judgments upon the unbelievers and dis"obedient." Mr. Lowth in loc.

46

My determination is to gather the nations.] "This may perhaps be meant of the same general summons which Joel "speaks of, when the nations shall be gathered into the valley "of Jehoshaphat" (Mr. Lowth in loc.). Mr. Lowth, as we have already seen, rightly refers the general summons, mentioned by Joel, to the lust ages and to the era of the restoration of the Jews.

I will turn unto the peoples a pure religious confession.] "I "will turn them from their idolatry and other wickedness to "glorify me with one mind and one mouth. The same thing "is expressed by speaking the language of Canaan (Isaiah xix.

18.). This is a blessing reserved for the latter ages, after "the conversion of the Jews and the Gentiles, when there shall "be one Lord, and his name one. Zech. xiv. 9." Mr. Lowth in loc.

My worshippers, beyond the rivers of Cush.] This passage plainly relates to the same people as that described in Isaiah