Read this if you…
- like 'Day of the Lord' poetry (cosmic judgment that consumes all life from the earth)
- want the prophetic arc from total destruction to tender restoration ('he will rejoice over thee with singing')
- care about the source text for the Dies Irae chant (Latin: 'dies irae, dies illa')
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Why It Matters
Zephaniah's vision of the Day of the Lord shaped Christian thinking about the end times. The medieval Latin hymn Dies Irae, one of the most famous poems of the Middle Ages, draws straight from Zephaniah 1:15.
Depicted in Art
Bust-length figure of the prophet within a roundel of the baptistery's gold-ground mosaic ceiling, holding a scroll.
The prophet stands holding scroll and cross beside a woman chained to a broken column; in the background a city is struck by divine punishment.
Francois van Bleyswijck, 1744
Standing prophet in classical drapery, holding a book and pointing upward; part of a series portraying all Old Testament prophets.
Bust-length prophet figure in the church dome, gold ground, holding a scroll.
Standing crowned figure in stained glass holding a scroll, one of twelve ancestor-of-Christ panels.
1200
Half-length woodcut portrait of the prophet Sophonias holding a scroll, set within the Chronicle's printed text.
Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, 1493
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Cambridge University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Deep Dive
What It's About
This summary gives away plot details.
Notable Quotes
“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”
“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.”