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Saturday, May 10th, 2025
the Third Week after Easter
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Read the Bible

English Standard Version

Zephaniah 3:6

"I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Nation;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Afflictions of the Wicked, the;   Towers;  

Dictionaries:

- Fausset Bible Dictionary - Zephaniah, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Zephaniah, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Zephaniah (1);   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Corner-Stone ;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I have cut off nations;their corner towers are destroyed.I have laid waste their streets,with no one to pass through.Their cities lie devastated,without a person, without an inhabitant.
Hebrew Names Version
I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
King James Version (1611)
I haue cut off the nations: their towres are desolate, I made their streetes waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroied, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
King James Version
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.
New American Standard Bible
"I have eliminated nations; Their corner towers are deserted. I have laid waste their streets, With no one passing by; Their cities have been laid waste, Without a person, without an inhabitant.
New Century Version
"I have destroyed nations; their towers were ruined. I made their streets empty so no one goes there anymore. Their cities are ruined; no one lives there at all.
Amplified Bible
"I [the LORD] have cut off and destroyed nations [as a warning to Judah]; Their corner towers (battlements) are in ruins. I have made their streets desolate So that no one passes by; Their cities are destroyed So that there is no man, there is no inhabitant.
Geneva Bible (1587)
I haue cut off the nations: their towres are desolate: I haue made their streetes waste, that none shal passe by: their cities are destroyed without man and without inhabitant.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"I have cut off nations; Their corner towers are in ruins. I have made their streets desolate, With no one passing by; Their cities are laid waste, Without a man, without an inhabitant.
Legacy Standard Bible
"I have cut off nations;Their corner towers are desolate.I have made their streets a waste,With no one passing by;Their cities are laid waste,Without a man, without an inhabitant.
Berean Standard Bible
"I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through. Their cities are laid waste, with no man, no inhabitant.
Contemporary English Version
The Lord wiped out nations and left fortresses crumbling in the dirt. Their streets and towns were reduced to ruins and emptied of people.
Complete Jewish Bible
"I have cut off nations, their battlements are ruined; I have made their streets ruins, no one walks in them. Their cities are destroyed, abandoned, unpeopled.
Darby Translation
I have cut off nations: their battlements are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord says, "I have destroyed whole nations and their defense towers. I destroyed their streets and now no one goes there anymore. Their cities are empty—no one lives there anymore.
George Lamsa Translation
I have destroyed the nations and removed the misery; I have made their streets waste, so that no one walks in them; their cities are desolate, without a man and without the inhabitants.
Good News Translation
The Lord says, "I have wiped out whole nations; I have destroyed their cities and left their walls and towers in ruins. The cities are deserted; the streets are empty—no one is left.
Lexham English Bible
"I have cut off nations; their strongholds are deserted. I have laid waste their streets, so that none pass through. Their cities have been destroyed and are without a man, without an inhabitant.
Literal Translation
I have cut off nations; their towers are ruined. I made their streets waste, so that none passes by. Their cities are laid waste, without a man, from there being not one living there.
American Standard Version
I have cut off nations; their battlements are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
Bible in Basic English
I have had the nations cut off, their towers are broken down; I have made their streets a waste so that no one goes through them: destruction has overtaken their towns, so that there is no man living in them.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
I have cut off nations, their corners are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
I haue destroyed the nations, their towres are desolate, I haue made their streetes wast, that none shall passe by: their cities are destroyed, without man, and without inhabitaunt.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I have brought down the proud with destruction; their corners are destroyed: I will make their ways completely waste, so that none shall go through: their cities are come to an end, by reason of no man living or dwelling in them.
English Revised Version
I have cut off nations, their battlements are desolate; I have made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
World English Bible
I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Y loste folkis, and the corneris of hem ben distried; Y made the weies of hem desert, while there is not that schal passe. The citees of hem ben desolat, for a man is not left, nether ony dwellere.
Update Bible Version
I have cut off nations; their battlements are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that none passes by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
Webster's Bible Translation
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 no inhabitant.
New English Translation
"I destroyed nations; their walled cities are in ruins. I turned their streets into ruins; no one passes through them. Their cities are desolate; no one lives there.
New King James Version
"I have cut off nations, Their fortresses are devastated; I have made their streets desolate, With none passing by. Their cities are destroyed; There is no one, no inhabitant.
New Living Translation
"I have wiped out many nations, devastating their fortress walls and towers. Their streets are now deserted; their cities lie in silent ruin. There are no survivors— none at all.
New Life Bible
"I have cut off nations. Their towers are destroyed. I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them. Their cities are laid waste, and no one lives in them.
New Revised Standard
I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without people, without inhabitants.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I have cut off nations, deserted are their towers, have made desolate their streets, that none passeth through; ruined are their cities, for want of men of note, from lack of any dweller!
Douay-Rheims Bible
I have destroyed the nations, and their towers are beaten down: I have made their ways desert, so that there is none that passeth by: their cities are desolate, there is not a man remaining, nor any inhabitant.
Revised Standard Version
"I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that none walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant.
Young's Literal Translation
I have cut off nations, Desolated have been their chief ones, I have laid waste their out-places without any passing by, Destroyed have been their cities, Without man, without inhabitant.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore wil I rote out this people, and destroye their towres: yee and make their stretes so voyde, that no man shall go therin. Their cities shall be broke downe, so that no body shal be left, ner dwel there eny more.
THE MESSAGE
"So I cut off the godless nations. I knocked down their defense posts, Filled her roads with rubble so no one could get through. Her cities were bombed-out ruins, unlivable and unlived in.

Contextual Overview

1 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! 2 She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord ; she does not draw near to her God. 3 Her officials within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning. 4 Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men; her priests profane what is holy; they do violence to the law. 5 The Lord within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame. 6 "I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant. 7 I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.' But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

cut: Isaiah 10:1-34, Isaiah 15:1 - Isaiah 16:14, Isaiah 19:1-25, Isaiah 37:11-13, Isaiah 37:24-26, Isaiah 37:36, Jeremiah 25:9-11, Jeremiah 25:18-26, Nahum 2:1 - Nahum 3:19, 1 Corinthians 10:6, 1 Corinthians 10:11

towers: or, corners

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 8:19 - I testify against Psalms 76:12 - He shall Isaiah 14:26 - General Jeremiah 2:15 - his cities Jeremiah 5:17 - they shall impoverish Ezekiel 6:6 - the cities Ezekiel 30:3 - the time Ezekiel 32:32 - General Hosea 10:9 - did Nahum 2:10 - empty Zechariah 7:14 - the land

Cross-References

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"
Genesis 3:2
And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
Genesis 3:12
The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."
Genesis 3:14
The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
Genesis 3:17
And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
Genesis 3:19
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
Genesis 6:2
the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
Genesis 39:7
And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, "Lie with me."
Joshua 7:21
when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I have cut off the nations,.... Utterly destroyed them, as the Philistines, Moabites, Ethiopians, and Assyrians, as in the preceding chapters; all which were done before the coming of Christ in the flesh; and by which instances the Jews should have took warning, lest by their sins they should provoke the Lord to destroy their nation, city, and temple:

their towers are desolate; built on their frontiers, or on the walls of their cities, to defend them; these were demolished, and laid waste, and of no use: or, "their corners" b; towers being usually built on the angles or corners of walls. Some interpret this of their princes, nobles, and great men, who were destroyed; see Zechariah 10:4:

I made their streets waste, that none passeth by; the streets of their cities, the houses being pulled down by the enemy, the rubbish of them lay in the streets, so that there was no passing for any; and indeed, the houses being demolished, the streets were no more in form:

their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant; the houses being burnt with fire, or pulled down, and plundered of the goods and substance in them, and the people cut off by famine, pestilence, or sword; and the rest carried captive, there was scarce a man or inhabitant left; so general was the destruction.

b פנותם "anguli earum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Cocceius, Burkius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I have cut off the nations - God appeals to His judgments on pagan nations, not on any particular nation, as far as we know; but to past history, whether of those, of whose destruction Israel itself had been the instrument, or others. The judgments upon the nations before them were set forth to them, when they were about to enter on their inheritance, as a warning to themselves. “Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things, for in all these have the nations defiled themselves, which I cast out before you: and the land is defiled; therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomiteth out her inhabitants. And ye, ye shall keep My statutes and My judgements and shall not commit any of these abominations - And the land shall not spue you out when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations which were before you” (Leviticus 18:24-26, Leviticus 18:28, add Leviticus 20:23). The very possession then of the land was a warning to them; the ruins, which crowned so many of its hilltops , were silent preachers to them; they lived among the memories of God’s visitations; if neglected, they were an earnest of future judgments on themselves.

Yet God’s judgments are not at one time only. Sennacherib appealed to their own knowledge, “Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly. Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed?” Isaiah 37:11, Isaiah 37:13. Hezekiah owned it as a fact which he knew: “Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their land” Isaiah 37:18. And God owns him as His instrument: “Now I have brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defensed cities into ruinous heaps” Isaiah 37:26 : and, “I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down as the mire of the streets,” and says of him, “It is in his heart to destroy and to cut off nations not a few” . The king of Babylon too he describes as “the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms. that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof” Isaiah 14:16-17. Habakkuk recently described the wide wasting by the Babylonians, and the helplessness of nations before him Habakkuk 1:14-16.

Their towers, corner towers - o, the most carefully fortified parts of their fortified cities, “are desolate; I made their streets waste.” The desolation is complete, within as well as without; ruin itself is hardly so desolate as the empty habitations and forsaken streets, once full of life, where

“The echoes and the empty tread

Would sound like voices from the dead.”



Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 6. I have cut off the nations — Syria, Israel, and those referred to, Isaiah 36:18; Isaiah 36:20. - Newcome.


 
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