Zephaniah 1:13
in Zephaniah 1Their wealth will be plundered and their houses laid waste. They will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And their wealth shall become a spoil, and their houses a desolation: yea, they shall build houses, but shall not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink the wine thereof.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Zephaniah 1
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 13, 14.) And their strength shall be for plunder, and their houses for desolation. And they shall build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine. The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and hastens quickly. LXX: And their strength shall be for robbery, and their houses shall be destroyed. And they shall build houses, but shall not live in them; and they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink their wine, for the great day of the Lord is near; it is near and hastens quickly.
This site's exposition
search Jerusalem with candles
on Zephaniah 1:12-13
Searching Jerusalem with candles pictures the Lord's judgment as a house to house search rather than a blow from a distance, no dark corner of the city's complacency left unlit. The men settled on their lees are wine left too long undisturbed, thickened and stale, a figure the bench reads as spiritual apathy dressed as security, men who have concluded the Lord will do neither good nor evil and so need not be reckoned with. Verse 13's futility curse, houses built but not inhabited, vineyards planted but not drunk from, repeats the covenant sanctions of Deuteronomy 28 and the same judgment Amos pronounces at 5:11, the promised land's blessings turned to labor without reward.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
With reference to that day the prophet Amos says, "Woe to them that desire the Day of the Lord. To what end is this Day of the Lord for you? The day itself is darkness and not light." The prophet Zephaniah says the same thing: …
A commentator
CyprianTreatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews, TESTIMONIES AGAINST THE JEWS 12:3.61 · Written before 258.
proposed
The lust of possessions and money are not to be sought for. In Solomon, in Ecclesiastes: "He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver." Also in Proverbs: "He who holds back the corn is cursed among the people; but blessing is on the head of him that communicates it." Also in Isaiah: "Woe to them who join house to house, and lay field to field, that they may take away something from their neighbor. Will you dwell alone upon the earth?" Also, in Zephaniah: "They shall build houses, and shall not dwell in them; and they shall appoint vineyards, and shall not drink the wine of them, because the Day of the Lord is near." Also in the Gospel according to Luke: "For what does it profit a man to make a gain of the whole world, but that he should lose himself?"
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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, Matt. xxiv.
5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the L ORD , and that swear by Malcham; 6 And them that are turned back from the L ORD ; and those that have not sought the L ORD , nor enquired for him.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:88%@v5-6
Therefore their goods shall become a booty,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Therefore their goods - Literally, “And their strength.” It is the simple sequel in God’s Providence. It is a continued narrative. God will visit those who say, that God does not interfere in man’s affairs, and, it shall be seen Jer 44:28 whose words shall stand, God’s or their’s. All which God had threatened in the law shall be fulfilled. God, in the fulfillment of the punishment, which He had foretold in the law Lev 26:32-33; Deut. 28, would vindicate not only His present Providence, but His continual government of His own world.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Therefore their goods shall become a booty, &c.--Fulfilling the prophecy in De 28:30, 39 (compare Am 5:11).
Their goods (in which they trust) shall become a booty - To the Chaldeans. They shall have no profit of all their labors. The houses they have built they shall not inhabit; of the wine of the vineyards they have planted, they shall not drink. See Amo 5:11, where we find the same evils threatened.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I will search Jerusalem with candles I will judge their iniquities strictly.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
wherein the mighty man cries bitterly The mighty man will cry out with a bitter voice.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֤ה | vehayah | and it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| חֵילָם֙ | cheilam | wealth their | H2428 → | |
| לִמְשִׁסָּ֔ה | limshisah | <into> plunder | H4933 → | |
| וּבָתֵּיהֶ֖ם | uvateihem | and houses their | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| לִשְׁמָמָ֑ה | lishmamah | <into> a desolation | H8077 → | 57 times |
| וּבָנ֤וּ | uvanu | and they will build | H1129 → | |
| בָתִּים֙ | vatim | houses | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵשֵׁ֔בוּ | yeshevu | they will dwell [in them] | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| וְנָטְע֣וּ | venateu | and they will plant | H5193 → | |
| כְרָמִ֔ים | kheramim | vineyards | H3754 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִשְׁתּ֖וּ | yishtu | they will drink | H8354 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יֵינָֽם׃ | yeinam | wine their | H3196 → |
וְהָיָ֤הand it will become
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
חֵילָם֙wealth their
cheilamH2428 →
לִמְשִׁסָּ֔ה<into> plunder
limshisahH4933 →
וּבָתֵּיהֶ֖םand houses their
uvateihemH1004 →2046 times
לִשְׁמָמָ֑ה<into> a desolation
lishmamahH8077 →57 times
וּבָנ֤וּand they will build
uvanuH1129 →
בָתִּים֙houses
vatimH1004 →2046 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יֵשֵׁ֔בוּthey will dwell [in them]
yeshevuH3427 →1079 times
וְנָטְע֣וּand they will plant
venateuH5193 →
כְרָמִ֔יםvineyards
kheramimH3754 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יִשְׁתּ֖וּthey will drink
yishtuH8354 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יֵינָֽם׃wine their
yeinamH3196 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 28:30You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not…
it leads to
- Amos 5:11
Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Amos 5:11
Through
Micah 6:15You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 12:13
They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 12:13
Through
Amos 5:11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the…
it leads to
- Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Micah 6:15
You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
- Deuteronomy 28:30
You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not…
- James 2:6
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
- Haggai 1:6
Through
Jeremiah 15:13Your wealth and your treasures I will give up as plunder, without charge for all your sins within all your borders.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:3
O My mountain in the countryside, I will give over your wealth and all your treasures as plunder, because of the sin of your high places, within all your borders.
- Psalms 44:12
You sell Your people for nothing; no profit do You gain from their sale.
- Jeremiah 17:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Zephaniah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 6:1; Cyprian, Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews, TESTIMONIES AGAINST THE JEWS 12:3.61; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zephaniah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.