Zephaniah 3:6

KJV1611 – Modern English

I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passes by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, no inhabitant.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

הִכְרַ֣תִּי גוֹיִ֗ם נָשַׁ֙מּוּ֙ פִּנּוֹתָ֔ם הֶחֱרַ֥בְתִּי חֽוּצוֹתָ֖ם מִבְּלִ֣י עוֹבֵ֑ר נִצְדּ֧וּ עָרֵיהֶ֛ם מִבְּלִי־אִ֖ישׁ מֵאֵ֥ין יוֹשֵֽׁב

Transliteration

hikrattî gôyim nāšammû pinnôtām heḥĕrabtî ḥûṣôtām from belî ʿôbēr; niṣdû ʿārêhem from belî-ʾîš from ʾên yôšēb

Grammar Details

• *hikrattî*: hiphil perfect 1st singular - I cut off/destroyed
• *gôyim*: masculine plural noun - nations
• *nāšammû*: niphal perfect 3rd common plural - they were desolated
• *pinnôtām*: feminine plural noun with 3rd masculine plural suffix - their corner towers/strongholds
• *heḥĕrabtî*: hiphil perfect 1st singular - I laid waste
• *ḥûṣôtām*: feminine plural noun with 3rd masculine plural suffix - their streets
• *belî*: negative particle with preposition - without
• *ʿôbēr*: qal participle masculine singular - one passing by
• *niṣdû*: niphal perfect 3rd common plural - they were laid waste/desolated
• *ʿārêhem*: feminine plural noun with 3rd masculine plural suffix - their cities
• *ʾîš*: masculine singular noun - man
• *ʾên*: negative particle - there is not
• *yôšēb*: qal participle masculine singular - inhabitant/one dwelling

Word Meanings

• *hikrattî*: I cut off/destroyed/eliminated
• *gôyim*: nations/peoples/gentiles
• *nāšammû*: were desolated/laid waste/destroyed
• *pinnôtām*: their corner towers/strongholds/battlements
• *heḥĕrabtî*: I laid waste/destroyed/made desolate
• *ḥûṣôtām*: their streets/open places
• *belî*: without/lacking
• *ʿôbēr*: one passing by/traveler
• *niṣdû*: were laid waste/desolated/destroyed
• *ʾîš*: man/person
• *yôšēb*: inhabitant/resident/dweller

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  I have cut off nations; their corner towers are in ruins. I have laid waste their streets, so that no one passes through. Their cities are destroyed; there is no one left—no inhabitant.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard 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.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  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.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  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.

• 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.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  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.

• Bishops' 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.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  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.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  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.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  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.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  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.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  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 (1941)

  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.

• World English Bible (2000)

  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.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  The Lord’s Judgment will Purify“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.

Referenced Verses

• Lev 26:31 : 31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet aromas.
• Isa 10:1-9 : 1 Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and who write out oppressive laws they have prescribed; 2 To turn aside the needy from justice and to take away the rights from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! 3 And what will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation that shall come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory? 4 Without me, they shall bow down among the prisoners, and they shall fall among the slain. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 5 O Assyrian, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hand is my indignation. 6 I will send him against a hypocritical 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 like the mire of the streets. 7 Yet he does not mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off not a few nations. 8 For he says, Are not my princes altogether kings? 9 Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? 10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose carved images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria; 11 Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, also do to Jerusalem and her idols? 12 Therefore, it shall come to pass, that when the Lord has performed all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. 13 For he says, By the strength of my hand, I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the boundaries of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have brought down the inhabitants like a valiant man; 14 And my hand has found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped. 15 Shall the ax boast against him who cuts with it? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him who shakes it? As if the rod should shake itself against those who lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were not wood. 16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory, he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. 17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day; 18 And shall consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer faints. 19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them. 20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and those who have escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again rely on him who struck them; but shall rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: a destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a determined destruction in the midst of all the land. 24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian: he shall strike you with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against you, as Egypt did. 25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and my anger in their destruction. 26 And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt. 27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. 28 He has come to Aiath, he has passed to Migron; at Michmash he has stored his carriages: 29 They have gone over the pass: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul has fled. 30 Lift up your voice, O daughter of Gallim; cause it to be heard to Laish, O poor Anathoth. 31 Madmenah is moved away; the inhabitants of Gebim gather to flee. 32 As yet he shall remain at Nob that day; he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. 33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be cut down, and the haughty shall be humbled. 34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by the Mighty One.
• Isa 15:1-9 : 1 The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste and brought to silence. 2 He has gone up to Bajith and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall wail over Nebo and over Medeba; on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off. 3 In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth; on the tops of their houses and in their streets, everyone shall wail, weeping abundantly. 4 And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even to Jahaz; therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous to him. 5 My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee to Zoar, like a heifer of three years old: for by the ascent of Luhith with weeping shall they go up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. 6 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate; for the hay is withered away, the grass fails, there is no green thing. 7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have stored up, they shall carry away to the brook of the willows. 8 For the cry has gone around the borders of Moab; its wailing to Eglaim, and its wailing to Beerelim. 9 For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood; for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapes of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.
• Isa 19:1-9 : 1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rides upon a swift cloud and shall come into Egypt. The idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in its midst. 2 I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they shall fight every one against his brother and every one against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. 3 The spirit of Egypt shall fail in its midst; I will destroy its counsel, and they shall seek the idols, the charmers, those with familiar spirits, and the wizards. 4 I will give the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them, says the Lord, the LORD of hosts. 5 The waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. 6 They shall turn the rivers away; the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up; the reeds and rushes shall wither. 7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and everything sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. 8 The fishermen also shall mourn, and all who cast hooks into the brooks shall lament, and those who spread nets upon the waters shall languish. 9 Moreover, those who work in fine flax and those who weave networks shall be confounded. 10 They shall be broken in their purposes, all who make sluices and ponds for fish. 11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; the counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh has become brutish. How can you say to Pharaoh, 'I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?' 12 Where are they? Where are your wise men? Let them tell you now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan are become fools; the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they who are the foundation of its tribes. 14 The LORD has mingled a perverse spirit in its midst, and they have caused Egypt to err in every work, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit. 15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. 16 In that day Egypt shall be like women, and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He shakes over it. 17 The land of Judah shall be a terror to Egypt; everyone who mentions it shall be afraid in themselves because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which He has determined against it. 18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt shall speak the language of Canaan and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. 19 In that day there shall be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border to the LORD. 20 It shall be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt, for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and He shall send them a savior, a great one, and He shall deliver them. 21 The LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day and shall offer sacrifice and gifts; yes, they shall vow a vow to the LORD and perform it. 22 The LORD shall smite Egypt; He shall smite and heal it, and they shall return to the LORD. He shall be entreated by them and shall heal them. 23 In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, 'Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.'
• Isa 37:11-13 : 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
• Isa 37:24-26 : 24 By your servants you have reproached the Lord, and have said, By the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice fir trees: and I will enter the height of its border, the forest of its Carmel. 25 I have dug, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet I have dried up all the rivers of besieged places. 26 Have you not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that you should lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
• Isa 37:36 : 36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and struck down in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies.
• Jer 25:9-9 : 9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says the LORD, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
• Jer 25:18-26 : 18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; 20 And all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, 21 Edom, Moab, and the children of Ammon, 22 And all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are beyond the sea, 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who are in the farthest corners, 24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the desert, 25 And all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes, 26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world which are upon the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
• Nah 2:1-3 : 1 The one who dashes in pieces is coming up before you: keep the fortress, watch the road, make your loins strong, fortify your power mightily. 2 For the LORD has turned away the grandeur of Jacob, as the grandeur of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and ruined their vine branches. 3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
• Zeph 2:5 : 5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will destroy you, so there shall be no inhabitant.
• Zech 7:14 : 14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate.
• 1 Cor 10:6 : 6 Now these things were our examples, so we should not desire evil things, as they also desired.
• 1 Cor 10:11 : 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.