Zephaniah 1

14 The great day of the Lord is near and approaching rapidly. It will be a bitter day—even warriors will cry out loud. 15 It will be a day of anger,*1:15. The expression of God being angry or full of wrath is a frequent image in the prophetic writings, but should not be understood in the same way as human anger. God’s anger is not emotional like some kind of unthinking "red mist," but a principled opposition to all that is evil. God uses this anger to try to convince those who are wrong to do what is right for their own sake, not because he "gets mad" and lashes out. Human anger is self-centered; divine anger is other-centered. a day of trouble and distress, a day of disaster and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, 16 a day of trumpet calls and battle cries against fortified cities and watchtowers. 17 I will bring trouble on humanity, making them walk like blind people because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be spilled like so much dust; their intestines like dung. 18 Their silver and their gold won’t help to save them on the day of the Lord’s anger. The whole earth will be burned up by the fire of his jealous*1:18. "Jealous" when applied to God is not the same as human jealousy. It means God’s strong desire that people follow only him, for he alone can save. He wants an exclusive relationship for he knows that anything else leads to disaster. anger. He will make sure the end of the people of the world is sudden and complete.