Zephaniah 1:15 (DRB)

Passage

That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds,

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 1:13 And their strength shall become a booty, and their houses as a desert: and they shall build houses, and shall not dwell in them: and they shall plant vineyards, and shall not drink the wine of them.

Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and exceeding swift: the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter, the mighty man shall there meet with tribulation.

Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds,

Zephaniah 1:16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high bulwarks.

Zephaniah 1:17 And I will distress men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as earth, and their bodies as dung.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "darkness", "wrath", "tribulation", "distress", "calamity", "misery", "obscurity", and "clouds". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "darkness" and "wrath", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "The great day of the Lord is..." into verse 16's "A day of the trumpet and alarm...", so "darkness" and "wrath" belong inside that flow. In Zephaniah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "darkness" and "wrath" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.