Zephaniah 1:14 (KJV)

Passage

The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 1:12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

Zephaniah 1:13 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.

Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "great", "lord", "near", "hasteth", "greatly", "even", and "voice". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "great" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "Therefore their goods shall become a booty..." into verse 15's "That day is a day of wrath...", so "great" and "lord" 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 "great" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.