Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh! For all the merchant people are cut down; All those who handle money are cut off.
Parallel translations
- WEB Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.
- KJV Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
- BSB Wail, O dwellers of the Hollow, for all your merchants will be silenced; all who weigh out silver will be cut off.
- NASB “Wail, you inhabitants of the Mortar, Because all the people of Canaan will be destroyed; All who weigh out silver will be eliminated.
- NLT Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area, for all the merchants and traders will be destroyed.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The merchant district is called to wail because its traders and silver-laden wealthy are wiped out. It matters because riches gained apart from God offer no protection in the day of judgment.
Overview
Maktesh was likely a market hollow in Jerusalem; 'people of Canaan' here means merchants or traders. The cutting off of those 'loaded with silver' shows that commercial prosperity cannot shield the unrepentant. This warns against trusting wealth, anticipating Jesus' teaching about storing treasure where it truly lasts.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jas 5:1Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.
- Hos 12:7–8A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud.
- Jer 25:34Wail, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow in dust, you leader of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and you shall fall like a goodly vessel.
- Ezek 21:12Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people. It is on all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Therefore beat your thigh.
- Hos 9:6For, behold, they have gone away from destruction. Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver. Thorns will be in their tents.
- Zech 11:2–3Wail, cypress tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the stately ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.
- John 2:16To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
- Jer 4:8For this clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Yahweh hasn’t turned back from us.
- Rev 18:11–18The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more;
- Neh 3:31–32After him, Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths to the house of the temple servants, and of the merchants, made repairs opposite the gate of Hammiphkad, and to the ascent of the corner.
- Joel 1:13Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God’s house.
- Joel 1:5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The day of the LORD gives way to the promise that God himself will be in the midst of his people, rejoicing over them with singing — fulfilled in the saving presence of Christ.
How Zephaniah 1:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.