Habakkuk was not the only one through whom was given a message of bright hope and of future triumph as well as of present judgment. During the reign of Josiah the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah, specifying plainly the results of continued apostasy, and calling the attention of the true church to the glorious prospect beyond. His prophecies of impending judgment upon Judah apply with equal force to the judgments that are to fall upon an impenitent world at the time of the second advent of Christ: 390 "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. "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, A day of the trumpet and alarm Against the fenced cities, And against the high towers." Zephaniah 1:14-16.

"Herre, jeg har hørt dit ry, jeg har skuet din gerning, Herre. Fuldbyrd det i årenes løb, åbenbar dig i årenes løb, kom barmhjertighed i hu under vreden ! Gud drager frem fra Teman, den Hellige fra Parans bjerge. Hans højhed skjuler himmelen, hans herlighed fylder jorden. Under ham er glans som ild, fra hans side udgår stråler; der er hans vælde i skjul. Foran ham vandrer pest, og efter ham følger sot. Hans fjed får jorden til at skælve, hans blik får folk til at bæve. De ældgamle bjerge brister, de evige høje synker, ad evige stier går han." "Du drager ud til frelse for dit folk, ud for at frelse din salvede." "Thi figentræet blomstrer ikke, vinstokken giver intet, olietræets afgrøde svigter, markerne giver ej føde. Fårene svandt af folden, i staldene findes ej okser. Men jeg vil frydes i Herren, juble i min frelses Gud." Hab. 3,2-6. 13. 17-19.