John Trapp on Zephaniah 1:3

Verſe 3. I will conſume man and beaſt] Heb. I will gather (as verſe 2.) them, and caſt them away as they do the ſweepings of the houſe. See the word uſed in this ſenſe, Pſal. 26.9. Gather not my ſoul with ſinners &c. God gathereth his people for a better purpoſe: both while they are alive, Pſal. 27.10. and when they dye, Eſay 57.1 The righteous is taken away (Heb. gathered) from the evil to come: as a Shepheard gathereth his ſheep when a ſtorm is coming: or as a maſter of a family doth his jewels, when his houſe is on fire. But as for the wicked, they are gathered too, but it is for ſlaughter, as beaſts in a pound, malefactours in a priſon: and at the laſt day the tares ſhall be gathered and bundled up together for hels Furnace, Mat. 13, 41.42.

I will conſume the fouls of the heaven] Made for mans uſe, to be to him for food, Gen. 9.2. for phyſick and for delight, as companions of his life: hence it is threatned as a judgement to him to looſe them Ier. 4.25. and 10. and here.

An the fiſhes of the Sea] Made likewiſe for mans uſe to feed him, Num. 11.5.22. Luke 24.42. hence the latine piſcis of paſco to feed, and the Hebrew Berechah for a fiſhpoole: the word ſignifieth a bleſſing Gen. 12.2. with Neh. 2.14. Now the Lord here threateneth deſtruction to beaſts, birds, and fiſhes, not by way of Hyperbole, as the Rabbines dreams: but becauſe in common calamities, in warlike tumults, and when God will deſtroy a people indeed, the beaſts alſo are killed up, the foules hunted away, the fiſh-pooles waſted, &c. Let thoſe that will not beleeve this, look into Illyricum, Thracia, Macedonia, Greece, and divers parts of Turky, laid utterly deſolate and empty both of men and other creatures. Hierome upon this text, and likewiſe upon Hoſ. 4. affirmeth the ſame of his native countrey, waſted ſo with Warre, ut, praeter coelum & coenum, & creſcentes vipres & condenſa ſylvarum, cuncta perierint, that beſides ayre and earth, and briars, and forreſts, all was deſtroyed. And that we may not wonder at this ſeveritie of God, hear what the ſame Father ſaith elſwhere of his ungracious countrymen: In mea patria de us Ven er eſt, & in d[illegible: 1 letter]em vivitur, & ſanctior eſt ille qui ditior; In my countrey their belly is their god,Epiſ.ad Chremat. their glory is in their ſhame, they minde earthly things: and ſo their end hath been deſtruction, and utter deſolation, as Phil. 3.19. Gualthers Note here is very good: herein we may obſerve, ſaith he, the judgement of God and his wonderfull providence: that whereas we ſee in populous places, rivers and pooles to abound with fiſh, woods and fields, with birds and beaſts, though they bee continually caught, and carried away: yet where there want men to make uſe of them, there are few or none to be found. For as they were all made for man, ſo when men are conſumed, they alſo are conſumed, as is here threatned. Non ita temerè fieri putemus, &c. Let Gods hand herein be acknowledged, and his anger appeaſed by faith in Chriſt Jeſus and repentance from dead works, that our land may be ſowed with the ſeed of men and of beaſts.

And the ſtumbling-blocks with the wicked] Thoſe Balaams blocks, In lib. Reg. thoſe moments and monuments of idolatry, that ſo much offend God, and cauſe offence and ruine to thoſe that worſhip them, (as Eucherius interpreteth it) who are here called wicked, with an accent, and by a ſpecialty.

And I will cut off man from off the land] Even the better ſort of men too, who ſhall be wrapt up together with the wicked in the common calamity. The good figges as well as the bad are packt to Babylon; but with this difference that God will there ſet his eyes upon the good for good. Ier. 24.6. as the corne is cut down as well as the weeds; but for better purpoſe.

Saith the Lord] who hath ſpoke it twice that you may once well obſerve it, and lay it to heart.