Verses 14-16 take up again the theme of the nearness of the day of the LORD first mentioned in verse 7. They are best taken as a comment by the prophet himself before the direct words of the LORD begin again in verse 17, though New International Version takes them as continuing the quotation begun in verse 2.
The great day of the LORD is near: the words in Hebrew are the same as in verse 7, with the addition of great, and the same event is meant. In some languages it will be helpful to repeat the words from verse 7 and say, for example, “The day when the LORD will judge people is near.” Near may be expressed in many languages as “coming very soon.” Near and hastening fast means “near and quickly coming nearer.”
The second half of the verse is difficult in Hebrew and is translated literally in Revised Standard Version: the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter, the mighty man cries aloud there. Various scholars have suggested ways of improving the sense. One of these suggestions involves changing only the word divisions of the Hebrew without altering any of the letters, and this suggestion seems to be behind the New English Bible translation “no runner so fast as that day, no raiding band so swift.” However, the traditional Hebrew text is intelligible, and Good News Translation gives its sense clearly with “That day will be bitter, for even the bravest soldiers will cry out in despair.” The alternative given in the Good News Translation footnote does not involve changing the text of the Hebrew, but only dividing the sentence into clauses differently. “That day will be bitter” may also be rendered as “That day will be full of tragedy,” or “That day will bring only sorrow,” or “That day will cause people to receive great sorrow.” Translators may be able to express this meaning in their languages by means of an idiom or figure of speech.
It is possible that the cry given by the mighty man is not to be understood as one of “despair,” as in Good News Translation, but rather as a battle cry. This understanding is shown by Jerusalem Bible “the warrior shouts his cry of war,” and probably by New International Version “the shouting of the warrior.” However, the general emphasis of the paragraph is on the trouble that people will suffer on the day of the LORD, and for this reason it seems best to follow the understanding of Good News Translation. In some languages “cry out in despair” may be expressed as “cry out because there is no hope of receiving help.”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• The day when the LORD will judge people is near—very near. It is coming very soon. That day will cause people to receive great sorrow, and even brave soldiers will cry out because they have no hope of receiving help.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .