Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you.

before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah's anger come upon you.

Before the decree bring forth the day as dust passing away, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's indignation come upon you.

before the decree bring forth, before the day pass away as chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah's anger come upon you.

Before the decree bringeth forth, before the day passeth as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD cometh upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger cometh upon you.

Before the bringing forth of a statute, As chaff hath the day passed on, While yet not come in upon you doth the heat of the anger of Jehovah, While yet not come in upon you doth a day of the anger of Jehovah,

Before the Lord sends you violently away in flight like the waste from the grain; before the burning wrath of the Lord comes on you, before the day of the Lord's wrath comes on you.

Before the decree bring forth The day when one passeth as the chaff, Before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, Before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you.

Until the decree settles accounts, the day like dust is passing away, before which the wrath of the fury of the Lord may overcome you, before which the day of the anger of the Lord may overcome you.

Antequam pariat decretum, sicut stipula transibit die, antequam veniat super eos furor irae Iehovae, antequam veniat super eos dies irae Iehovae.

Before the decree bring forth - God's word is full (as it were) of the event which it foretelleth; it contains its own fulfillment in itself, and "travaileth" until it come to pass, giving signs of its coming, yet delaying until the full time. Time is said to bring forth what is wrought in it. "Thou knowest not, what a day shall bring forth."
Before the day pass as the chaff - Or, parenthetically, "like chaff the day passeth by." God's counsels lie wrapt up, as it were, in the womb of time, wherein He hides them, until the moment which He has appointed, and they break forth suddenly to those who look not for them. The mean season is given for repentance, that is, the day of grace, the span of repentance still allowed, which is continually whirling more swiftly by; and woe, if it be fruitless as chaff! Those who profit not by it shall also be as chaff, carried away pitilessly by the whirlwind to destruction. Time, on which eternity hangs, is a slight, uncertain thing, as little to be counted upon, as the light dry particles which are the sport of the wind, driven uncertainly here and there. But when it is "passed," then "cometh," not "to" them, but "upon" them, from heaven, overwhelming them, "abiding upon" John 3:36 them, not to pass away, "the heat of the anger of Almighty God." This warning he twice repeats, to impress the certainty and speed of its conming Genesis 41:32. It is the warning of our Lord, "Take heed, lest that day come upon you unawares" Luke 21:34.

Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff,.... Which was like a woman big with child, ready to be delivered. The decree of God concerning the people of the Jews was pregnant with wrath and ruin for their sins, and just ripe for execution; and therefore, before it was actually executed, they are exhorted as above; not that the decree of God which was gone forth could be frustrated and made void by anything done by them; only that, when it was put into execution, such as repented of their sins might be saved from the general calamity; which they are called upon to do before the day come appointed by the Lord for the execution of this decree; which lingered not, and was not delayed, but slid on as swiftly as chaff before the driving wind. There is some difficulty in the rendering and sense of these words; some thus, "before the day, which passes as chaff, brings forth the decree" (e); that is, before the time, which moves swiftly, brings on the execution of the decree, or of the thing decreed in it, it is big with: others, "before the decree brings forth the day that passeth as chaff" (f); or in which the chaff shall be separated from the wheat, pass away, be dispersed here and there; that is, before they were scattered about by it as chaff: and to this sense the Septuagint and Arabic versions, "before ye are as a flower"; or, as the Syriac, "as chaff that passeth away"; and so the Targum more fully,
"before the decree of the house of judgment come out upon you, and ye be like chaff which the wind blows away, and like a shadow which passes from before the day.'' See Psalm 1:4.
Before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you; these phrases explain the former, and show what the decree was big with, and ready to bring forth, even the judgments of God, in wrath and fierce anger; and what the day is, said to pass as the chaff; the day of God's vengeance fixed by him, which should come upon them, and scatter them like chaff among the nations of the world: or rather the words may be rendered thus, as by Gussetius (g), "whilst as yet the decree hath not brought forth, the day passeth away like chaff"; being neglected and spent in an useless and unprofitable manner; for which they are reproved; and therefore are exhorted to be wiser for the future, and redeem precious time; and, before the Lord's anger comes upon them, do what is before exhorted to, and particularly what follows:
(e) "antequam dies, quae transit ut palea, pariat decretum", Drusius; so Ben Melech. (f) "Priusquam decretum Dei pariat deim veluti glumae transeuntis", Grotius. (g) Ebr. Comment. p. 305.

Before the decree bring forth--that is, Before God's decree against you announced by me (Zephaniah. 1:1-18) have its fulfilment. As the embryo lies hid in the womb, and then emerges to light in its own due time, so though God for a time hides His vengeance, yet He brings it forth at the proper season.
before the day pass as the chaff--that is, before the day for repentance pass, and with it you, the ungodly, pass away as the chaff (Job 21:18; Psalm 1:4). MAURER puts it parenthetically, "the day (that is, time) passes as the chaff (that is, most quickly)." CALVIN, "before the decree bring forth" (the predicted vengeance), (then) the chaff (the Jews) shall pass in a day, that is, in a moment, though they thought that it would be long before they could be overthrown. English Version is best; the latter clause being explanatory of the former, and so the before being understood, not expressed.

The decree - Before God's decree is put in execution. The day - Before the day of your calamities. As the chaff - Carry you away as the wind carries chaff away.