Zephaniah 1:4-6

Zephaniah 1:4-6. I will also stretch out my hand upon Judah I will manifest my power upon Judah, as I have done upon Israel. And I will cut off the remnant of Baal The altars, or places of worship, dedicated to Baal, which still remain in this place, namely, Jerusalem; and the name of the Chemarims Of the idolatrous priests, for so the same word is rendered 2 Kings 23:5, where see the note; with the priests That is, I will destroy these together with the priests of the tribe of Levi, who have been joined in the worship of idols, in which, as we learn from Ezekiel 8:11; Ezekiel 22:26, some of them were joined. And them that worship the host of heaven upon the house-tops They were wont to worship the moon and stars upon the roofs of their houses, which were made flat. And that swear by the Lord, and by Malcham That join the worship of idols to that of the true God. Malcham is the same with Moloch, to whom many of the people of Judah continued to offer their children, as Jeremiah upbraids them, Jeremiah 7:31; Jeremiah 19:5; and that, it seems, after the reformation that Josiah had made. Swearing is an act of religious worship, or a solemn invocation of God, as a witness and a judge, Deuteronomy 10:20; and therefore the Israelites were expressly forbidden to swear by idols, Joshua 23:7. And them that are turned back, &c. That are apostates to idolatry. And those that have not sought the Lord That live without any sense of religion, and, as it were, without God in the world.