Zephaniah 1:12

1:12 At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps.

I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, ¹ 

those who think to themselves, ² 

‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’ ³ 

Zephaniah 3:6

The Lord’s Judgment will Purify

3:6 “I destroyed ⁴  nations;

their walled cities ⁵  are in ruins.

I turned their streets into ruins;

no one passes through them.

Their cities are desolate; ⁶ 

no one lives there. ⁷ 

Zephaniah 3:15

3:15 The Lord has removed the judgment against you; ⁸ 

he has turned back your enemy.

Israel’s king, the Lord, is in your midst!

You no longer need to fear disaster.

[1:12]  ¹ tn Heb “who thicken on their sediment.” The imagery comes from wine making, where the wine, if allowed to remain on the sediment too long, will thicken into syrup. The image suggests that the people described here were complacent in their sinful behavior and interpreted the delay in judgment as divine apathy.

[1:12]  ² tn Heb “who say in their hearts.”

[1:12]  ³ tn Heb “The Lord does not do good nor does he do evil.”

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “corner towers”; NEB, NRSV “battlements.”

[3:6]  ⁶ tn This Hebrew verb (צָדָה, tsadah) occurs only here in the OT, but its meaning is established from the context and from an Aramaic cognate.

[3:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “so that there is no man, without inhabitant.”

[3:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “your judgments,” that is, “the judgments directed against you.” The translation reflects the implications of the parallelism.