Zephaniah 1:8

1:8 “On the day of the Lord’s sacrificial meal,

I will punish the princes ¹  and the king’s sons,

and all who wear foreign styles of clothing. ² 

Zephaniah 1:10

1:10 On that day,” says the Lord,

“a loud cry will go up ³  from the Fish Gate, ⁴ 

wailing from the city’s newer district, ⁵ 

and a loud crash ⁶  from the hills.

Zephaniah 1:13

1:13 Their wealth will be stolen

and their houses ruined!

They will not live in the houses they have built,

nor will they drink the wine from the vineyards they have planted.

Zephaniah 2:7

2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah ⁷  will take possession of it. ⁸ 

By the sea ⁹  they ¹⁰  will graze,

in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening,

for the Lord their God will intervene for them ¹¹  and restore their prosperity. ¹² 

[1:8]  ¹ tn Or “officials” (NRSV, TEV); NLT “leaders.”

[1:8]  ² sn The very dress of the royal court, foreign styles of clothing, revealed the degree to which Judah had assimilated foreign customs.

[1:10]  ³ tn The words “will go up” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:10]  ⁴ sn The Fish Gate was located on Jerusalem’s north side (cf. 2 Chr 33:14; Neh 3:3; 12:39).

[1:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the second area.” This may refer to an area northwest of the temple where the rich lived (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 86; cf. NASB, NRSV “the Second Quarter”; NIV “the New Quarter”).

[1:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “great breaking.”

[2:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ⁶ tn Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ⁷ tc Heb “on them,” but the antecedent of the masculine pronoun is unclear. It may refer back to the “pasture lands,” though that noun is feminine. It is preferable to emend the text from עֲלֵיהֶם (’alehem) to עַל־הַיָּם (’al-hayyam, “by the sea”) an emendation that assumes a misdivision and transposition of letters in the MT (cf. NEB “They shall pasture their flocks by the sea”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 192.

[2:7]  ⁸ tn The referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) is unclear. It may refer (1) to the shepherds (in which case the first verb should be translated, “pasture their sheep,” cf. NEB), or (2) to the Judahites occupying the area, who are being compared to sheep (cf. NIV, “there they will find pasture”).

[2:7]  ⁹ tn Or “will care for them.”

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally, “restore their captivity,” i.e., bring back their captives, but it is more likely the expression means “restore their fortunes” in a more general sense (cf. NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).