Zephaniah 2:13

2:13 The Lord ¹  will attack the north ² 

and destroy Assyria.

He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins;

it will be as barren ³  as the desert.

Zephaniah 3:13

3:13 The Israelites who remain ⁴  will not act deceitfully.

They will not lie,

and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth.

Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep ⁵  and lie down;

no one will terrify them.”

Zephaniah 3:20

3:20 At that time I will lead you –

at the time I gather you together. ⁶ 

Be sure of this! ⁷  I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you ⁸ 

when you see me restore you,” ⁹  says the Lord.

Zephaniah 1:18

1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

The whole earth ¹⁰  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ¹¹ 

Indeed, ¹²  he will bring terrifying destruction ¹³  on all who live on the earth.” ¹⁴ 

Zephaniah 1:2

The Lord’s Day of Judgment is Approaching

1:2 “I will destroy ¹⁵  everything from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

Zephaniah 2:11

2:11 The Lord will terrify them, ¹⁶ 

for ¹⁷  he will weaken ¹⁸  all the gods of the earth.

All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. ¹⁹ 

Zephaniah 3:7

3:7 I thought, ²⁰  ‘Certainly you will respect ²¹  me!

Now you will accept correction!’

If she had done so, her home ²²  would not be destroyed ²³ 

by all the punishments I have threatened. ²⁴ 

But they eagerly sinned

in everything they did. ²⁵ 

Zephaniah 3:17

3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;

he is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you; ²⁶ 

he renews you by his love; ²⁷ 

he shouts for joy over you.” ²⁸ 

Zephaniah 3:19

3:19 Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you.

I will rescue the lame sheep ²⁹ 

and gather together the scattered sheep.

I will take away their humiliation

and make the whole earth admire and respect them. ³⁰ 

Zephaniah 2:1

The Prophet Warns the People

2:1 Bunch yourselves together like straw, ³¹  you undesirable ³²  nation,

Zephaniah 2:3

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ³³  all you humble people ³⁴  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ³⁵ 

Strive to do what is right! ³⁶  Strive to be humble! ³⁷ 

Maybe you will be protected ³⁸  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Zephaniah 3:14

3:14 Shout for joy, Daughter Zion! ³⁹ 

Shout out, Israel!

Be happy and boast with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem!

Zephaniah 1:9

1:9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, ⁴⁰ 

who fill the house of their master ⁴¹  with wealth taken by violence and deceit. ⁴² 

Zephaniah 3:9

3:9 Know for sure that I will then enable

the nations to give me acceptable praise. ⁴³ 

All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, ⁴⁴ 

and will worship him in unison. ⁴⁵ 

Zephaniah 1:17

1:17 I will bring distress on the people ⁴⁶ 

and they will stumble ⁴⁷  like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh ⁴⁸  will be scattered ⁴⁹  like manure.

Zephaniah 1:3

1:3 “I will destroy people and animals;

I will destroy the birds in the sky

and the fish in the sea.

(The idolatrous images of these creatures will be destroyed along with evil people.) ⁵⁰ 

I will remove ⁵¹  humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

Zephaniah 2:9

2:9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” says the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel,

“be certain that Moab will become like Sodom

and the Ammonites like Gomorrah.

They will be overrun by weeds, ⁵² 

filled with salt pits, ⁵³ 

and permanently desolate.

Those of my people who are left ⁵⁴  will plunder their belongings; ⁵⁵ 

those who are left in Judah ⁵⁶  will take possession of their land.”

Zephaniah 2:14-15

2:14 Flocks and herds ⁵⁷  will lie down in the middle of it,

as well as every kind of wild animal. ⁵⁸ 

Owls ⁵⁹  will sleep in the tops of its support pillars;

they will hoot through the windows. ⁶⁰ 

Rubble will cover the thresholds; ⁶¹ 

even the cedar work ⁶²  will be exposed to the elements. ⁶³ 

2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up ⁶⁴  –

the city that was so secure. ⁶⁵ 

She thought to herself, ⁶⁶  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ⁶⁷ 

What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live!

Everyone who passes by her taunts her ⁶⁸  and shakes his fist. ⁶⁹ 

[2:13]  ¹ tn Heb “He”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:13]  ² tn Heb “he will stretch out his hand against the north.”

[2:13]  ³ tn Or “dry.”

[3:13]  ⁴ tn Or “the remnant of Israel.”

[3:13]  ⁵ tn The words “peacefully like sheep” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:20]  ⁷ tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.

[3:20]  ⁸ tn Or “for.”

[3:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will make you into a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.” Here the word “name” carries the nuance of “good reputation.”

[3:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ¹¹ tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ¹² tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ¹⁴ tn It is not certain where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s words begin. It is possible that Zephaniah begins speaking in the middle of v. 17 or at the beginning of v. 18 (note the third person pronouns referring to the Lord).

[1:2]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text combines the infinitive absolute of אָסַף (’asaf, “gather up, sweep away”) with a Hiphil prefixed first person form of סוּף (suf, “come to an end”; see Jer 8:13 for the same combination). This can be translated literally, “Sweeping away, I will bring to an end.” Some prefer to emend the text so that the infinitive and finite form of the verb are from the same root (“I will certainly sweep away,” if from אָסַף [cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV]; “I will certainly bring to an end,” if from סוּף). For a discussion of proposals see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 167, 169.

[2:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will be awesome over [or, “against”] them.”

[2:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “certainly.”

[2:11]  ¹⁸ tn The meaning of this rare Hebrew word is unclear. If the meaning is indeed “weaken,” then this line may be referring to the reduction of these gods’ territory through conquest (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 110-11). Cf. NEB “reduce to beggary”; NASB “starve”; NIV “when he destroys”; NRSV “shrivel.”

[2:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and all the coastlands of the nations will worship [or, “bow down”] to him, each from his own place.”

[3:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “said.”

[3:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “fear.” The second person verb form (“you will respect”) is feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed.

[3:7]  ²¹ tn Or “dwelling place.”

[3:7]  ²² tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:7]  ²³ tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.

[3:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “But they got up early, they made corrupt all their actions.” The phrase “they got up early” probably refers to their eagerness to engage in sinful activities.

[3:17]  ²² tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ²³ tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”

[3:19]  ²⁵ tn The word “sheep” is supplied for clarification. As in Mic 4:6-7, the exiles are here pictured as injured and scattered sheep whom the divine shepherd rescues from danger.

[3:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I will make them into praise and a name, in all the earth, their shame.” The present translation assumes that “their shame” specifies “them” and that “name” stands here for a good reputation.

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew text combines a Hitpolel imperative of קָשַׁשׁ (qashash) with a Qal imperative of the same root. Elsewhere this root appears in the polel stem with the meaning “gather stubble.” Zephaniah’s command is ironic, implying the people are like stubble or straw. As such, they are vulnerable to the Lord’s fiery judgment that will quickly consume them (see 1:18). See Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 96.

[2:1]  ²⁹ tn Some relate this word to an Aramaic cognate meaning “to be ashamed.” With the negative particle it would then mean “unashamed” (cf. NIV “shameful”; NRSV “shameless”). However, elsewhere in biblical Hebrew the verb means “to desire,” or with the negative particle “undesirable.” Cf. also NEB “unruly.”

[2:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ³² tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ³³ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”

[3:14]  ³⁴ sn This phrase is used as an epithet for the city and the nation. “Daughter” may seem extraneous in English but consciously joins the various epithets and metaphors of Israel and Jerusalem as a woman, a device used to evoke sympathy from the reader.

[1:9]  ³⁷ sn The point of the statement all who hop over the threshold is unclear. A ritual or superstition associated with the Philistine god Dagon may be in view (see 1 Sam 5:5).

[1:9]  ³⁸ tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.

[1:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.

[3:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Certainly [or perhaps, “For”] then I will restore to the nations a pure lip.”

[3:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the Lord.”

[3:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “so that [they] will serve him [with] one shoulder.”

[1:17]  ⁴³ tn “The people” refers to mankind in general (see vv. 2-3) or more specifically to the residents of Judah (see vv. 4-13).

[1:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “walk.”

[1:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).

[1:17]  ⁴⁶ tn The words “will be scattered” are supplied in the translation for clarity based on the parallelism with “will be poured out” in the previous line.

[1:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “And the stumbling blocks [or, “ruins”] with the evil”; or “the things that make the evil stumble.” The line does not appear in the original form of the LXX; it may be a later scribal addition. The present translation assumes the “stumbling blocks” are idolatrous images of animals, birds, and fish. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 167, and Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB), 73-74.

[1:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “cut off.”

[2:9]  ⁴⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads מִמְשַׁק חָרוּל (mimshaq kharul, “[?] of weeds”). The meaning of the first word is unknown. The present translation (“They will be overrun by weeds”) is speculative, based on the general sense of the context. For a defense of “overrun” on linguistic grounds, see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 347. Cf. NEB “a pile of weeds”; NIV “a place of weeds”; NRSV “a land possessed by nettles.”

[2:9]  ⁵⁰ tn The Hebrew text reads וּמִכְרֵה־מֶלַח (umikhreh-melakh, “and a [?] of salt”). The meaning of the first word is unclear, though “pit” (NASB, NIV, NRSV; NKJV “saltpit”), “mine,” and “heap” (cf. NEB “a rotting heap of saltwort”) are all options. The words “filled with” are supplied for clarification.

[2:9]  ⁵¹ tn Or “The remnant of my people.”

[2:9]  ⁵² tn Heb “them.” The actual object of the plundering, “their belongings,” has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:9]  ⁵³ tn Heb “[the] nation.” For clarity the “nation” has been specified as “Judah” in the translation.

[2:14]  ⁵² tn Heb “flocks.” The Hebrew word can refer to both flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.

[2:14]  ⁵³ tn Heb “[and] all the wild animals of a nation.” How גוֹי (goy, “nation”) relates to what precedes is unclear. It may be a corruption of another word. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 193.

[2:14]  ⁵⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads here גַּם־קָאַת גַּם־קִפֹּד (gam-qa’at gam-qippod). The term קָאַת refers to some type of bird (see Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (Isa 34:11); one of the most common translations is “owl” (cf. NEB “horned owl”; NIV, NRSV “desert owl”; contra NASB “pelican”). The term קִפֹּד may also refer to a type of bird (cf. NEB “ruffed bustard”; NIV, NRSV “screech owl”). Some suggest a rodent may be in view (cf. NASB “hedgehog”); this is not unreasonable, for a rodent or some other small animal would be able to sleep in the tops of pillars which would be lying in the ruins of the fallen buildings.

[2:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “a sound will sing in the window.” If some type of owl is in view, “hoot” is a more appropriate translation (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[2:14]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “rubble [will be] on the threshold.” “Rubble” translates the Hebrew word חֹרֶב (khorev, “desolation”). Some emend to עֹרֵב (’orev, “raven”) following the LXX and Vulgate; Adele Berlin translates, “A voice shall shriek from the window – a raven at the sill” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 104).

[2:14]  ⁵⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “cedar work” (so NASB, NRSV) is unclear; NIV has “the beams of cedar.”

[2:14]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “one will expose.” The subject is probably indefinite, though one could translate, “for he [i.e., God] will lay bare.”

[2:15]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “this is the proud city.”

[2:15]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”

[2:15]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[2:15]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”

[2:15]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”

[2:15]  ⁶⁰ sn Hissing (or whistling) and shaking the fist were apparently ways of taunting a defeated foe or an object of derision in the culture of the time.