Zephaniah 3:16

3:16 On that day they will say ¹  to Jerusalem,

“Don’t be afraid, Zion!

Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! ² 

Zephaniah 3:2

3:2 She is disobedient; ³ 

she refuses correction. ⁴ 

She does not trust the Lord;

she does not seek the advice of ⁵  her God.

Zephaniah 3:9

3:9 Know for sure that I will then enable

the nations to give me acceptable praise. ⁶ 

All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, ⁷ 

and will worship him in unison. ⁸ 

Zephaniah 1:1

Introduction

1:1 This is the prophetic message that the Lord gave to ⁹  Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. Zephaniah delivered this message during the reign of ¹⁰  King Josiah son of Amon of Judah:

[3:16]  ¹ tn Heb “it will be said.” The passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.

[3:16]  ² tn Heb “your hands must not go limp.”

[3:2]  ³ tn Heb “she does not hear a voice” Refusing to listen is equated with disobedience.

[3:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “she does not receive correction.” The Hebrew phrase, when negated, refers elsewhere to rejecting verbal advice (Jer 17:23; 32:33; 35:13) and refusing to learn from experience (Jer 2:30; 5:3).

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “draw near to.” The present translation assumes that the expression “draw near to” refers to seeking God’s will (see 1 Sam 14:36).

[3:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “Certainly [or perhaps, “For”] then I will restore to the nations a pure lip.”

[3:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the Lord.”

[3:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “so that [they] will serve him [with] one shoulder.”

[1:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “The word of the Lord which came to.”

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the days of.” The words “Zephaniah delivered this message” are supplied in the translation for clarification.