Zephaniah 3:19

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

I will rescue the lame sheep ¹ 

and gather together the scattered sheep.

I will take away their humiliation

and make the whole earth admire and respect them. ² 

Zephaniah 1:17

1:17 I will bring distress on the people ³ 

and they will stumble ⁴  like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh ⁵  will be scattered ⁶  like manure.

Zephaniah 3:6

The Lord’s Judgment will Purify

3:6 “I destroyed ⁷  nations;

their walled cities ⁸  are in ruins.

I turned their streets into ruins;

no one passes through them.

Their cities are desolate; ⁹ 

no one lives there. ¹⁰ 

[3:19]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[1:17]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “walk.”

[1:17]  ⁵ tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).

[1:17]  ⁶ 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.

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “cut off.”

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

[3:6]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “so that there is no man, without inhabitant.”