Zephaniah 3:4

3:4 Her prophets are proud; ¹ 

they are deceitful men.

Her priests defile what is holy; ² 

they break God’s laws. ³ 

Zephaniah 3:2

3:2 She is disobedient; ⁴ 

she refuses correction. ⁵ 

She does not trust the Lord;

she does not seek the advice of ⁶  her God.

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ⁷  in him.

[3:4]  ¹ sn Applied to prophets, the word פֹּחֲזִים (pokhazim, “proud”) probably refers to their audacity in passing off their own words as genuine prophecies from the Lord (see Jer 23:32).

[3:4]  ² tn Or “defile the temple.”

[3:4]  ³ tn Heb “they treat violently [the] law.”

[3:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “she does not hear a voice” Refusing to listen is equated with disobedience.

[3:2]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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).

[1:17]  ⁷ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.