Zephaniah 3:7

3:7 I thought, ¹  ‘Certainly you will respect ²  me!

Now you will accept correction!’

If she had done so, her home ³  would not be destroyed ⁴ 

by all the punishments I have threatened. ⁵ 

But they eagerly sinned

in everything they did. ⁶ 

Zephaniah 3:19

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

I will rescue the lame sheep ⁷ 

and gather together the scattered sheep.

I will take away their humiliation

and make the whole earth admire and respect them. ⁸ 

Zephaniah 1:11

1:11 Wail, you who live in the market district, ⁹ 

for all the merchants ¹⁰  will disappear ¹¹ 

and those who count money ¹²  will be removed. ¹³ 

Zephaniah 3:18

3:18 “As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals –

I took them away from you;

they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. ¹⁴ 

Zephaniah 3:15

3:15 The Lord has removed the judgment against you; ¹⁵ 

he has turned back your enemy.

Israel’s king, the Lord, is in your midst!

You no longer need to fear disaster.

Zephaniah 3:11

3:11 In that day you ¹⁶  will not be ashamed of all your rebelliousness against me, ¹⁷ 

for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast, ¹⁸ 

and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.

[3:7]  ¹ tn Heb “said.”

[3:7]  ² tn Or “fear.” The second person verb form (“you will respect”) is feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed.

[3:7]  ³ tn Or “dwelling place.”

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.

[3:7]  ⁶ 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.

[3:19]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.

[1:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “in the Mortar.” The Hebrew term מַכְתֵּשׁ (makhtesh, “mortar”) is apparently here the name of a low-lying area where economic activity took place.

[1:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps “Canaanites.” Cf. BDB 489 s.v. I and II כְּנַעֲנִי. Translators have rendered the term either as “the merchant people” (KJV, NKJV), “the traders” (NRSV), “merchants” (NEB, NIV), or, alternatively, “the people of Canaan” (NASB).

[1:11]  ¹⁵ tn Or “be destroyed.”

[1:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “weigh out silver.”

[1:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “be cut off.” In the Hebrew text of v. 11b the perfect verbal forms emphasize the certainty of the judgment, speaking of it as if it were already accomplished.

[3:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “The ones grieving from an assembly I gathered from you they were, tribute upon her, a reproach.” Any translation of this difficult verse must be provisional at best. The present translation assumes three things: (1) The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to “assembly” is causal (the individuals are sorrowing because of the assemblies or festivals they are no longer able to hold). (2) מַשְׂאֵת (mas’et) means “tribute” and refers to the exiled people being treated as the spoils of warfare (see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah [WEC], 385-86). (3) The third feminine singular suffix refers to personified Jerusalem, which is addressed earlier in the verse (the pronominal suffix in “from you” is second feminine singular). For other interpretive options see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 146.

[3:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your judgments,” that is, “the judgments directed against you.” The translation reflects the implications of the parallelism.

[3:11]  ³¹ sn The second person verbs and pronouns are feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed here.

[3:11]  ³² tn Heb “In that day you not be ashamed because of all your actions, [in] which you rebelled against me.”

[3:11]  ³³ tn Heb “the arrogant ones of your pride.”