Zephaniah 3:8-15

3:8 Therefore you must wait patiently ¹  for me,” says the Lord,

“for the day when I attack and take plunder. ² 

I have decided ³  to gather nations together

and assemble kingdoms,

so I can pour out my fury on them –

all my raging anger.

For ⁴  the whole earth will be consumed

by my fiery anger.

3:9 Know for sure that I will then enable

the nations to give me acceptable praise. ⁵ 

All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, ⁶ 

and will worship him in unison. ⁷ 

3:10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, ⁸ 

those who pray to me ⁹  will bring me tribute.

3:11 In that day you ¹⁰  will not be ashamed of all your rebelliousness against me, ¹¹ 

for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast, ¹² 

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

3:12 I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people, ¹³ 

and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence. ¹⁴ 

3:13 The Israelites who remain ¹⁵  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 ¹⁶  and lie down;

no one will terrify them.”

3:14 Shout for joy, Daughter Zion! ¹⁷ 

Shout out, Israel!

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

3:15 The Lord has removed the judgment against you; ¹⁸ 

he has turned back your enemy.

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

You no longer need to fear disaster.

[3:8]  ¹ tn The second person verb form (“you must wait patiently”) is masculine plural, indicating that a group is being addressed. Perhaps the humble individuals addressed earlier (see 2:3) are in view. Because of Jerusalem’s sin, they must patiently wait for judgment to pass before their vindication arrives.

[3:8]  ² tn Heb “when I arise for plunder.” The present translation takes עַד (’ad) as “plunder.” Some, following the LXX, repoint the term עֵד (’ed) and translate, “as a witness” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the Lord uses a legal metaphor to picture himself as testifying against his enemies. Adele Berlin takes לְעַד (lÿ’ad) in a temporal sense (“forever”) and translates “once and for all” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 133).

[3:8]  ³ tn Heb “for my decision is.”

[3:8]  ⁴ tn Or “certainly.”

[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.”

[3:10]  ⁸ tn Or “Nubia”; Heb “Cush.” “Cush” is traditionally assumed to refer to the region south of Egypt, i.e. Nubia or northern Sudan, referred to as “Ethiopia” by classical authors (not the more recent Abyssinia).

[3:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “those who pray to me, the daughter of my dispersed ones.” The meaning of the phrase is unclear. Perhaps the text is corrupt at this point or a proper name should be understood. For a discussion of various options see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 134-35.

[3:11]  ¹⁰ sn The second person verbs and pronouns are feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed here.

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

[3:11]  ¹² tn Heb “the arrogant ones of your pride.”

[3:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “needy and poor people.” The terms often refer to a socioeconomic group, but here they may refer to those who are humble in a spiritual sense.

[3:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.”

[3:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the remnant of Israel.”

[3:13]  ¹⁶ tn The words “peacefully like sheep” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:14]  ¹⁷ 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.

[3:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your judgments,” that is, “the judgments directed against you.” The translation reflects the implications of the parallelism.