Having announced that divine judgment would come on the nations around Judah (2:4-15), the prophet returned to the subject of Yahweh's judgment on the Chosen People (cf. 1:4-2:3), but this time he focused more particularly on Jerusalem. Though he did not mention Jerusalem by name, it is clearly in view.
3:1 Zephaniah pronounced another "woe"(cf. 2:5) this time on Jerusalem, which he described as rebellious, defiled, and tyrannical. Rebels are those who refuse to submit to God's will. The defiled are those polluted by sinful practices. Tyrants disregard the rights of others, particularly those whom they can take advantage of.
3:2 There were four evidences that the people of Jerusalem had been rebellious against Yahweh (v. 1). They had been unresponsive to the prophets whom God had sent them. They were unteachable and refused to accept any correction. They did not trust in Yahweh, and they did not draw near to God in repentance and prayer (cf. 1:6).
3:3 Evidence that they were oppressing the weak (v. 1) was the greedy behavior of Jerusalem's civil rulers and judges. Like vicious lions and wolves they gobbled up all the possessions of vulnerable people that they could as fast as they could (cf. 1:8; Ezek. 3:9-10; Mic. 1:1-3, 9-10).
3:4 Jerusalem's religious leaders, the (false) prophets and priests, provided examples of the city's defiled condition (v. 1). The prophets were reckless in the way they announced their own advice as divine revelation and treacherous in deceiving the people into thinking that their words were authoritative. The priests did not observe the laws of holiness that God had prescribed for worship, and they twisted the meaning of the Mosaic Law to suit their purposes (cf. 1:4-5).
3:5 In contrast to these crooked leaders, Yahweh was straight, and He was still in Jerusalem. He would do no injustice, as the civil and religious leaders did. He performed justice every day as faithfully as the rising of the sun. Yet the unjust leaders of Jerusalem knew no shame for the wickedness that they consistently practiced.
3:6 The Lord reminded the Jerusalemites that He had already destroyed other nations. This probably refers to the nations around Judah that He had already allowed to fall to the Assyrians. He compared such a fallen nation to a city with strong corner towers that now lay in ruin because of the enemy's destruction. The streets of this representative "city"also lay deserted. The real cities of these already defeated nations were in ruins without any inhabitants. Samaria was one such city, and the numerous towns of the former Northern Kingdom were others.
3:7 The Lord expected the people of Jerusalem to learn from the fate of the Northern Kingdom and other fallen nations. They should respect Him, since He was behind the destruction, and obey His word. They should have done this so He would not similarly judge them, as He had threatened to do. But they were more eager to pursue sinful self-indulgence and to become thoroughly corrupt in their deeds.
