Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,
    (A)the oppressing city!
She listens to no voice;
    (B)she accepts no correction.
(C)She does not trust in the Lord;
    she does not draw near to her God.

(D)Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;
her judges are (E)evening wolves
    that leave nothing till the morning.
(F)Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men;
(G)her priests (H)profane what is holy;
    they do violence to the law.
The Lord within her (I)is righteous;
    he does no injustice;
every morning he shows forth his justice;
    each dawn he does not fail;
    but (J)the unjust knows no shame.

(K)“I have cut off nations;
    their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
    (L)so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
    without a man, without an inhabitant.
(M)I said, ‘Surely you will fear me;
    (N)you will accept correction.
Then your[a] dwelling would not be cut off
    according to all that I have appointed against you.’[b]
But (O)all the more they were eager
    to make all their deeds corrupt.

“Therefore (P)wait for me,” declares the Lord,
    “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.
For my decision is (Q)to gather nations,
    to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
    all my burning anger;
for in the fire of my jealousy
    (R)all the earth shall be consumed.

The Conversion of the Nations

“For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples
    to (S)a pure speech,
that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord
    and serve him with one accord.
10 (T)From beyond the rivers (U)of Cush
    my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,
    shall bring my offering.

11 (V)“On that day (W)you shall not be put to shame
    because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then (X)I will remove from your midst
    your proudly exultant ones,
and (Y)you shall no longer be haughty
    in my holy mountain.
12 But I will leave in your midst
    a people (Z)humble and lowly.
(AA)They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,
13     (AB)those who are left in Israel;
they (AC)shall do no injustice
    and speak no lies,
(AD)nor shall there be found in their mouth
    a deceitful tongue.
(AE)For they shall graze and lie down,
    and none shall make them afraid.”

Israel's Joy and Restoration

14 (AF)Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
    shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
    O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
    he has cleared away your enemies.
(AG)The King of Israel, (AH)the Lord, is in your midst;
    you shall never again fear evil.
16 (AI)On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
    (AJ)let not your hands grow weak.
17 (AK)The Lord your God is in your midst,
    (AL)a mighty one who will save;
(AM)he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
18 I will gather those of you who mourn (AN)for the festival,
    so that you will no longer suffer reproach.[c]
19 Behold, at that time (AO)I will deal
    with all your oppressors.
And (AP)I will save the lame
    and gather the outcast,
and I will change (AQ)their shame into (AR)praise
    and renown in all the earth.
20 (AS)At that time I will bring you in,
    at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
    among all the peoples of the earth,
(AT)when I restore your fortunes
    before your eyes,” says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 3:7 Hebrew her
  2. Zephaniah 3:7 Hebrew her
  3. Zephaniah 3:18 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

Hoy (woe) to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city [i.e.,Jerusalem]!

She obeyed not the voice; she received not musar (correction); her bitachon (trust) was not in Hashem; she drew not near to her G-d.

Her sarim (princes) within her are roaring arayot; her shofetim are evening wolves; they leave nothing for the boker (morning).

Her nevi’im are arrogant, anshei bogedot (treacherous persons); her kohanim have profaned the kodesh, they have done violence to the torah [T.N. which they were ordained to faithfully observe and teach].

Hashem Tzaddik is in the midst thereof; He will do no injustice; boker by boker doth Hashem dispense mishpat; He faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no boshet (shame).

I have cut off the Goyim; their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no ish (man), that there is no inhabitant.

I said, Surely thou wilt fear Me, thou wilt accept musar (correction, instruction); so that her dwelling place should not be cut off, despite everything for which I punished her; but they rose early [i.e., eagerly], and corrupted all their doings.

Therefore wait ye upon Me, saith Hashem, until the Yom that I rise up for a witness; for My determination is to gather the Goyim, that I may assemble the mamlachot, to pour upon them Mine indignation, even all My charon af; for kol ha’aretz (all the earth) shall be devoured with the eish of My kina (jealousy).

For then will I restore to the people a safah berurah (pure language, purified lip), that they may all call upon the Shem Hashem, to serve Him with shekhem echad (one shoulder, one accord).

10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My suppliants, even the daughter of My dispersed, shall bring Mine minchah.

11 In that Yom shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against Me; for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy ga’avah (pride), and thou shalt no more be haughty because of My Har Hakodesh.

12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall take refuge in the Shem Hashem.

13 The she’erit Yisroel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a leshon tarmit (tongue of deceitfulness) be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

14 Sing, O Bat Tziyon; shout, O Yisroel; be glad and rejoice with all the lev, O Bat Yerushalayim.

15 Hashem hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy. The Melech Yisroel, even Hashem, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more.

16 In that Yom it shall be said to Yerushalayim, Fear thou not; and to Tziyon, Let not thine hands hang limp.

17 Hashem thy G-d in the midst of thee is gibbor; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with simchah; He will quiet [you] in His ahavah (love), He will joy over thee with singing.

18 They that mourn I will gather for the mo’ed (time of the feast), who are of thee [O Tziyon], to whom the cherpah (reproach of the Golus) presses upon them [see 2C 7:10].

19 Hinei, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee; and I will save her that is lame, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land of their boshet (shame).

20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you; for I will make you a shem and a tehillah among Kol Amei Ha’aretz (all the peoples of the earth), when I turn back your captivity and restore your fortunes before your eyes, saith Hashem.

Jerusalem

Woe to the city of oppressors,(A)
    rebellious(B) and defiled!(C)
She obeys(D) no one,
    she accepts no correction.(E)
She does not trust(F) in the Lord,
    she does not draw near(G) to her God.
Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;(H)
her rulers are evening wolves,(I)
    who leave nothing for the morning.(J)
Her prophets are unprincipled;
    they are treacherous people.(K)
Her priests profane the sanctuary
    and do violence to the law.(L)
The Lord within her is righteous;(M)
    he does no wrong.(N)
Morning by morning(O) he dispenses his justice,
    and every new day he does not fail,(P)
    yet the unrighteous know no shame.(Q)

Jerusalem Remains Unrepentant

“I have destroyed nations;
    their strongholds are demolished.
I have left their streets deserted,
    with no one passing through.
Their cities are laid waste;(R)
    they are deserted and empty.
Of Jerusalem I thought,
    ‘Surely you will fear me
    and accept correction!’(S)
Then her place of refuge[a] would not be destroyed,
    nor all my punishments come upon[b] her.
But they were still eager
    to act corruptly(T) in all they did.
Therefore wait(U) for me,”
    declares the Lord,
    “for the day I will stand up to testify.[c]
I have decided to assemble(V) the nations,(W)
    to gather the kingdoms
and to pour out my wrath(X) on them—
    all my fierce anger.(Y)
The whole world will be consumed(Z)
    by the fire of my jealous anger.

Restoration of Israel’s Remnant

“Then I will purify the lips of the peoples,
    that all of them may call(AA) on the name of the Lord(AB)
    and serve(AC) him shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush[d](AD)
    my worshipers, my scattered people,
    will bring me offerings.(AE)
11 On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame(AF)
    for all the wrongs you have done to me,(AG)
because I will remove from you
    your arrogant boasters.(AH)
Never again will you be haughty
    on my holy hill.(AI)
12 But I will leave within you
    the meek(AJ) and humble.
The remnant of Israel
    will trust(AK) in the name of the Lord.
13 They(AL) will do no wrong;(AM)
    they will tell no lies.(AN)
A deceitful tongue
    will not be found in their mouths.(AO)
They will eat and lie down(AP)
    and no one will make them afraid.(AQ)

14 Sing, Daughter Zion;(AR)
    shout aloud,(AS) Israel!
Be glad and rejoice(AT) with all your heart,
    Daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your punishment,
    he has turned back your enemy.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;(AU)
    never again will you fear(AV) any harm.(AW)
16 On that day
    they will say to Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, Zion;
    do not let your hands hang limp.(AX)
17 The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.(AY)
He will take great delight(AZ) in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,(BA)
    but will rejoice over you with singing.”(BB)

18 “I will remove from you
    all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals,
    which is a burden and reproach for you.
19 At that time I will deal
    with all who oppressed(BC) you.
I will rescue the lame;
    I will gather the exiles.(BD)
I will give them praise(BE) and honor
    in every land where they have suffered shame.
20 At that time I will gather you;
    at that time I will bring(BF) you home.
I will give you honor(BG) and praise(BH)
    among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes[e](BI)
    before your very eyes,”
says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Zephaniah 3:7 Or her sanctuary
  2. Zephaniah 3:7 Or all those I appointed over
  3. Zephaniah 3:8 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew will rise up to plunder
  4. Zephaniah 3:10 That is, the upper Nile region
  5. Zephaniah 3:20 Or I bring back your captives