Zephaniah 3:18-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 as on a day of festival.”[a]
I will remove disaster from you,[b]
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19 I will deal with all your oppressors
at that time.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.(A)
20 At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes, says the Lord.(B)
Zephaniah 3:18-20
New English Translation
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.[a]
19 Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you.
I will rescue the lame sheep[b]
and gather together the scattered sheep.
I will take away their humiliation
and make the whole earth admire and respect them.[c]
20 At that time I will lead you—
at the time I gather you together.[d]
Be sure of this![e] I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you[f]
when you see me restore you,”[g] says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 3:18 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 (masʾet) 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.
- Zephaniah 3:19 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.
- Zephaniah 3:19 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.
- Zephaniah 3:20 tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.
- Zephaniah 3:20 tn Or “for.”
- Zephaniah 3:20 tn Heb “I will make you into a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.” Here the word “name” carries the nuance of “good reputation.”
- Zephaniah 3:20 tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.