Zephaniah 3:1-7
New American Standard Bible
Woe to Jerusalem and the Nations
3 Woe to her who is (A)rebellious and (B)defiled,
The (C)oppressive city!
2 She (D)obeyed no voice,
She (E)accepted no discipline.
She did not (F)trust in the Lord,
She did not (G)approach her God.
3 Her (H)leaders within her are roaring lions,
Her judges are (I)wolves at evening;
They have no bones to gnaw in the morning.
4 Her prophets are (J)insolent, treacherous men;
Her (K)priests have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the Law.
5 The Lord is (L)righteous (M)within her;
He will (N)do no injustice.
(O)Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He [a]does not fail.
But the [b]criminal (P)knows no shame.
6 “I have eliminated nations;
Their corner towers are deserted.
I have (Q)laid waste their streets,
With no one passing by;
Their (R)cities have been laid waste,
Without a person, (S)without an inhabitant.
7 I said, ‘You will certainly revere Me,
You will (T)accept discipline.’
So her dwelling will (U)not be eliminated
In accordance with everything that I have stipulated for her.
Instead, they were eager to (V)corrupt all their deeds.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 3:5 Lit is not missing
- Zephaniah 3:5 Or sinner
Zephaniah 3:1-7
International Standard Version
The Lord’s Rebuke to Jerusalem
3 Woe to this filthy, polluted, and oppressive city!
2 It won’t obey anyone.[a]
It won’t accept discipline.
It does not trust in the Lord.
It does not approach God.
3 Its national officials[b] are roaring lions;
its judges are like wolves of the night
that don’t leave the bones for the morning.
4 Its prophets are arrogant and treacherous.
Its priests have contaminated the sanctuary.
They give perverse interpretations of the Law.[c]
5 The righteous Lord who lives[d] within her will do no wrong;
he will bring justice to light morning by morning.
He never fails,
but the unjust are shameless.
The Integrity of God’s Justice
6 “I have destroyed[e] nations—
their fortifications are deserted.
I have turned their main thoroughfares into wastelands
where no one will travel.
Their cities are desolate;
as a result, not one man remains—
no, not even a single resident.
7 I have said, ‘If only you would fear me,
if only you would take my instructions to heart.’
Then their houses would not have been torn down.
I have chastened them,
but they were eager to corrupt everything they were doing.”
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 3:2 Lit. obey the voice
- Zephaniah 3:3 Lit. Her princes
- Zephaniah 3:4 Lit. They do violence to the Law
- Zephaniah 3:5 The Heb. lacks within her
- Zephaniah 3:6 Lit. have cut off
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