Zephaniah 3
3
Judgment of Jerusalem and the Nations
1Woe to you, O rebellious and defiled one!
The oppressing city!
2She listens to no voice;
she does not accept correction.
In Yahweh she does not trust;
to her God she does not draw near.
3Her officials in her midst are roaring lions;
her judges are evening wolves;
they leave nothing until the morning.
4Her prophets are arrogant men of treachery;
her priests have defiled that which is holy;
they do violence to the law.
5Yahweh is righteous in her midst;
he does not do wickedness.
Morning by morning#Literally “In the morning, in the morning” he renders his judgment;
at dawn he does not fail,
but an evil one knows no shame.
6“I have cut off nations;
their strongholds are deserted.
I have laid waste their streets,
so that none pass through.
Their cities have been destroyed
and are without a man, without an inhabitant.
7I have said, ‘Surely she will fear me;
she will accept discipline.
Then her dwelling place will not be cut down,
nor all that I have brought upon her.’
Surely they rise early;
they make all their deeds corrupt.
8“Therefore, wait for me”—a declaration of Yahweh—
“for the day of my rising as a witness.
For my decision is to gather nations,
to assemble#The traditional Hebrew has “assemble me”; this translation follows LXX kingdoms,
to pour out my wrath upon them, all my burning anger.
For by the fire of my anger all the land shall be consumed.
9Because then I will make the speech of the nations pure;#Literally “I will turn to the nations a purged lip”
that all of them might call on the name of Yahweh,
to serve him in unison.#Literally “with one shoulder”
10From beyond the rivers of Cush
my worshipers and the daughter of my scattered ones
shall bring my offering.
11On that day you shall not be humiliated
on account of all your deeds
by which you have rebelled against me.
For then I shall remove from your midst
those exulting in your pride,
and you shall no longer be haughty
in my holy mountain.#Literally “the mountain of my holiness”
12And I will leave in your midst
a people afflicted and poor,
and they shall take refuge
in the name of Yahweh.
13The remnant of Israel
shall not do wickedness;
they shall not speak deception,
nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth.
For they shall graze and lie down,
and none shall frighten them.”
14Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!
Cry aloud, O Israel!
Rejoice and be jubilant with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15Yahweh has annulled your judgments;
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, Yahweh, is in your midst;
you shall no longer fear misfortune.
16On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem,
“Fear not, O Zion;
your hands shall not hang limp.
17Yahweh your God is in your midst;
a mighty warrior who saves.
He shall rejoice over you with joy;
he renews#The translation follows the LXX text; the traditional Hebrew text reads “he will silence you in his love” you in his love;
he will exult over you with singing.
18I will gather those of you grieving on account of the feast;
they were raising against her a reproach.
19Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors;
I will save the lame and gather the outcast.
I will change#Or “make” them from shame
to glory and renown#Literally “a name” throughout the whole world.
20At that time I will bring you in;
at the time of my gathering you together.
For I will make you renowned#Literally “a name” and praised
among all the nations of the earth
when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,”
says Yahweh.
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Zephaniah 3: LEB
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Zephaniah 3
3
Jerusalem Will Be Punished
1How terrible it will be for Jerusalem that hurts its own people.
It’s a wicked, stubborn city.
2Her people don’t listen.
They can’t be taught to do right.
They don’t trust the Lord.
They don’t worship their God.
3Their officers are like roaring lions.
Their rulers are like hungry wolves that attack in the evening.
In the morning nothing is left of those they attacked.
4Their prophets are proud.
They cannot be trusted.
Their priests don’t respect holy things.
They break God’s teachings.
5But the Lord is good, and he is there in that city.
He does no wrong.
Every morning he governs the people fairly.
Every day he can be trusted by his people.
But evil people are not ashamed of the bad things they do.
6“I have destroyed other nations.
Their towers have fallen.
I made their streets empty.
No one goes there anymore.
Their cities are ruined.
No one lives there anymore.
7I said, ‘Maybe now Jerusalem will respect me.
Maybe now my people will let me teach them to do right.’
Then the place where they lived would not be destroyed.
Then I would not have punished them.
They got up early in order to do evil.
Everything they did was bad.
8Just wait,” says the Lord.
“Some day I will hold court and be the judge.
I will gather nations.
I will assemble kingdoms.
I will pour out my anger on them.
My anger will be very strong.
My anger will be like fire.
And the whole world will be burned up.
A New Day for God’s People
9“Then I will make the people of all nations speak a pure language.
All of them will speak the name of the Lord.
And they will worship me together.
10People will come from where the Nile River begins.
My scattered people will come with gifts for me.
11Then Jerusalem will not be ashamed
of the wrongs done against me.
I will remove from this city
those who like to brag.
There will never be any more proud people
on my holy mountain in Jerusalem.
12Only the meek and humble will
stay in my city.
And they will trust in the Lord.
13Those who are left alive of Israel won’t do wrong.
They won’t tell lies.
They won’t trick people with their words.
They will be like sheep that eat and lie down.
No one will bother them.”
A Happy Song
14Sing, Jerusalem.
Israel, shout for joy!
Jerusalem, be happy.
Rejoice with all your heart.
15The Lord has stopped punishing you.
He has sent your enemies away.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is with you.
You will never again be afraid of being harmed.
16On that day Jerusalem will be told,
“Don’t be afraid, city of Jerusalem.
Don’t be so discouraged that you can’t do anything.
17The Lord your God is with you.
The mighty One will save you.
The Lord will be happy with you.
You will rest in his love.
He will sing and be joyful about you.”
18“I will take away the sadness planned for you.
It would have made you very ashamed.
19At that time I will punish
all those who harmed you.
I will save my people who are hurt.
I will gather my people who are scattered.
I will give them praise and honor
in every place where they were disgraced.
20At that time I will gather you.
At that time I will bring you back home.
I will give you honor and praise
from people everywhere.
That will happen when I give you back your riches.
You will see this with your own eyes,” says the Lord.
Zephaniah 1
Zephaniah 2
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.