Zephaniah 3
New King James Version
The Wickedness of Jerusalem
3 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
2 She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the Lord,
She has not drawn near to her God.
3 (A)Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are (B)evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
4 Her (C)prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have [a]polluted the sanctuary,
They have done (D)violence to the law.
5 The Lord is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
[b]Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails,
But (E)the unjust knows no shame.
6 “I have cut off nations,
Their fortresses are devastated;
I have made their streets desolate,
With none passing by.
Their cities are destroyed;
There is no one, no inhabitant.
7 (F)I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,
You will receive instruction’—
So that her dwelling would not be cut off,
Despite everything for which I punished her.
But [c]they rose early and (G)corrupted all their deeds.
A Faithful Remnant(H)
8 “Therefore (I)wait for Me,” says the Lord,
“Until the day I rise up [d]for plunder;
My determination is to (J)gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth (K)shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.
9 “For then I will restore to the peoples (L)a pure [e]language,
That they all may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him with one accord.
10 (M)From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers,
The daughter of My dispersed ones,
Shall bring My offering.
11 In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds
In which you transgress against Me;
For then I will take away from your midst
Those who (N)rejoice in your pride,
And you shall no longer be haughty
In My holy mountain.
12 I will leave in your midst
(O)A meek and humble people,
And they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
13 (P)The remnant of Israel (Q)shall do no unrighteousness
(R)And speak no lies,
Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;
For (S)they shall feed their flocks and lie down,
And no one shall make them afraid.”
Joy in God’s Faithfulness
14 (T)Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.
(U)The King of Israel, the Lord, (V)is in your midst;
You shall [f]see disaster no more.
16 In that day (W)it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, (X)let not your hands be weak.
17 The Lord your God (Y)in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
(Z)He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
18 “I will gather those who (AA)sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden.
19 Behold, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you;
I will save the (AB)lame,
And gather those who were driven out;
I will appoint them for praise and fame
In every land where they were put to shame.
20 At that time (AC)I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you [g]fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 3:4 Or profaned
- Zephaniah 3:5 Lit. Morning by morning
- Zephaniah 3:7 They were eager
- Zephaniah 3:8 LXX, Syr. for witness; Tg. for the day of My revelation for judgment; Vg. for the day of My resurrection that is to come
- Zephaniah 3:9 Lit. lip
- Zephaniah 3:15 So with Heb. mss., LXX, Bg.; MT, Vg. fear
- Zephaniah 3:20 Lit. a name
Zephaniah 3
Tree of Life Version
Downfall of Disobedient Jerusalem
3 Oy to the oppressive city—
filthy and defiled!
2 She did not obey;
she took no correction.
She did not trust in Adonai.
She did not draw near to her God.
3 Her princes within her are roaring lions.
Her judges are wolves of the night,
leaving nothing but bones for morning.
4 Her prophets are reckless,
treacherous men.
Her kohanim have profaned what is holy.
They do violence to Torah.
5 Adonai is righteous in her midst.
He will do no injustice.
Morning by morning He brings His justice to light.
He does not fail.
Yet the unjust knows no shame.
6 I have cut off nations.
Their towers have become desolate.
I have destroyed their streets.
with no one passing by.
Their cities are laid waste,
with no one—none living there.
7 I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,
you will accept correction,
so her dwelling place would not be cut off—
all that I appointed against her.’
But they arose early
and made all their deeds corrupt.
8 Therefore, wait for me, declares Adonai,
for the day when I rise up for plunder:
for My decision is to assemble nations,
to gather kingdoms,[a]
to pour out My fury upon them—
all My burning anger.
For in the fire of My wrath
all the earth will be consumed.
The Future Restoration of Israel’s Remnant
9 For then I will restore to the people pure speech,
so that all of them
may call upon the Name of Adonai
and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,
My worshipers, the daughter of My scattered ones
will bring My offering.
11 On that day you will not be ashamed
because of all your deeds by which you rebelled against Me.
For then I will remove from your midst
your proud, arrogant ones,
and you will never again be haughty
on My holy mountain.
12 But I will leave among you
a people meek and humble.
They will take refuge in the Name of Adonai.
13 The remnant of Israel will do no injustice
nor will they tell lies,
nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths.[b]
For they will graze and lie down
and no one will make them afraid.
14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult wholeheartedly,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 Adonai has taken away your punishments.
He has turned back your adversary.
The King of Israel, Adonai, is in your midst.
Never again will you fear harm.
16 On that day, it will be said to Jerusalem,
‘Have no fear, O Zion,
do not let your hands fall limp.
17 Adonai your God is in your midst—
a mighty Savior!
He will delight over you with joy.
He will quiet you with His love.
He will dance for joy over you with singing[c].’
18 “I will gather those among you
who grieve over your moadim—
it is a burden of shame on you.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal
with all who oppress you.
I will save the lame and gather the outcast.
I will make them a praise and a name
throughout all the land where they suffered shame.
20 At that time I will bring you in.
At that time I will gather you.
For I will give you renown and glory
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your captives
before your eyes,”
declares Adonai.
Footnotes
- Zephaniah 3:8 cf. Rev. 16:1.
- Zephaniah 3:13 cf. John 1:47; Rev. 14:5.
- Zephaniah 3:17 Or, joyful shout.
Zephaniah 3
New Living Translation
Jerusalem’s Rebellion and Redemption
3 What sorrow awaits rebellious, polluted Jerusalem,
the city of violence and crime!
2 No one can tell it anything;
it refuses all correction.
It does not trust in the Lord
or draw near to its God.
3 Its leaders are like roaring lions
hunting for their victims.
Its judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time,
who by dawn have left no trace of their prey.
4 Its prophets are arrogant liars seeking their own gain.
Its priests defile the Temple by disobeying God’s instructions.
5 But the Lord is still there in the city,
and he does no wrong.
Day by day he hands down justice,
and he does not fail.
But the wicked know no shame.
6 “I have wiped out many nations,
devastating their fortress walls and towers.
Their streets are now deserted;
their cities lie in silent ruin.
There are no survivors—
none at all.
7 I thought, ‘Surely they will have reverence for me now!
Surely they will listen to my warnings.
Then I won’t need to strike again,
destroying their homes.’
But no, they get up early
to continue their evil deeds.
8 Therefore, be patient,” says the Lord.
“Soon I will stand and accuse these evil nations.
For I have decided to gather the kingdoms of the earth
and pour out my fiercest anger and fury on them.
All the earth will be devoured
by the fire of my jealousy.
9 “Then I will purify the speech of all people,
so that everyone can worship the Lord together.
10 My scattered people who live beyond the rivers of Ethiopia[a]
will come to present their offerings.
11 On that day you will no longer need to be ashamed,
for you will no longer be rebels against me.
I will remove all proud and arrogant people from among you.
There will be no more haughtiness on my holy mountain.
12 Those who are left will be the lowly and humble,
for it is they who trust in the name of the Lord.
13 The remnant of Israel will do no wrong;
they will never tell lies or deceive one another.
They will eat and sleep in safety,
and no one will make them afraid.”
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion;
shout aloud, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 For the Lord will remove his hand of judgment
and will disperse the armies of your enemy.
And the Lord himself, the King of Israel,
will live among you!
At last your troubles will be over,
and you will never again fear disaster.
16 On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be,
“Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid!
17 For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.[b]
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
18 “I will gather you who mourn for the appointed festivals;
you will be disgraced no more.[c]
19 And I will deal severely with all who have oppressed you.
I will save the weak and helpless ones;
I will bring together
those who were chased away.
I will give glory and fame to my former exiles,
wherever they have been mocked and shamed.
20 On that day I will gather you together
and bring you home again.
I will give you a good name, a name of distinction,
among all the nations of the earth,
as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
