Zefanya 1:17

1:17 I will bring distress on the people ¹ 

and they will stumble ²  like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh ³  will be scattered ⁴  like manure.

Zefanya 2:7

2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah ⁵  will take possession of it. ⁶ 

By the sea ⁷  they ⁸  will graze,

in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening,

for the Lord their God will intervene for them ⁹  and restore their prosperity. ¹⁰ 

Zefanya 2:15

2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up ¹¹  –

the city that was so secure. ¹² 

She thought to herself, ¹³  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ¹⁴ 

What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live!

Everyone who passes by her taunts her ¹⁵  and shakes his fist. ¹⁶ 

Zefanya 3:13

3:13 The Israelites who remain ¹⁷  will not act deceitfully.

They will not lie,

and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth.

Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep ¹⁸  and lie down;

no one will terrify them.”

[1:17]  ¹ tn “The people” refers to mankind in general (see vv. 2-3) or more specifically to the residents of Judah (see vv. 4-13).

[1:17]  ² tn Heb “walk.”

[1:17]  ³ tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).

[1:17]  ⁴ tn The words “will be scattered” are supplied in the translation for clarity based on the parallelism with “will be poured out” in the previous line.

[2:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ⁶ tn Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ⁷ tc Heb “on them,” but the antecedent of the masculine pronoun is unclear. It may refer back to the “pasture lands,” though that noun is feminine. It is preferable to emend the text from עֲלֵיהֶם (’alehem) to עַל־הַיָּם (’al-hayyam, “by the sea”) an emendation that assumes a misdivision and transposition of letters in the MT (cf. NEB “They shall pasture their flocks by the sea”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 192.

[2:7]  ⁸ tn The referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) is unclear. It may refer (1) to the shepherds (in which case the first verb should be translated, “pasture their sheep,” cf. NEB), or (2) to the Judahites occupying the area, who are being compared to sheep (cf. NIV, “there they will find pasture”).

[2:7]  ⁹ tn Or “will care for them.”

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally, “restore their captivity,” i.e., bring back their captives, but it is more likely the expression means “restore their fortunes” in a more general sense (cf. NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[2:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “this is the proud city.”

[2:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”

[2:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[2:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”

[2:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”

[2:15]  ¹⁶ sn Hissing (or whistling) and shaking the fist were apparently ways of taunting a defeated foe or an object of derision in the culture of the time.

[3:13]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the remnant of Israel.”

[3:13]  ¹⁸ tn The words “peacefully like sheep” are supplied in the translation for clarification.