Zefanya 1:3

1:3 “I will destroy people and animals;

I will destroy the birds in the sky

and the fish in the sea.

(The idolatrous images of these creatures will be destroyed along with evil people.) ¹ 

I will remove ²  humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

Zefanya 1:17-18

1:17 I will bring distress on the people ³ 

and they will stumble ⁴  like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh ⁵  will be scattered ⁶  like manure.

1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

The whole earth ⁷  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ⁸ 

Indeed, ⁹  he will bring terrifying destruction ¹⁰  on all who live on the earth.” ¹¹ 

Zefanya 3:5

3:5 The just Lord resides ¹²  within her;

he commits no unjust acts. ¹³ 

Every morning he reveals ¹⁴  his justice.

At dawn he appears without fail. ¹⁵ 

Yet the unjust know no shame.

Zefanya 3:8

3:8 Therefore you must wait patiently ¹⁶  for me,” says the Lord,

“for the day when I attack and take plunder. ¹⁷ 

I have decided ¹⁸  to gather nations together

and assemble kingdoms,

so I can pour out my fury on them –

all my raging anger.

For ¹⁹  the whole earth will be consumed

by my fiery anger.

Zefanya 3:17

3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;

he is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you; ²⁰ 

he renews you by his love; ²¹ 

he shouts for joy over you.” ²² 

Zefanya 3:20

3:20 At that time I will lead you –

at the time I gather you together. ²³ 

Be sure of this! ²⁴  I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you ²⁵ 

when you see me restore you,” ²⁶  says the Lord.

[1:3]  ¹ tn Heb “And the stumbling blocks [or, “ruins”] with the evil”; or “the things that make the evil stumble.” The line does not appear in the original form of the LXX; it may be a later scribal addition. The present translation assumes the “stumbling blocks” are idolatrous images of animals, birds, and fish. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 167, and Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB), 73-74.

[1:3]  ² tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:17]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “walk.”

[1:17]  ⁵ tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).

[1:17]  ⁶ 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.

[1:18]  ⁷ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ⁸ tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ⁹ tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ¹¹ tn It is not certain where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s words begin. It is possible that Zephaniah begins speaking in the middle of v. 17 or at the beginning of v. 18 (note the third person pronouns referring to the Lord).

[3:5]  ¹² tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.

[3:5]  ¹³ tn Or “he does no injustice.”

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “gives”; or “dispenses.”

[3:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “at the light he is not missing.” Note that NASB (which capitalizes pronouns referring to Deity) has divided the lines differently: “Every morning He brings His justice to light; // He does not fail.”

[3:8]  ¹⁶ tn The second person verb form (“you must wait patiently”) is masculine plural, indicating that a group is being addressed. Perhaps the humble individuals addressed earlier (see 2:3) are in view. Because of Jerusalem’s sin, they must patiently wait for judgment to pass before their vindication arrives.

[3:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “when I arise for plunder.” The present translation takes עַד (’ad) as “plunder.” Some, following the LXX, repoint the term עֵד (’ed) and translate, “as a witness” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the Lord uses a legal metaphor to picture himself as testifying against his enemies. Adele Berlin takes לְעַד (lÿ’ad) in a temporal sense (“forever”) and translates “once and for all” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 133).

[3:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for my decision is.”

[3:8]  ¹⁹ tn Or “certainly.”

[3:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ²¹ tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ²² tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”

[3:20]  ²³ tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.

[3:20]  ²⁴ tn Or “for.”

[3:20]  ²⁵ 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.”

[3:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.