Zefanya 1:12

1:12 At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps.

I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, ¹ 

those who think to themselves, ² 

‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’ ³ 

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.) ⁴ 

I will remove ⁵  humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

Zefanya 2:11

2:11 The Lord will terrify them, ⁶ 

for ⁷  he will weaken ⁸  all the gods of the earth.

All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. ⁹ 

Zefanya 1:18

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 ¹⁰  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ¹¹ 

Indeed, ¹²  he will bring terrifying destruction ¹³  on all who live on the earth.” ¹⁴ 

Zefanya 2:7

2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah ¹⁵  will take possession of it. ¹⁶ 

By the sea ¹⁷  they ¹⁸  will graze,

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

for the Lord their God will intervene for them ¹⁹  and restore their prosperity. ²⁰ 

Zefanya 3:20

3:20 At that time I will lead you –

at the time I gather you together. ²¹ 

Be sure of this! ²²  I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you ²³ 

when you see me restore you,” ²⁴  says the Lord.

Zefanya 2:1

The Prophet Warns the People

2:1 Bunch yourselves together like straw, ²⁵  you undesirable ²⁶  nation,

Zefanya 2:14

2:14 Flocks and herds ²⁷  will lie down in the middle of it,

as well as every kind of wild animal. ²⁸ 

Owls ²⁹  will sleep in the tops of its support pillars;

they will hoot through the windows. ³⁰ 

Rubble will cover the thresholds; ³¹ 

even the cedar work ³²  will be exposed to the elements. ³³ 

[1:12]  ¹ tn Heb “who thicken on their sediment.” The imagery comes from wine making, where the wine, if allowed to remain on the sediment too long, will thicken into syrup. The image suggests that the people described here were complacent in their sinful behavior and interpreted the delay in judgment as divine apathy.

[1:12]  ² tn Heb “who say in their hearts.”

[1:12]  ³ tn Heb “The Lord does not do good nor does he do evil.”

[1:3]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “cut off.”

[2:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “will be awesome over [or, “against”] them.”

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Or “certainly.”

[2:11]  ⁸ tn The meaning of this rare Hebrew word is unclear. If the meaning is indeed “weaken,” then this line may be referring to the reduction of these gods’ territory through conquest (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 110-11). Cf. NEB “reduce to beggary”; NASB “starve”; NIV “when he destroys”; NRSV “shrivel.”

[2:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “and all the coastlands of the nations will worship [or, “bow down”] to him, each from his own place.”

[1:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ¹¹ tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ¹² tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ¹⁴ 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).

[2:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Or “will care for them.”

[2:7]  ²⁰ 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).

[3:20]  ²¹ tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.

[3:20]  ²² tn Or “for.”

[3:20]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.

[2:1]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text combines a Hitpolel imperative of קָשַׁשׁ (qashash) with a Qal imperative of the same root. Elsewhere this root appears in the polel stem with the meaning “gather stubble.” Zephaniah’s command is ironic, implying the people are like stubble or straw. As such, they are vulnerable to the Lord’s fiery judgment that will quickly consume them (see 1:18). See Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 96.

[2:1]  ²⁶ tn Some relate this word to an Aramaic cognate meaning “to be ashamed.” With the negative particle it would then mean “unashamed” (cf. NIV “shameful”; NRSV “shameless”). However, elsewhere in biblical Hebrew the verb means “to desire,” or with the negative particle “undesirable.” Cf. also NEB “unruly.”

[2:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “flocks.” The Hebrew word can refer to both flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.

[2:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “[and] all the wild animals of a nation.” How גוֹי (goy, “nation”) relates to what precedes is unclear. It may be a corruption of another word. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 193.

[2:14]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads here גַּם־קָאַת גַּם־קִפֹּד (gam-qa’at gam-qippod). The term קָאַת refers to some type of bird (see Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (Isa 34:11); one of the most common translations is “owl” (cf. NEB “horned owl”; NIV, NRSV “desert owl”; contra NASB “pelican”). The term קִפֹּד may also refer to a type of bird (cf. NEB “ruffed bustard”; NIV, NRSV “screech owl”). Some suggest a rodent may be in view (cf. NASB “hedgehog”); this is not unreasonable, for a rodent or some other small animal would be able to sleep in the tops of pillars which would be lying in the ruins of the fallen buildings.

[2:14]  ³⁰ tn Heb “a sound will sing in the window.” If some type of owl is in view, “hoot” is a more appropriate translation (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[2:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “rubble [will be] on the threshold.” “Rubble” translates the Hebrew word חֹרֶב (khorev, “desolation”). Some emend to עֹרֵב (’orev, “raven”) following the LXX and Vulgate; Adele Berlin translates, “A voice shall shriek from the window – a raven at the sill” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 104).

[2:14]  ³² tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “cedar work” (so NASB, NRSV) is unclear; NIV has “the beams of cedar.”

[2:14]  ³³ tn Heb “one will expose.” The subject is probably indefinite, though one could translate, “for he [i.e., God] will lay bare.”