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 2:3

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ⁴  all you humble people ⁵  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ⁶ 

Strive to do what is right! ⁷  Strive to be humble! ⁸ 

Maybe you will be protected ⁹  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Zefanya 2:15

2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up ¹⁰  –

the city that was so secure. ¹¹ 

She thought to herself, ¹²  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ¹³ 

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

Everyone who passes by her taunts her ¹⁴  and shakes his fist. ¹⁵ 

Zefanya 3:7

3:7 I thought, ¹⁶  ‘Certainly you will respect ¹⁷  me!

Now you will accept correction!’

If she had done so, her home ¹⁸  would not be destroyed ¹⁹ 

by all the punishments I have threatened. ²⁰ 

But they eagerly sinned

in everything they did. ²¹ 

[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.”

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ⁶ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”

[2:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “this is the proud city.”

[2:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”

[2:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[2:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”

[2:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”

[2:15]  ¹⁵ 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.

[3:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “said.”

[3:7]  ¹⁷ tn Or “fear.” The second person verb form (“you will respect”) is feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed.

[3:7]  sn God’s judgment of the nations (v. 6) was an object lesson for Israel’s benefit.

[3:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “dwelling place.”

[3:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.

[3:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “But they got up early, they made corrupt all their actions.” The phrase “they got up early” probably refers to their eagerness to engage in sinful activities.