Zefanya 2:3

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ¹  all you humble people ²  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ³ 

Strive to do what is right! ⁴  Strive to be humble! ⁵ 

Maybe you will be protected ⁶  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Zefanya 2:11-12

2:11 The Lord will terrify them, ⁷ 

for ⁸  he will weaken ⁹  all the gods of the earth.

All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. ¹⁰ 

2:12 “You ¹¹  Ethiopians ¹²  will also die by my sword!” ¹³ 

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “will be awesome over [or, “against”] them.”

[2:11]  ⁸ tn Or “certainly.”

[2:11]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and all the coastlands of the nations will worship [or, “bow down”] to him, each from his own place.”

[2:12]  ¹¹ sn Though there is no formal introduction, these words are apparently spoken by the Lord (note my sword).

[2:12]  ¹² tn Heb “Cushites.” This is traditionally assumed to refer to people from the region south of Egypt, i.e., Nubia or northern Sudan, referred to as “Ethiopia” by classical authors (not the more recent Abyssinia).

[2:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “Also you Cushites, who lie dead by my sword.”