Zefanya 2:8

2:8 “I have heard Moab’s taunts

and the Ammonites’ insults.

They ¹  taunted my people

and verbally harassed those living in Judah. ² 

Zefanya 2:10

2:10 This is how they will be repaid for their arrogance, ³ 

for they taunted and verbally harassed ⁴  the people of the Lord who commands armies.

Zefanya 2:15

2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up ⁵  –

the city that was so secure. ⁶ 

She thought to herself, ⁷  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ⁸ 

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

Everyone who passes by her taunts her ⁹  and shakes his fist. ¹⁰ 

Zefanya 3:19

3:19 Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you.

I will rescue the lame sheep ¹¹ 

and gather together the scattered sheep.

I will take away their humiliation

and make the whole earth admire and respect them. ¹² 

[2:8]  ¹ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:8]  ² tn Heb “and they made great [their mouth?] against their territory.” Other possible translation options include (1) “they enlarged their own territory” (cf. NEB) and (2) “they bragged about [the size] of their own territory.”

[2:10]  ³ tn Heb “this is for them in place of their arrogance.”

[2:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “made great [their mouth?] against” (cf. the last phrase of v. 8).

[2:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “this is the proud city.”

[2:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”

[2:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[2:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”

[2:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”

[2:15]  ¹⁰ 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.

[3:19]  ¹¹ tn The word “sheep” is supplied for clarification. As in Mic 4:6-7, the exiles are here pictured as injured and scattered sheep whom the divine shepherd rescues from danger.

[3:19]  ¹² tn Heb “I will make them into praise and a name, in all the earth, their shame.” The present translation assumes that “their shame” specifies “them” and that “name” stands here for a good reputation.