Zefanya 3:12

3:12 I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people, ¹ 

and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence. ² 

Zefanya 2:5

2:5 Those who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete, ³  are as good as dead. ⁴ 

The Lord has decreed your downfall, ⁵  Canaan, land of the Philistines:

“I will destroy everyone who lives there!” ⁶ 

Zefanya 1:6

1:6 and those who turn their backs on ⁷  the Lord

and do not want the Lord’s help or guidance.” ⁸ 

Zefanya 2:9

2:9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” says the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel,

“be certain that Moab will become like Sodom

and the Ammonites like Gomorrah.

They will be overrun by weeds, ⁹ 

filled with salt pits, ¹⁰ 

and permanently desolate.

Those of my people who are left ¹¹  will plunder their belongings; ¹² 

those who are left in Judah ¹³  will take possession of their land.”

Zefanya 3:5

3:5 The just Lord resides ¹⁴  within her;

he commits no unjust acts. ¹⁵ 

Every morning he reveals ¹⁶  his justice.

At dawn he appears without fail. ¹⁷ 

Yet the unjust know no shame.

Zefanya 2:7

2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah ¹⁸  will take possession of it. ¹⁹ 

By the sea ²⁰  they ²¹  will graze,

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

for the Lord their God will intervene for them ²²  and restore their prosperity. ²³ 

Zefanya 2:15

2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up ²⁴  –

the city that was so secure. ²⁵ 

She thought to herself, ²⁶  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ²⁷ 

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

Everyone who passes by her taunts her ²⁸  and shakes his fist. ²⁹ 

Zefanya 2:4

Judgment on Surrounding Nations

2:4 Indeed, ³⁰  Gaza will be deserted ³¹ 

and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. ³² 

Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, ³³ 

and Ekron will be overthrown. ³⁴ 

Zefanya 3:3

3:3 Her princes ³⁵  are as fierce as roaring lions; ³⁶ 

her rulers ³⁷  are as hungry as wolves in the desert, ³⁸ 

who completely devour their prey by morning. ³⁹ 

[3:12]  ¹ tn Heb “needy and poor people.” The terms often refer to a socioeconomic group, but here they may refer to those who are humble in a spiritual sense.

[3:12]  ² tn Heb “and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.”

[3:12]  sn Safety in the Lord’s presence. From the time the Lord introduced his special covenant name (Yahweh) to Moses, it served as a reminder of his protective presence as Israel’s faithful deliverer.

[2:5]  ³ tn Heb “Kerethites,” a people settled alongside the Philistines in the coastal areas of southern Palestine (cf. 1 Sam 30:14; Ezek 25:16). They originally came from the island of Crete.

[2:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “Woe, inhabitants of the coast of the sea, nation of Kerethites.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “ah, woe”), is used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow (see 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5). By using it here the prophet mourns in advance the downfall of the Philistines, thereby emphasizing the certainty of their demise (“as good as dead”). Some argue the word does not have its earlier connotation here and is simply an attention-getting interjection, equivalent to “Hey!”

[2:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is against you.”

[2:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will destroy you so there is no inhabitant [remaining].”

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “turn back from [following] after.”

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “who do not seek the Lord and do not inquire of him.” The present translation assumes the first verb refers to praying for divine help and the second to seeking his revealed will through an oracle. Note the usage of the two verbs in 2 Chr 20:3-4.

[2:9]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads מִמְשַׁק חָרוּל (mimshaq kharul, “[?] of weeds”). The meaning of the first word is unknown. The present translation (“They will be overrun by weeds”) is speculative, based on the general sense of the context. For a defense of “overrun” on linguistic grounds, see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (WEC), 347. Cf. NEB “a pile of weeds”; NIV “a place of weeds”; NRSV “a land possessed by nettles.”

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text reads וּמִכְרֵה־מֶלַח (umikhreh-melakh, “and a [?] of salt”). The meaning of the first word is unclear, though “pit” (NASB, NIV, NRSV; NKJV “saltpit”), “mine,” and “heap” (cf. NEB “a rotting heap of saltwort”) are all options. The words “filled with” are supplied for clarification.

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “The remnant of my people.”

[2:9]  ¹² tn Heb “them.” The actual object of the plundering, “their belongings,” has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “[the] nation.” For clarity the “nation” has been specified as “Judah” in the translation.

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.

[3:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or “he does no injustice.”

[3:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “gives”; or “dispenses.”

[3:5]  ¹⁷ 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.”

[2:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Or “will care for them.”

[2:7]  ²³ 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).

[2:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “this is the proud city.”

[2:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”

[2:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[2:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”

[2:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”

[2:15]  ²⁹ 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.

[2:4]  ³⁰ tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:4]  ³¹ tn There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name Gaza (עַזָּה, ’azzah) sounds like the word translated “deserted” (עֲזוּבָה, ’azuvah).

[2:4]  ³² tn Or “a desolate place.”

[2:4]  ³³ tn Heb “[As for] Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away.”

[2:4]  sn The reference to noon may suggest a sudden, quick defeat (see Jer 6:4; 15:8).

[2:4]  ³⁴ tn Heb “uprooted.” There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name “Ekron” (עֶקְרוֹן, ’eqron) sounds like the word translated “uprooted” (תֵּעָקֵר, te’aqer).

[3:3]  ³⁵ tn Or “officials.”

[3:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “her princes in her midst are roaring lions.” The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as fierce as”) for clarity.

[3:3]  ³⁷ tn Traditionally “judges.”

[3:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “her judges [are] wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 128. The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as hungry as”) for clarity.

[3:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “they do not gnaw [a bone] at morning.” The precise meaning of the line is unclear. The statement may mean these wolves devour their prey so completely that not even a bone is left to gnaw by the time morning arrives. For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 129.