Zefanya 3:5

3:5 The just Lord resides ¹  within her;

he commits no unjust acts. ² 

Every morning he reveals ³  his justice.

At dawn he appears without fail. ⁴ 

Yet the unjust know no shame.

Zefanya 3:7

3:7 I thought, ⁵  ‘Certainly you will respect ⁶  me!

Now you will accept correction!’

If she had done so, her home ⁷  would not be destroyed ⁸ 

by all the punishments I have threatened. ⁹ 

But they eagerly sinned

in everything they did. ¹⁰ 

Zefanya 3:9

3:9 Know for sure that I will then enable

the nations to give me acceptable praise. ¹¹ 

All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, ¹² 

and will worship him in unison. ¹³ 

Zefanya 3:16-17

3:16 On that day they will say ¹⁴  to Jerusalem,

“Don’t be afraid, Zion!

Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! ¹⁵ 

3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;

he is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you; ¹⁶ 

he renews you by his love; ¹⁷ 

he shouts for joy over you.” ¹⁸ 

Zefanya 3:19-20

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

I will rescue the lame sheep ¹⁹ 

and gather together the scattered sheep.

I will take away their humiliation

and make the whole earth admire and respect them. 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.

[3:5]  ¹ tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.

[3:5]  ² tn Or “he does no injustice.”

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

[3:5]  ⁴ 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.”

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “said.”

[3:7]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “dwelling place.”

[3:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.

[3:7]  ¹⁰ 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.

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Certainly [or perhaps, “For”] then I will restore to the nations a pure lip.”

[3:9]  sn I will then enable the nations to give me acceptable praise. This apparently refers to a time when the nations will reject their false idol-gods and offer genuine praise to the one true God.

[3:9]  ¹² tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the Lord.”

[3:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “so that [they] will serve him [with] one shoulder.”

[3:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “it will be said.” The passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.

[3:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your hands must not go limp.”

[3:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ¹⁷ tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”

[3:19]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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.

[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.