Zefanya 3:7

3:7 I thought, ¹  ‘Certainly you will respect ²  me!

Now you will accept correction!’

If she had done so, her home ³  would not be destroyed ⁴ 

by all the punishments I have threatened. ⁵ 

But they eagerly sinned

in everything they did. 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 2:14

2:14 Flocks and herds ⁹  will lie down in the middle of it,

as well as every kind of wild animal. ¹⁰ 

Owls ¹¹  will sleep in the tops of its support pillars;

they will hoot through the windows. ¹² 

Rubble will cover the thresholds; ¹³ 

even the cedar work ¹⁴  will be exposed to the elements. ¹⁵ 

Zefanya 3:15

3:15 The Lord has removed the judgment against you; ¹⁶ 

he has turned back your enemy.

Israel’s king, the Lord, is in your midst!

You no longer need to fear disaster.

Zefanya 1:17

1:17 I will bring distress on the people ¹⁷ 

and they will stumble ¹⁸  like blind men,

for they have sinned against the Lord.

Their blood will be poured out like dirt;

their flesh ¹⁹  will be scattered ²⁰  like manure.

Zefanya 2:15

2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up ²¹  –

the city that was so secure. ²² 

She thought to herself, ²³  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ²⁴ 

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

Everyone who passes by her taunts her ²⁵  and shakes his fist. ²⁶ 

[3:7]  ¹ tn Heb “said.”

[3:7]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “dwelling place.”

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.

[3:7]  ⁶ 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.

[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.

[2:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “flocks.” The Hebrew word can refer to both flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.

[2:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[and] all the wild animals of a nation.” How גוֹי (goy, “nation”) relates to what precedes is unclear. It may be a corruption of another word. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 193.

[2:14]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text reads here גַּם־קָאַת גַּם־קִפֹּד (gam-qa’at gam-qippod). The term קָאַת refers to some type of bird (see Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (Isa 34:11); one of the most common translations is “owl” (cf. NEB “horned owl”; NIV, NRSV “desert owl”; contra NASB “pelican”). The term קִפֹּד may also refer to a type of bird (cf. NEB “ruffed bustard”; NIV, NRSV “screech owl”). Some suggest a rodent may be in view (cf. NASB “hedgehog”); this is not unreasonable, for a rodent or some other small animal would be able to sleep in the tops of pillars which would be lying in the ruins of the fallen buildings.

[2:14]  ¹² tn Heb “a sound will sing in the window.” If some type of owl is in view, “hoot” is a more appropriate translation (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[2:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “rubble [will be] on the threshold.” “Rubble” translates the Hebrew word חֹרֶב (khorev, “desolation”). Some emend to עֹרֵב (’orev, “raven”) following the LXX and Vulgate; Adele Berlin translates, “A voice shall shriek from the window – a raven at the sill” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 104).

[2:14]  ¹⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “cedar work” (so NASB, NRSV) is unclear; NIV has “the beams of cedar.”

[2:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “one will expose.” The subject is probably indefinite, though one could translate, “for he [i.e., God] will lay bare.”

[3:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your judgments,” that is, “the judgments directed against you.” The translation reflects the implications of the parallelism.

[1:17]  ¹⁷ tn “The people” refers to mankind in general (see vv. 2-3) or more specifically to the residents of Judah (see vv. 4-13).

[1:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “walk.”

[1:17]  ¹⁹ tn Some take the referent of “flesh” to be more specific here; cf. NEB (“bowels”), NAB (“brains”), NIV (“entrails”).

[1:17]  ²⁰ tn The words “will be scattered” are supplied in the translation for clarity based on the parallelism with “will be poured out” in the previous line.

[2:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “this is the proud city.”

[2:15]  ²² tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”

[2:15]  ²³ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[2:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”

[2:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”

[2:15]  ²⁶ 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.