Zefanya 3:9

3:9 Know for sure that I will then enable

the nations to give me acceptable praise. ¹ 

All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray, ² 

and will worship him in unison. ³ 

Zefanya 3:7

3:7 I thought, ⁴  ‘Certainly you will respect ⁵  me!

Now you will accept correction!’

If she had done so, her home ⁶  would not be destroyed ⁷ 

by all the punishments I have threatened. ⁸ 

But they eagerly sinned

in everything they did. ⁹ 

Zefanya 2:7

2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah ¹⁰  will take possession of it. ¹¹ 

By the sea ¹²  they ¹³  will graze,

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

for the Lord their God will intervene for them ¹⁴  and restore their prosperity. ¹⁵ 

Zefanya 3:8

3:8 Therefore you must wait patiently ¹⁶  for me,” says the Lord,

“for the day when I attack and take plunder. ¹⁷ 

I have decided ¹⁸  to gather nations together

and assemble kingdoms,

so I can pour out my fury on them –

all my raging anger.

For ¹⁹  the whole earth will be consumed

by my fiery anger.

[3:9]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the Lord.”

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

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “said.”

[3:7]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “dwelling place.”

[3:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.

[3:7]  ⁹ 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.

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “will care for them.”

[2:7]  ¹⁵ 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).

[3:8]  ¹⁶ tn The second person verb form (“you must wait patiently”) is masculine plural, indicating that a group is being addressed. Perhaps the humble individuals addressed earlier (see 2:3) are in view. Because of Jerusalem’s sin, they must patiently wait for judgment to pass before their vindication arrives.

[3:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “when I arise for plunder.” The present translation takes עַד (’ad) as “plunder.” Some, following the LXX, repoint the term עֵד (’ed) and translate, “as a witness” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the Lord uses a legal metaphor to picture himself as testifying against his enemies. Adele Berlin takes לְעַד (lÿ’ad) in a temporal sense (“forever”) and translates “once and for all” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 133).

[3:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for my decision is.”

[3:8]  ¹⁹ tn Or “certainly.”