Zefanya 2:3

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ¹  all you humble people ²  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ³ 

Strive to do what is right! ⁴  Strive to be humble! ⁵ 

Maybe you will be protected ⁶  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Zefanya 3:5-6

3:5 The just Lord resides ⁷  within her;

he commits no unjust acts. ⁸ 

Every morning he reveals ⁹  his justice.

At dawn he appears without fail. ¹⁰ 

Yet the unjust know no shame.

The Lord’s Judgment will Purify

3:6 “I destroyed ¹¹  nations;

their walled cities ¹²  are in ruins.

I turned their streets into ruins;

no one passes through them.

Their cities are desolate; ¹³ 

no one lives there. ¹⁴ 

Zefanya 3:13

3:13 The Israelites who remain ¹⁵  will not act deceitfully.

They will not lie,

and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth.

Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep ¹⁶  and lie down;

no one will terrify them.”

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ² tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ³ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”

[3:5]  ⁷ tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.

[3:5]  ⁸ tn Or “he does no injustice.”

[3:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “gives”; or “dispenses.”

[3:5]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[3:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:6]  ¹² tn Heb “corner towers”; NEB, NRSV “battlements.”

[3:6]  ¹³ tn This Hebrew verb (צָדָה, tsadah) occurs only here in the OT, but its meaning is established from the context and from an Aramaic cognate.

[3:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “so that there is no man, without inhabitant.”

[3:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the remnant of Israel.”

[3:13]  ¹⁶ tn The words “peacefully like sheep” are supplied in the translation for clarification.