Zefanya 2:13

2:13 The Lord ¹  will attack the north ² 

and destroy Assyria.

He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins;

it will be as barren ³  as the desert.

Zefanya 2:5

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

The Lord has decreed your downfall, ⁶  Canaan, land of the Philistines:

“I will destroy everyone who lives there!” ⁷ 

Zefanya 1:11

1:11 Wail, you who live in the market district, ⁸ 

for all the merchants ⁹  will disappear ¹⁰ 

and those who count money ¹¹  will be removed. ¹² 

Zefanya 2:4

Judgment on Surrounding Nations

2:4 Indeed, ¹³  Gaza will be deserted ¹⁴ 

and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. ¹⁵ 

Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, ¹⁶ 

and Ekron will be overthrown. ¹⁷ 

Zefanya 1:18

1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them

in the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

The whole earth ¹⁸  will be consumed by his fiery wrath. ¹⁹ 

Indeed, ²⁰  he will bring terrifying destruction ²¹  on all who live on the earth.” ²² 

Zefanya 1:15

1:15 That day will be a day of God’s anger, ²³ 

a day of distress and hardship,

a day of devastation and ruin,

a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and dark skies,

Zefanya 1:2

The Lord’s Day of Judgment is Approaching

1:2 “I will destroy ²⁴  everything from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

Zefanya 1:6

1:6 and those who turn their backs on ²⁵  the Lord

and do not want the Lord’s help or guidance.” ²⁶ 

Zefanya 1:3

1:3 “I will destroy people and animals;

I will destroy the birds in the sky

and the fish in the sea.

(The idolatrous images of these creatures will be destroyed along with evil people.) ²⁷ 

I will remove ²⁸  humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.

Zefanya 3:6-7

The Lord’s Judgment will Purify

3:6 “I destroyed ²⁹  nations;

their walled cities ³⁰  are in ruins.

I turned their streets into ruins;

no one passes through them.

Their cities are desolate; ³¹ 

no one lives there. ³² 

3:7 I thought, ³³  ‘Certainly you will respect ³⁴  me!

Now you will accept correction!’

If she had done so, her home ³⁵  would not be destroyed ³⁶ 

by all the punishments I have threatened. ³⁷ 

But they eagerly sinned

in everything they did. ³⁸ 

Zefanya 1:13

1:13 Their wealth will be stolen

and their houses ruined!

They will not live in the houses they have built,

nor will they drink the wine from the vineyards they have planted.

Zefanya 3:15

3:15 The Lord has removed the judgment against you; ³⁹ 

he has turned back your enemy.

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

You no longer need to fear disaster.

[2:13]  ¹ tn Heb “He”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:13]  ² tn Heb “he will stretch out his hand against the north.”

[2:13]  ³ tn Or “dry.”

[2:5]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is against you.”

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will destroy you so there is no inhabitant [remaining].”

[1:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the Mortar.” The Hebrew term מַכְתֵּשׁ (makhtesh, “mortar”) is apparently here the name of a low-lying area where economic activity took place.

[1:11]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “Canaanites.” Cf. BDB 489 s.v. I and II כְּנַעֲנִי. Translators have rendered the term either as “the merchant people” (KJV, NKJV), “the traders” (NRSV), “merchants” (NEB, NIV), or, alternatively, “the people of Canaan” (NASB).

[1:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “be destroyed.”

[1:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “weigh out silver.”

[1:11]  ¹² tn Heb “be cut off.” In the Hebrew text of v. 11b the perfect verbal forms emphasize the certainty of the judgment, speaking of it as if it were already accomplished.

[2:4]  ¹³ tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:4]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Or “a desolate place.”

[2:4]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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).

[1:18]  ¹⁸ tn Or “land” (cf. NEB). This same word also occurs at the end of the present verse.

[1:18]  ¹⁹ tn Or “passion”; traditionally, “jealousy.”

[1:18]  ²⁰ tn Or “for.”

[1:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “complete destruction, even terror, he will make.”

[1:18]  ²² tn It is not certain where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s words begin. It is possible that Zephaniah begins speaking in the middle of v. 17 or at the beginning of v. 18 (note the third person pronouns referring to the Lord).

[1:15]  ²³ tn Heb “a day of wrath.” The word “God’s” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:2]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew text combines the infinitive absolute of אָסַף (’asaf, “gather up, sweep away”) with a Hiphil prefixed first person form of סוּף (suf, “come to an end”; see Jer 8:13 for the same combination). This can be translated literally, “Sweeping away, I will bring to an end.” Some prefer to emend the text so that the infinitive and finite form of the verb are from the same root (“I will certainly sweep away,” if from אָסַף [cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV]; “I will certainly bring to an end,” if from סוּף). For a discussion of proposals see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 167, 169.

[1:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “turn back from [following] after.”

[1:6]  ²⁶ 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.

[1:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “And the stumbling blocks [or, “ruins”] with the evil”; or “the things that make the evil stumble.” The line does not appear in the original form of the LXX; it may be a later scribal addition. The present translation assumes the “stumbling blocks” are idolatrous images of animals, birds, and fish. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 167, and Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB), 73-74.

[1:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “corner towers”; NEB, NRSV “battlements.”

[3:6]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Heb “so that there is no man, without inhabitant.”

[3:7]  ³³ tn Heb “said.”

[3:7]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ tn Or “dwelling place.”

[3:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.

[3:7]  ³⁸ 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.

[3:15]  ³⁹ tn Heb “your judgments,” that is, “the judgments directed against you.” The translation reflects the implications of the parallelism.