Zefanya 3:4

3:4 Her prophets are proud; ¹ 

they are deceitful men.

Her priests defile what is holy; ² 

they break God’s laws. ³ 

[3:4]  ¹ sn Applied to prophets, the word פֹּחֲזִים (pokhazim, “proud”) probably refers to their audacity in passing off their own words as genuine prophecies from the Lord (see Jer 23:32).

[3:4]  ² tn Or “defile the temple.”

[3:4]  sn These priests defile what is holy by not observing the proper distinctions between what is ritually clean and unclean (see Ezek 22:26).

[3:4]  ³ tn Heb “they treat violently [the] law.”