Zephaniah 3 · The Lantern

Judgment on Jerusalem

Woe, rebellious and defiled, the city that wrongs!

She did not listen to a voice; she did not take discipline; in the LORD she did not trust; to her God she did not draw near.

Her officials in her midst are roaring lions; her judges are wolves of the evening — they gnaw nothing for the morning.

Her prophets are reckless, men of treachery; her priests have profaned what is holy, they have done violence to the instruction.

The LORD is righteous in her midst; he does no injustice. Morning by morning he gives his judgment to the light — it is not missing; but the unjust knows no shame.

Purification of the Nations

I have cut off nations; their corners are desolate. I have laid waste their streets, with none passing by. Their cities are ruined, with no man, with no inhabitant.

I said, Surely you will fear me, you will take discipline — and her dwelling will not be cut off, all that I have attended to upon her. But they rose early, they corrupted all their deeds.

Therefore wait for me — the utterance of the LORD — for the day of my rising as a witness. For my judgment is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth will be devoured.

A Faithful Remnant

For then I will turn to the peoples a pure lip, that they may all call on the name of the LORD, to serve him with one shoulder.

If anyone is able, insofar as he found that Israel is saved "after the full number of pagan nations," let him consider having passed over by reason the remaining period, when it is that "all serve God under a single yoke," according to what is said in Zephaniah, "And from the ends of Ethiopia they offer sacrifices to him," when, as it is said in the sixty-seventh psalm, "Ethiop…

Since this text did not literally refer to wild beasts, let the Jews say when this actually happened. For a wolf has never pastured a lamb. If it were to happen that they would pasture together, how would this benefit the human race? The text referred not to wild beasts but to wild people.

Because bodily action is carried on by the shoulder and the arm, if the good things which he put forth with the lips he did not fulfil in deed, he wishes to himself 'the shoulder to fall,' and 'the arm to be broken in pieces.' As though he said in plain words, 'If the things that I said I refused to do, this very member of my body, which was given to me for working withal, may…

From beyond the rivers of Cush those who entreat me, the daughter of my scattered ones, will bring my offering.

In that day you will not be ashamed of all your deeds in which you transgressed against me; for then I will remove from your midst those exulting in your pride, and you will no longer be haughty on my holy mountain.

And I will leave in your midst an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in the name of the LORD.

The remnant of Israel will not do injustice and will not speak a lie, and a tongue of deception will not be found in their mouth; for they will graze and lie down, with no one making them afraid.

Israel’s Restoration

Sing, daughter of Zion; shout, Israel! Be glad and exult with all the heart, daughter of Jerusalem.

Take heart, O Jerusalem, the Lord will take away your iniquities. The Lord will wash away the filth of his sons and daughters by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. He will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your sins.

Live now in utter delight, O Jerusalem, living in complete happiness and satisfaction; for God has removed all your lawless deeds and of necessity has rescued you from the power of the foe, to whom you were subjected in paying the penalty of punishment.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem; the Lord hath taken away thine iniquities. The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more. All things are more especially applicable to the Lord Christ.

The LORD has removed your judgments, he has turned away your enemy. The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you will not fear evil any longer.

In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear! Zion, let not your hands drop!

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who saves. He will be joyful over you with gladness; he will be silent in his love; he will rejoice over you with a ringing cry.

Those grieved away from the appointed feast I have gathered — they were from you — a burden upon her, a reproach.

See — I am dealing with all who afflict you at that time; and I will save the limping and gather the banished, and I will make them a praise and a name in all the land of their shame.