“I will gather those among you who grieve over the appointed feasts, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will remove those who grieve about the appointed feasts from you. They are a burden and a reproach to you.
- KJV I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.
- NKJV “I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, Who are among you, To whom its reproach is a burden.
- NASB “I will gather those who are worried about the appointed feasts— They came from you, Zion; The disgrace of exile is a burden on them.
- NLT “I will gather you who mourn for the appointed festivals; you will be disgraced no more.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will remove from His people the sorrow and reproach they bore over the appointed feasts. It matters because it promises the end of grief tied to disrupted worship.
Overview
The exact sense of this verse is debated and the Hebrew is difficult, but it broadly speaks of God removing a burden of grief and reproach connected to the festivals. The point is God's gracious restoration of joyful worship to a people who had known mourning. It looks toward the unhindered worship of God's redeemed people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 42:2–4My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?
- Zeph 3:20At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you. For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your captives before your very eyes,” says the LORD.
- Ezek 36:24For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land.
- Jer 23:3Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply.
- Lam 1:4The roads to Zion mourn, because no one comes to her appointed feasts. All her gates are deserted; her priests groan, her maidens grieve, and she herself is bitter with anguish.
- Lam 2:6–7He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has despised both king and priest.
- Jer 31:8–9Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly!
- Hos 1:11Then the people of Judah and of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader, and will go up out of the land. For great will be the day of Jezreel.
- Ps 43:3Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain, and to the place where You dwell.
- Ps 84:1–2For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!
- Ps 63:1–2A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
- Rom 11:25–26I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
- Ezek 34:13I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land.
- Ps 137:3–6for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”
- Lam 1:7In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands she received no help. Her enemies looked upon her, laughing at her downfall.
- Hos 9:5What will you do on the appointed day, on the day of the LORD’s feast?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The day of the LORD gives way to the promise that God himself will be in the midst of his people, rejoicing over them with singing — fulfilled in the saving presence of Christ.
How Zephaniah 3:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.