For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
Parallel translations
- WEB For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on Yahweh’s name, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.
- BSB For then I will restore pure lips to the peoples, that all may call upon the name of the LORD and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.
- NKJV “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, That they all may call on the name of the Lord, To serve Him with one accord.
- NASB “For then I will restore to the peoples pure lips, So that all of them may call on the name of the Lord, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder.
- NLT “Then I will purify the speech of all people, so that everyone can worship the Lord together.
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 promises to purify the speech of the peoples so they may all call on His name and serve Him together. It matters because it foretells the gathering of the nations into true, united worship.
Overview
After judgment comes a gracious transformation, with cleansed lips signifying renewed and sincere worship. Peoples once divided will serve God 'shoulder to shoulder' in unity. This reverses the scattering of Babel and points forward to the gospel, in which people of every tongue call on the name of the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Gen 11:1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
- Isa 19:18In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.
- Ps 22:27All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
- Ps 86:9–10All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
- Zech 2:11And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
- Acts 2:4–13And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
- Zech 8:20–23Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:
- Hab 2:14For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
- Eph 4:29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
- Matt 12:35A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
- Rom 15:6–11That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Zech 14:9And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
- Rev 11:15And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
- 1 Kgs 8:41–43Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake;
- Zeph 2:11The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.
- Ps 113:3From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’s name is to be praised.
- Jer 16:19O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
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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 3:9 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.