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Zephaniah 3

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📖 Zephaniah introduction

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1Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, The oppressive city! ✦ 2She obeyed no voice, She accepted no discipline. She did not trust in the Lord, She did not approach her God. ✦ 3Her leaders within her are roaring lions, Her judges are wolves at evening; They have no bones to gnaw in the morning. ✦ 4Her prophets are insolent, treacherous men; Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the Law. ✦ 5The Lord is righteous within her; He will do no injustice. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He does not fail. But the criminal knows no shame. ✦ 6“I have eliminated nations; Their corner towers are deserted. I have laid waste their streets, With no one passing by; Their cities have been laid waste, Without a person, without an inhabitant. ✦ 7“I said, ‘You will certainly revere Me, You will accept discipline.’ So her dwelling will not be eliminated In accordance with everything that I have stipulated for her. Instead, they were eager to corrupt all their deeds. ✦ 8¶“Therefore wait for Me,” declares the Lord, “For the day when I rise up as a witness. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them My indignation, All My burning anger; For all the earth will be devoured By the fire of My zeal. ✦ 9“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. ✦ 10“From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, Will bring My offerings. ✦ 11“On that day you will feel no shame Because of all your deeds By which you have rebelled against Me; For then I will remove from your midst Your proud, arrogant ones, And you will never again be haughty On My holy mountain. ✦ 12“But I will leave among you A humble and lowly people, And they will take refuge in the name of the Lord. ✦ 13“The remnant of Israel will do no wrong And tell no lies, Nor will a deceitful tongue Be found in their mouths; For they will feed and lie down With no one to frighten them.” ✦ 14¶Shout for joy, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, Israel! Rejoice and triumph with all your heart, Daughter of Jerusalem! ✦ 15The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You will no longer fear disaster. ✦ 16On that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. ✦ 17“The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. ✦ 18“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. ✦ 19“Behold, I am going to deal at that time With all your oppressors; I will save those who limp And gather the scattered, And I will turn their shame into praise and fame In all the earth. ✦ 20“At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will make you famous and praiseworthy Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” Says the Lord. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

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

Where this chapter connects

Zeph 3 ·11Joel 3 ·8Isa 60 ·6Isa 65 ·6Mic 7 ·6Ezek 34 ·5Zech 14 ·5Mic 3 ·5

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

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