Zephaniah 3:1-20
1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction;a she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.
3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
5 The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.
6 I have cut off the nations: their towersb are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.
8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language,c that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.
12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15 The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.d
17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will reste in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproachf of it was a burden.
19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will getg them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.
20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.
Zephaniah 3:1. Woe to the oppressing city, to Jerusalem, now polluted with every crime, and every year growing a carcase for the eagles.
Zephaniah 3:6. I have cut off the nations. The Chaldaic reads, I have cut off the palaces of Damascus, and of Samaria, so that no man now walks in their streets. This had been recently done by Salmanezer, king of Assyria; yet Jerusalem took no warning by the fall of her sister Samaria.
Zephaniah 3:8. Therefore, wait ye upon me, saith the Lord. Wait till the great day when I shall assemble for the last time the infidel nations against my Zion, as in Ezekiel 38, 39., and Zechariah 14. Then will I destroy them utterly, and turn a pure language of worship and praise on all the earth. The prophets always kept the best wine to the last.
Zephaniah 3:9. Then will I turn to the people a pure language. שׁפה ברורת shapah beroorath; that is, Hebrew tongue, as the rabbins contend, because it is added, “that they may call on the name of Jehovah,” the only tongue in which that name is known.
Those men are extravagant enough in eulogies on the sacred language, and it is amusing to hear what they can say.
1. That the language of Adam was preserved by Noah in the ark, and down to the confusion of tongues at Babel, as stated in Genesis 11:1.
2. That this language possessed distinguished characters, not only of eminence, excellence, and dignity, but indeed of knowledge more than human, of which it has just claims founded on its sanctity.
3. That this holy tongue inherited, after the secession of the nations, the high prerogative of transmitting the grace of revelation exclusively to the family of Heber, and thence to the Hebrews; for with his family was continued the holy oracle.
4. That the dispersed nations, with the exception of the more holy house of Heber, cast off the use of the primæval language, pride having prompted them to sacrilege and every crime; and in such sort, that the holy tongue remained solely with the Hebrews 5. The same primæval language became the fruitful mother of conveying edification to the Chaldeans, and of diffusing it abroad as on a great theatre to the nations of the earth. Thus this blessed mother, being arrayed in purple and immortal splendour, and enthroned in the holy land, all nations shall come to her for divine tuition, and to “speak the language of Canaan.”
Isaiah 3:19. So then, according to the rabbins, we are all to speak Hebrew in the Messiah's kingdom!
Zephaniah 3:10. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. See the note on Acts 8:27.
REFLECTIONS.
We learn from this chapter, that the Lord reserves the sweetest cup of consolation for his long-afflicted church, after the punishment of the wicked; and that the greatest misfortune that can happen to any people, and which most certainly exposes them to the divine vengeance is, when their spiritual or temporal rulers neglect the duties of their calling, and trample underfoot the laws of religion and justice. Certainly Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, sons of king Josiah, were ill educated. This might naturally be expected from the priests of that age, and from the character of the nobility in general.