Zephaniah 3:1-20

The Problem of Assyria

Book of Zephaniah

Gordon Churchyard

Chapter 3

v1 (It will be) very sad for the city (called Jerusalem). (It has become a city where people) do not obey (God). It (is) dirty. And (its people are) cruel (to people).

v2 Its people do not listen to the voice (of anyone). They do not do what (God says) is correct. They do not *trust in the *LORD nor come near to their God.

v3 The leaders in it are (like) *lions that make a lot of noise. Its rulers are (like) *wolves that eat everything in the evening. And they leave nothing until the morning.

v4 Its *prophets (say that they) are not afraid of anything. But nobody should *trust them. Its *priests make (God’s) house dirty and they have destroyed the *law.

v5 The *LORD in it (Jerusalem) is *righteous. He does nothing (that is) wrong. Every morning he says what is right and wrong. And at dawn, he does not fail (to do this). But the people that do wrong things are never ashamed.

v6 I will *cut off countries and I will destroy their strong buildings. Their streets will be *waste places so that nobody walks in them. Their cities will be empty, with no people. Nobody will live in them.

v7 I said, ‘Be afraid only of me. Let me tell you the right things to do. Then I will not destroy the place where (you) live. And I will not *punish you.’ But they got up early. And everything that they did was bad.

v8 So, wait for me, says the *LORD. (Wait) for the day when I stand up. Then I will say what I have seen. This is because I have decided to bring the people from all countries and kingdoms (countries that a king rules) to one place. I will show them that I am angry, very, very angry. The fire of my *jealousy will destroy all the earth.

v9 Then I will make the languages of all the countries into one language. So then, they can all *call (his) name ‘the *LORD’ and they can all work for him together.

v10 (People will come) from beyond the rivers in Cush. They will offer me gifts. (They are) the people that pray to me from every part (of the world).

v11 You have *rebelled against me and you have done many (bad) things. But on that day, you will not be ashamed. I will remove from among you the *proud people. And I will remove the people who laugh (at poor people). Because (of this), you will never be *proud again on my *holy mountain.

v12 Then I will leave among you the people that are poor and hurting. They will look for help to the name of the *LORD.

v13 The *remnant of Israel’s people will do nothing that is wrong. And they will not speak any *lies. Nor will (anyone) find in their mouths a *tongue that says *lies. But (then) they will feed and lie down. And nobody will make them afraid.

v14 Sing aloud, people in *Zion! Israel’s people, shout! Feel very happy. And have minds that are full of *joy, people in Jerusalem!

v15 The *LORD said that some things were against you. But he has taken them away. He has sent your enemies away. The *LORD, (who is) the King of Israel, is among you. You will never again be afraid of anything that is bad.

v16 On that day (they) will say to (the people in) Jerusalem, ‘Do not be afraid, (people in) *Zion. Do not let your hands become weak.

v17 The *LORD your God is among you. He is a great soldier who beats (all his enemies). He will be very happy with you and he will have much *joy. His love will make you become alive again. He will be very happy. So he will dance for you and shout.’

v18 ‘It will be like a big party. I will take away all your trouble so that you will not be ashamed because of it.

v19 At that time I will do something to all the people that have attacked you. And I will make safe the people that cannot walk. And I will bring here the people that are far away. (Now) they are ashamed, but I will change that. Then they will be famous. And everybody will say that they are great (people).

v20 At the time when I bring you here, I will bring you home. And you will be famous. And everybody will say that you are great (people). Then you will see me giving you back many good things.’ (This is what) the *LORD says.

Notes on Zephaniah Chapter 3

Verses 1-5 Now God says what will happen to Judah. The *Hebrew Bible does not say that these verses are about Jerusalem. But Bible students are sure that they are about Jerusalem. In verse 1, the words ‘not obey’, ‘dirty’ and ‘cruel’ mean a lot in the *Hebrew Bible:

• ‘not obey’ means ‘fight against’;

• ‘dirty’ means ‘very bad’ or ‘*unclean’;

• ‘cruel’ means ‘rich people make poor people work for them. And they give them very little for their work’.

These people do not *trust their *LORD. Remember this: *LORD is a special word that only God’s servants should use. ‘Trust’ means ‘believe that he (the *LORD) will do things. He will do what he has promised to do’. These people in Jerusalem do not think that God will make them safe from their enemies. So they do not ‘come near’ (or pray) to their God. But he promised to do this if they obeyed him. They neither believe nor obey God. Instead, they *trust their leaders. But their leaders are like wild animals. They make a lot of noise, like *lions. *Lions are very large wild cats. Also, the leaders are like wolves. Wolves are wild animals. They eat every animal that they find, including people. Bible students think that this means, ‘the leaders promise to do a lot for their people. But they only take away everything that their people have.’

Prophets tell people what God is saying. But these are false prophets, (verse 4). They are saying, ‘We are not afraid of what will happen.’ But God (by Zephaniah) says that nobody should believe them. The *priests in Jerusalem were God’s special servants in his house. We call that house ‘the temple’. But they destroyed the *law. So, it was like they made the temple dirty. God’s *law was the rules that he gave to his people. Many of them are in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. They destroyed the *law because they did not obey it. Because God’s house was dirty (or unclean), God could not live there. God is not like the *priests. God is righteous. In other words, he always does what is right. If we listen, he speaks to us every day. He tells us the right thing to do. If we obey him, we will not be ashamed like those *priests in Jerusalem. They were ashamed when the *Babylonians destroyed the *temple. That was only about 40 years after Zephaniah said this!

Verses 6-8 Here we read about what God will do to all the countries near Judah and also to Judah itself. These are the countries in Zephaniah 2:4-15. But it also includes Judah, (3:1-5). ‘Cut off’ here is another word for destroy. In the *Hebrew Bible, ‘strong buildings’ is ‘corner *towers’. These were tall buildings at the corners of their cities’ walls. Verse 7 is about Judah. God wanted them to love and to obey him. But they wanted to do bad things very much. So, they got up early to do them! In verse 8, to ‘say what I have seen’ is from the *Greek Bible. The *Hebrew Bible says, ‘to attack’. Most translations think that the *Greek Bible is correct. The ‘fire of my *jealousy’ is the love that God has for his people. He wanted them to love him only, but they wanted to work for other gods also, (chapter Zephaniah 1:5-6). This made God *jealous. He *punished the people that would not obey him, (verse 7). But he also *punished foreign people that hurt his own people, the *Jews. This was because some of the *Jews still loved him. And they still obeyed him.

Verses 9-11 Here God spoke (by Zephaniah) to all the people in the world. Our translation of verse 9 explains the *Hebrew words. It does not really translate them. The *Hebrew Bible says, ‘Then I will *change the peoples to one *pure lip, to *call on the name of the *LORD. And they will *serve him with one shoulder.’ ‘Change’ means ‘make a change’. ‘Pure’ means ‘only one material in it’. ‘Call’ means ‘shout out’. And ‘serve’ means ‘be the servant of’. ‘One pure lip’ makes Bible students think about the story about the *Tower of Babel. It is in Genesis 11:1-9. Everybody spoke the same language until God confused their words. Now we have about 6000 languages in the world. But Zephaniah says that it will change! One day we will all speak the same language again. But we do not know when we will do so. Many Bible students think that this is another *eschatological part of Zephaniah’s book. It will happen when Jesus comes back to the earth. In verse 11, ‘rebelled against me’ means ‘fought against me’. Or it means ‘they did not obey me’. The ‘*holy mountain’ is *Zion in Jerusalem. The *Temple was there. The *Jews believed that God lived in the *Temple. So that made the place like God. Because God was *holy (very, very good) the place was *holy too.

Verses 12-20 The Book of Zephaniah has a happy end! God will bring back the *remnant of his people from *exile. If they are poor, they will ask the *LORD for help, verse 12. They will not tell lies (words that are not true). Their tongues will speak what is true, verse 13. Our tongues in our mouths help us to speak. Because they are not afraid, verse 13, they will sing. And they will shout for *joy, verse 14. ‘*Joy’ is when you feel very, very happy deep inside you. The *LORD has sent the enemies of the *Jews away, (verse 15), and he ‘will do something’ to them, (verse 19). This means that he will *punish them. He will beat them, or he will kill them, (verse 17). The *Jews will not be ashamed any longer. They will be famous and people will say good things about them, (verses 19 and 20). The *LORD will give them back all the good things that they lost in the *exile, (verse 20).

All this will make the *LORD God very happy too! He will live among his people as King of Israel, verse 15. Because he is so happy, he will dance. And he will shout (or sing) for his people, (verse 17). ‘It will be like a big party’, (verse 18). Bible students ask, ‘When did, or when will, all this happen?’ Maybe there are two answers:

• it happened when the *Jews came back from *exile in Babylon, in 536 *B.C.

• it will happen again when Jesus comes back to the earth. Bible verses that are about that time are called *eschatological verses.

Something to do

1. Read Zephaniah. Count how many times you can find:

• on/in the day of the *LORD,

• on/in that day,

• on/in that great day of the *LORD.

2. Read Zephaniah 3:1-5. Why do you think that it is about Jerusalem and not about Nineveh?

3. Read the *eschatological parts of Zephaniah. You will find where they are in the notes. Pray every day for Jesus to return to the earth soon. That will really be ‘the great day of God’!

4. Zephaniah said, ‘Do not let your hands become weak’, 3:16. Learn to say this verse without looking at the words. Every time there is difficulty or trouble, say this verse to yourself. Then pray to God, ‘Make me strong!’

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words)

trust ~ believe that someone will be good to you; believe what someone says.
LORD ~ a special name for God that only his servants should use.
Lord ~ someone with authority; also a name for God. (It is not the same Hebrew word as LORD.)
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
lion ~ a wild animal like a very large cat.
prophet ~ he or she says what God is saying; or he says what God will do.
priest ~ a special servant of God, or a false god.
law ~ the rules of a country; here, God’s rules for men and women.
righteous ~ very, very good; only God is really righteous.'cut off ~ here, it is another word for ‘destroy’.
waste ~ something that has no value or use that people throw away.
punish ~ hurt people because they have done bad things.'jealous/jealousy ~ perhaps someone else loves the person that you love; then you feel jealous; or, when you do good things for somebody that you love.
call ~ shout out.
proud ~ to think that you are important when perhaps you are not.
holy ~ very, very good; only God is really holy.
remnant ~ a small part that remains from a larger piece.
lies ~ words that are not true.
tongue ~ our tongues in our mouths help us to speak.
Zion ~ a hill in Jerusalem; sometimes another name for Jerusalem.
joy ~ something that makes people very, very happy.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
unclean ~ the opposite of clean; in Zephaniah it means ‘to do what is wrong’.
lion ~ a wild animal like a very large cat.
Babylonians ~ these people came from the country called Babylon.
temple ~ God’s house in Jerusalem; or the house of any god.
tower ~ a tall building.
Greek ~ a language.'jealous/jealousy ~ perhaps someone else loves the person that you love; then you feel jealous; or, when you do good things for somebody that you love.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
change ~ make a change to.
pure ~ contains only one material.
serve ~ to be servants of somebody like a king or a god.
tower ~ a tall building.
eschatological ~ about the end of time, when Jesus returns to earth as king.
temple ~ God’s house in Jerusalem; or the house of any god.
exile ~ away from your own country.
joy ~ something that makes people very, very happy.