Tzefanyah 3

1Hoy (woe) to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city i.e.,Jerusalem!

2She obeyed not the voice; she received not musar (correction); her bitachon (trust) was not in Hashem; she drew not near to her G-d.

3Her sarim (princes) within her are roaring arayot; her shofetim are evening wolves; they leave nothing for the boker (morning).

4Her nevi'im are arrogant, anshei bogedot (treacherous persons); her kohanim have profaned the kodesh, they have done violence to the torahwhich they were ordained to faithfully observe and teach.

5Hashem Tzaddik is in the midst thereof; He will do no injustice; boker by boker doth Hashem dispense mishpat; He faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no boshet (shame).

6I have cut off the Goyim; their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no ish (man), that there is no inhabitant.

7I said, Surely thou wilt fear Me, thou wilt accept musar (correction, instruction); so that her dwelling place should not be cut off, despite everything for which I punished her; but they rose early i.e., eagerly, and corrupted all their doings.

8Therefore wait ye upon Me, saith Hashem, until the Yom that I rise up for a prey; My determination is to gather the Goyim, that I may assemble the mamlachot, to pour upon them Mine indignation, even all My charon af; for kol ha'aretz (all the earth) shall be devoured with the eish of My kina (jealousy).

9For then will I restore to the people a safah berurah (pure language, purified lip), that they may all call upon the Shem Hashem, to serve Him with shekhem echad (one shoulder, one accord).

10From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My suppliants, even the daughter of My dispersed, shall bring Mine minchah.

11In that Yom 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 ga'avah (pride), and thou shalt no more be haughty because of My Har Hakodesh.

12I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall take refuge in the Shem Hashem.

13The she’erit Yisroel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a leshon tarmit (tongue of deceitfulness) be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

14Sing, O Bat Tziyon; shout, O Yisroel; be glad and rejoice with all the lev, O Bat Yerushalayim.

15Hashem hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy. The Melech Yisroel, even Hashem, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more.

16In that Yom it shall be said to Yerushalayim, Fear thou not; and to Tziyon, Let not thine hands hang limp.

17Hashem thy G-d in the midst of thee is gibbor; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with simchah; He will quiet [you] in His ahavah (love), He will joy over thee with singing.

18They that mourn I will gather for the mo'ed (time of the feast), who are of thee [O Tziyon], to whom the cherpah (reproach of the Golus) presses upon them see 2C 7:10.

19Hinei, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee; and I will save her that is lame, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land of their boshet (shame).

20At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you; for I will make you a shem and a tehillah among Kol Amei Ha'aretz (all the peoples of the earth), when I turn back your captivity and restore your fortunes before your eyes, saith Hashem.Tzefanyah (640-622) prophesied between the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah, roughly 626 B.C.E. near the time of Jeremiah's call to the office of prophet. Tzefanyah's preaching helped (with Jeremiah's) to spark King Josiah's revival (621 B.C.E.--see 2 Kgs chp 23) after the wicked reigns of Manassah and his son Amon had left the people of Judah in need of a spiritual awakening. We know he prophesied before Ninevah was destroyed in 612 B.C.E. (see 2:13). Mankind is in danger of being swept off the face of the earth (1:2-3). Backsliders, if they don't repent, will be destroyed (see 1:6). For the great, dark, terrifying Day of the L-rd is karov (near, 1:7, l5-16) and hastening fast (1:14). The superstitious (1:9) and those syncretists who try to mix the faith with Canaanite, Ammonite, and Assyrian religion (1:4-5) will be destroyed, as will the complacent (1:12).