Zephaniah 3:14-20
English Standard Version

Israel's Joy and Restoration
14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
    shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
    O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;
    he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
    you shall never again fear evil.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
    let not your hands grow weak.
17 The LORD your God is in your midst,
    a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
    he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
18 I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
    so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal
    with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
    and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
    and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you in,
    at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
    among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
    before your eyes,” says the LORD.

After all the promises of judgment for Israel and Judah in this book, it wraps up with a command for them to shout songs of praise and to exult the LORD and be glad.  Why?  Because the LORD is sure to save and restore them!  He will not abandon them or let them be destroyed.  His judgment will be painful, but brief, and then His blessing and favor will return to His people as He loves them with his everlasting, unfailing love and mercy.  In the midst of this judgment, their enemies have been destroyed (though new enemies will arise until the very end when all of their enemies will be destroyed for good, which might make this a "near" and "far" prophecy).

The LORD will once again be known to be among His people and He will restore them and give them life, vigor, and joy again.  No longer will they feel shame or reproach.  Even those who would be outcasts under the Law like the lame will be gathered in and restored and blessed--even though they had nothing to offer the king.  They will be like Mephibosheth adopted by King David.  The LORD will gather all His people in and will restore them all and once again pour out His blessings on them.  Did that start to happen after the Exile?  Yes.  Did it happen completely after the Exile?  No.  That means that we should still be looking for the more complete fulfillment of this prophecy.  It would seem given everything else that we've seen in the prophets that this restoration will happen when Messiah comes (again).

Zephaniah 3:9-13
English Standard Version

The Conversion of the Nations
9 “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples
    to a pure speech,
that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD
    and serve him with one accord.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
    my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,
    shall bring my offering.

11 “On that day you shall not be put to shame
    because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst
    your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty
    in my holy mountain.
12 But I will leave in your midst
    a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD,
13     those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no injustice
    and speak no lies,
nor shall there be found in their mouth
    a deceitful tongue.
For they shall graze and lie down,
    and none shall make them afraid.”

The LORD is concerned about the salvation of the Gentile nations, not just their destruction.  The LORD gives prophesy here that there will be a great awakening and conversion among the Gentile nations--we've seen this happen in books like Daniel and Esther already where God uses the Exiles to bring about revival in the kingdoms of Babylon and Assyria.  The LORD is going to use this time of exile and punishment to make the Jewish people the light to the Gentiles that He always wanted them to be, but it will be a "go, show, and tell" evangelism instead of a "come and see" evangelism.

The LORD will destroy the proud and arrogant people, but He will save the humble and lowly.  "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  The Jewish people will once again seek their identity and their refuge in the name of the LORD.  They will be a changed people who will no longer be given to perverting justice and lying.  They will be content to be like sheep who graze and lie down and don't fear anything because they know The Good Shepherd watches over them, provides for them and protects them.

Zephaniah 3:1-8
English Standard Version

Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
3 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,
    the oppressing city!
2 She listens to no voice;
    she accepts no correction.
She does not trust in the LORD;
    she does not draw near to her God.

3 Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;
her judges are evening wolves
    that leave nothing till the morning.
4 Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men;
her priests profane what is holy;
    they do violence to the law.
5 The LORD within her is righteous;
    he does no injustice;
every morning he shows forth his justice;
    each dawn he does not fail;
    but the unjust knows no shame.

6 “I have cut off nations;
    their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
    so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
    without a man, without an inhabitant.
7 I said, ‘Surely you will fear me;
    you will accept correction.
Then your dwelling would not be cut off
    according to all that I have appointed against you.’
But all the more they were eager
    to make all their deeds corrupt.

8 “Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD,
    “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.
For my decision is to gather nations,
    to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
    all my burning anger;
for in the fire of my jealousy
    all the earth shall be consumed.

The LORD speaks of Jerusalem here.  They are rebellious and defiled (unclean--not physically, but morally/spiritually).  They won't listen to the LORD's voice spoken through His Word and His prophets.  She refuses to accept correction and does not not trust in the LORD (the people seek safety in the things the world does--money, leaders, military power, and so on).

The government no longer serves the people, instead, it seeks to victimize and devour them.  They choose their own prophets that they want to listen to instead of listening to those who speak the Word of the LORD.  They made their own priesthood that would not call out their sin and called evil good and good evil.  They profane (make common) that which is supposed to be holy (the Temple, the Land, the People), and they themselves engage in violence--they killed the true prophets as Jesus mentioned in the New Testament.  Though everyone else is unjust, the LORD remains just and does not wrong and speaks no lies.  It is the wicked who deserve everything that is coming their way that are making things awful for everyone around them.

Jerusalem should have seen what the LORD did to the nations and seen that if they became just like the nations, their end would be similar.  The LORD has completely destroyed nations and not left any of their people to survive.  That is what the people of Israel and Judah deserve, but for the sake of the LORD's Name and His covenant, He will preserve a remnant and accomplish His perfect plan in spite of the imperfect people He has chosen to use for those purposes.  The LORD has been gracious in the discipline of His people in the pass and they have taken His grace for granted.  Now, they are going face real correction and discipline.  Even this will not be effective--they still will be rebellious and love to do evil.

This is why a greater day of judgment is coming when the wicked will be completely destroyed and all the righteous will be perfected and glorified.  This is a taste of what is to come, but the LORD will deliver on all His promises both to the righteous and the unrighteous. 

Zephaniah 2
English Standard Version

Judgment on Judah's Enemies
2 Gather together, yes, gather,
    O shameless nation,
2 before the decree takes effect
    —before the day passes away like chaff--
before there comes upon you
    the burning anger of the LORD,
before there comes upon you
    the day of the anger of the LORD.
3 Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,
    who do his just commands;
seek righteousness; seek humility;
    perhaps you may be hidden
    on the day of the anger of the LORD.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted,
    and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon,
    and Ekron shall be uprooted.

5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,
    you nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the LORD is against you,
    O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
    and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
    with meadows for shepherds
    and folds for flocks.
7 The seacoast shall become the possession
    of the remnant of the house of Judah,
    on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
    they shall lie down at evening.
For the LORD their God will be mindful of them
    and restore their fortunes.

8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab
    and the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
    and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the LORD of hosts,
    the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become like Sodom,
    and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
    and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
    and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride,
    because they taunted and boasted
    against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 The LORD will be awesome against them;
    for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
    each in its place,
    all the lands of the nations.

12 You also, O Cushites,
    shall be slain by my sword.

13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
    and destroy Assyria,
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
    a dry waste like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,
    all kinds of beasts;
even the owl and the hedgehog
    shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
    devastation will be on the threshold;
    for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the exultant city
    that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
    “I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
    a lair for wild beasts!
Everyone who passes by her
    hisses and shakes his fist.

There is still a chance for the people to gather together and repent before destruction comes upon them.  Until the judgment comes, there is always hope.  That is something we can take away from the prophets that still applies to us today.  Though there may be people that seem set on the path to destruction, there is still a chance that the Holy Spirit may do His work of convicting them of sin and regenerating them and bringing them to the point of repentance.  Zephaniah says that if they do this as a nation, perhaps they will be armies come to destroy the Philistines.

The LORD then gives Zephaniah prophecy against the Philistines (the people of the coastlands of Canaan who were never defeated or driven out).  They will be destroyed and the coastlands will become pastureland for the animals that will roam freely.    Similarly, the LORD has heard the taunts of the Moabites and Ammonites (descendants of Lot that were not destroyed in the original Conquest due to their close relationship to the people of Israel), and the LORD will now destroy them.  He promises to make them like Sodom and Gomorrah--wastelands forevermore.  The remnant of the people of Israel will plunder them and they will be destroyed for their pride and idolatry.

The people of Cush to the south will also be destroyed.  So to will the Assyrians of Nineveh be destroyed as we already talked about in previous books (though not all of Assyria will be destroyed, but it was a large city with many people.  The loss of it was devastating).  All these places will become places for the unclean animals like the hedgehog and desert owl to make their home.  The destruction of Nineveh will speak to the rest of the proud peoples of the earth that if they try to contend with the LORD, they will lose.  Nations will have the choice to submit to the LORD or be destroyed by the next rising empire that the LORD uses to accomplish His purposes (Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greek, and eventually Roman).

Zephaniah 1:7-18
English Standard Version

The Day of the LORD Is Near
7 Be silent before the Lord GOD!
    For the day of the LORD is near;
the LORD has prepared a sacrifice
    and consecrated his guests.
8 And on the day of the LORD's sacrifice--
“I will punish the officials and the king's sons
    and all who array themselves in foreign attire.
9 On that day I will punish
    everyone who leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master's house
    with violence and fraud.

10 “On that day,” declares the LORD,
    “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
    a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
    For all the traders are no more;
    all who weigh out silver are cut off.
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
    and I will punish the men
who are complacent,
    those who say in their hearts,
‘The LORD will not do good,
    nor will he do ill.’
13 Their goods shall be plundered,
    and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
    they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
    they shall not drink wine from them.”

14 The great day of the LORD is near,
    near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter;
    the mighty man cries aloud there.
15 A day of wrath is that day,
    a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
    a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16     a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
    and against the lofty battlements.

17 I will bring distress on mankind,
    so that they shall walk like the blind,
    because they have sinned against the LORD;
their blood shall be poured out like dust,
    and their flesh like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
    shall be able to deliver them
    on the day of the wrath of the LORD.
In the fire of his jealousy,
    all the earth shall be consumed;
for a full and sudden end
    he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

The people are commanded to be silent before the LORD.  They are to wait in awe (and probably fear) as the coming judgment approaches because the LORD Himself will cause this to happen, though He will use the Chaldeans to do it.  All those who continue in rebellion and associate themselves with the nations of the world will be judged, even the rich and powerful like the kings and their sons.  Any who have used violence to accumulate wealth for themselves will have violence turned against them and their wealth will not save them--it will be taken away to foreign lands.

The people will cry out, but not for salvation.  They will comfort themselves by saying something to the effect of "God is dead"--He can do neither good nor bad towards them.  They will not fear Him, but also will not cry out to Him for salvation.  The LORD will look for all such men and women in all the dark corners of the city and they will all be destroyed.  Only those who hope in the LORD and know He is their salvation will remain.  They will build houses they will not live in, plant vineyards that others will harvest and turn into wine to enjoy, and others will possess all the goods they have acquired for themselves.

The coming Day of the LORD that is mentioned here is a day that His judgment and wrath (though not His full wrath that we will see poured out on the wicked in the end times) is poured out on His people and it will be a day of mourning and great sadness for them.  It will not be like the day of salvation and rejoicing that we see associated with the coming Day of the LORD when all of the LORD's enemies will be defeated.  That is why when we see this "Day of the LORD" mentioned in prophecy we need to think about if the prophecies have a "near" or "far" fulfillment (we may not know, and this is part of what confused the Jewish people about the coming of Messiah, as that too was proclaimed to be the Day of the LORD).  This is a time of anguish, darkness and gloom for them.  Many will die and many others will wish they were dead when they watch their loved ones die or be taken away into exile and all they worked for and loved destroyed--even the Temple sanctuary will be ransacked and the holy things taken away by the plunderers.  They will blow the trumpet blast to sound the alarm and call for help, but there will be no one to come to their rescue.

The LORD reminds the people that the Day is hastening (coming quickly) and without warning other than the warning He has given through His prophets.  They will have no time to prepare for it once it starts.  They are not to fight it, for that will certainly lead to their death.  Their only hope to surrender and trust the LORD to save their descendants and return them to the Land one day.

The LORD will not be impressed by the silver, gold, or other wealth they have accumulated for themselves (much of it by sinful means that the LORD calls abominations).  His jealousy (because they worship other gods) will consume them like fire.  This is one of the attributes of the LORD we don't talk about much, but His name is Jealous and He is allowed to be jealous without sinning.  We typically cannot be jealous without sinning.  Now it's talking about the whole earth being consumed--that sounds like something far away in the Great Day of the LORD that is coming that we read about in the book of Revelation which will lead to the destruction of all evil men.  See how the prophets get a mixture of both "near" and "far" events together and it is hard to separate them?  It is easier for us to pick out the events that have already happened and those that have not yet happened, but this is what makes studying books of prophecy "confusing" for some people as the same prophecy can have implications for something in the past, something right now, and something or some things still to come in the future.  We trust the LORD to bring about His perfect plan in His perfect way and in His perfect time.  We too will be silent and wait and see what He is going to do, but we wait for His salvation and deliverance, not His judgment.

Zephaniah 1:1-6
English Standard Version

1 The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

The Coming Judgment on Judah
2 “I will utterly sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
3 “I will sweep away man and beast;
    I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
    and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
    I will cut off mankind
    from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
    and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
    and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 those who bow down on the roofs
    to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the LORD
    and yet swear by Milcom,
6 those who have turned back from following the LORD,
    who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him.”

Another short letter to the people of Judah--probably right before the time of judgment as a summary of everything the people have been told and neglected to heed or outright rejected.  The judgment is coming, and its practically on their doorstep at this point.

The LORD will sweep away (destroy) all of the things that he filled the earth, sky, and sea with.  Man is mentioned both first and last here to emphasize that the judgment will be focused on them, but all of creation will feel it.  Why the focus on man?  Because he's not the same as the plants and animals.  He was made in the image of God with the responsibility of being God's image-bearer and viceroy over creation.  He was made different than all of the other animals as God fashioned him and breathed His Spirit into him.

When Man fell, all of Creation fell with him.  Now the people are extremely rebellious.  They should be God's people and His ambassadors, but they worship other gods, have priests and priestesses to idols, and the people bow down to the sun, moon, stars and planets and worship them as they celebrate and pray on their rooftops.  No longer do they ask for the LORD's help with they don't understand something, nor do they listen to His prophets when He sends them.  Instead they turn to the comfort of their idols and their false prophets that tell the people what they want to hear (usually for the right price).  For all this and more the people of Judah will be judged.