5 Jehovah `is' righteous in her midst, He doth not do perverseness, Morning by morning His judgment he giveth to the light, It hath not been lacking, And the perverse doth not know shame.
Jehovah hath turned aside thy judgments, He hath faced thine enemy, The king of Israel, Jehovah, `is' in thy midst, Thou seest evil no more.
The Rock! -- perfect `is' His work, For all His ways `are' just; God of stedfastness, and without iniquity: Righteous and upright `is' He.
for Jehovah thy God is walking up and down in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give thine enemies before thee, and thy camp hath been holy, and He doth not see in thee the nakedness of anything, and hath turned back from after thee.
Therefore, O men of heart, hearken to me; Far be it from God to do wickedness, And `from' the Mighty to do perverseness:
Righteous `is' Jehovah in all His ways, And kind in all His works.
And again, I have seen under the sun the place of judgment -- there `is' the wicked; and the place of righteousness -- there `is' the wicked. I said in my heart, `The righteous and the wicked doth God judge, for a time `is' to every matter and for every work there.'
New every morning, abundant `is' thy faithfulness.
Jehovah thy God `is' in thy midst, A mighty one doth save, He rejoiceth over thee with joy, He doth work in His love, He joyeth over thee with singing.'
and if on the Father ye do call, who without acceptance of persons is judging according to the work of each, in fear the time of your sojourn pass ye,
so, then, nothing before the time judge ye, till the Lord may come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of the darkness, and will manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then the praise shall come to each from God.
but, according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou dost treasure up to thyself wrath, in a day of wrath and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
and there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known;
They were ashamed when they did abomination! Yea, they are not at all ashamed, Yea, blushing they have not known, Therefore they do fall among those falling, In the time I have inspected them, They stumble, said Jehovah.
Doth God pervert judgment? And doth the Mighty One pervert justice?
Yea, doth one hating justice govern? Or the Most Just dost thou condemn? Who hath said to a king -- `Worthless,' Unto princes -- `Wicked?' That hath not accepted the person of princes, Nor hath known the rich before the poor, For a work of His hands `are' all of them.
From the fulness of its passing over it taketh you, For morning by morning it passeth over, By day and by night, And it hath been only a trembling to consider the report.
O Jehovah, favour us, for thee we have waited, Be their arm, in the mornings, Yea, our salvation in time of adversity.
Declare ye, and bring near, Yea, they take counsel together, Who hath proclaimed this from of old? From that time hath declared it? Is it not I -- Jehovah? And there is no other god besides Me, A God righteous and saving, there is none save Me.
The Lord Jehovah hath given to me The tongue of taught ones, To know to aid the weary `by' a word, He waketh morning by morning, He waketh for me an ear to hear as taught ones.
Far be it from Thee to do according to this thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked; that it hath been -- as the righteous so the wicked -- far be it from Thee; doth the Judge of all the earth not do justice?'
They were ashamed when they did abomination! Yea, they are not at all ashamed, And blushing they have not known, Therefore, they do fall among falling ones, In the time of their inspection they stumble, said Jehovah.
Round about `is' eighteen thousand, and the renown of the city `is' from the day Jehovah `is' there.'
Her heads for a bribe do judge, And her priests for hire do teach, And her prophets for silver divine, And on Jehovah they lean, saying, `Is not Jehovah in our midst? Evil doth not come in upon us.'
Why dost Thou shew me iniquity, And perversity dost cause to behold? And spoiling and violence `are' before me, And there is strife, and contention doth lift `itself' up,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Zephaniah 3
Commentary on Zephaniah 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
We now return to Jerusalem, and must again hear what God has to say to her,
Thus the "Redeemer shall come to Zion,' and to clear his own way, shall "turn away ungodliness from Jacob.' These promises were to have their full accomplishment in gospel-times and gospel-graces.
Zep 3:1-7
One would wonder that Jerusalem, the holy city, where God was known, and his name was great, should be the city of which this black character is here given, that a place which enjoyed such abundance of the means of grace should become so very corrupt and vicious, and that God should permit it to be so; yet so it is, to show that the law made nothing perfect; but if this be the true character of Jerusalem, as no doubt it is (for God's judgments will make none worse than they are), it is no wonder that the prophet begins with woe to her. For the holy God hates sin in those that are nearest to him, nay, in them he hates it most. A sinful state is, and will be, a woeful state.
Zep 3:8-13
Things looked very bad with Jerusalem in the foregoing verses; she has got into a very bad name, and seems to be incorrigible, incurable, mercy-proof and judgment-proof. Now one would think it should follow, Therefore expect no other but that she should be utterly abandoned and rejected as reprobate silver; since they will not be wrought upon by prophets or providences, let them be made a desolation as their neighbours have been. But behold and wonder at the riches of divine grace, which takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious. They still grew worse and worse, therefore wait you upon me, saith the Lord, v. 8. "Since the law, it seems, will make nothing perfect, the bringing in of a better hope shall. Let those that lament the corruptions of the church wait upon God, till he send his Son into the world, to save his people from their sins, till he send his gospel to reform and refine his church, and to purify to himself a peculiar people both of Jews and Gentiles.' And there were those who, according to this direction and encouragement, waited for redemption, for this redemption in Jerusalem; and long-looked-for came at last, Lu. 2:38. For judgment Christ will come into this world, Jn. 9:39.
Zep 3:14-20
After the promises of the taking away of sin, here follow promises of the taking away of trouble; for when the cause is removed the effect will cease. What makes a people holy will make them happy of course. The precious promises here made to the purified people were to have their full accomplishment in the comforts of the gospel, in the hope, and much more in the enjoyment, of which, they are here called upon,
Let us now see what these precious promises are which are here made to the people of God, for the banishing of their griefs and fears and the encouraging of their hopes and joys; and to us are these promises made as well as to them.