New International Version
Zephaniah 2:3
3Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.
Zephaniah 2:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Seek the Lord, all who are humble, and follow his commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you— protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
Context of Zephaniah 2:3
1Gather together, gather yourselves together, you shameful nation, 2before the decree takes effect and that day passes like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger. 4Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted. 5Woe to you who live by the sea, you Kerethite people; the word of the Lord is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines. He says, “I will destroy you, and none will be left.”
Read all of Zephaniah 2Zephaniah 2:3 word by word
בַּקְּשׁ֤וּ אֶת־יְהוָה֙ כָּל־עַנְוֵ֣י הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִשְׁפָּט֖וֹ פָּעָ֑לוּ בַּקְּשׁוּ־צֶ֙דֶק֙ בַּקְּשׁ֣וּ עֲנָוָ֔ה אוּלַי֙ תִּסָּ֣תְר֔וּ בְּי֖וֹם אַף־יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Seekבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
- ye the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- all ye meekעָנָו‛ânâv ‛ânâyv · poorH6035
- of the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- which have wroughtפָּעַלpâ‛al · to workH6466
- his judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justiceH4941
- righteousnessצֶ֫דֶקtsedeq · righteousnessH6664
- meeknessעֲנָוָה‛ănâvâh · humilityH6038
- it may beאוּלַי'ûlay 'ûlay · perhapsH194
- ye shall be hidסָתַרsâthar · to hideH5641
- in the dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- angerאַף'aph · face: angerH639
Cross-references for Zephaniah 2:3
- Psalms 105:4Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
- Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
- Jeremiah 3:13Only acknowledge your guilt— you have rebelled against the Lord your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,’ ” declares the Lord.
- Jeremiah 4:1“If you, Israel, will return, then return to me,” declares the Lord. “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray,
- Jeremiah 29:12Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
- Hosea 7:10Israel’s arrogance testifies against him, but despite all this he does not return to the Lord his God or search for him.
- Hosea 10:12Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.
- Amos 5:4This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live;
- Matthew 7:7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
- 2 Chronicles 34:27Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord.
- Psalms 22:26The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever!
- Psalms 25:8Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
- Psalms 76:9when you, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land.
- Psalms 149:4For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.
- Isaiah 61:1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
- Jeremiah 22:15“Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.
Commentaries on Zephaniah 2:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Ye meek of the earth - ענוי anavey, ye oppressed and humbled of the land. It may be ye shall be hid - The sword has not a commission against you. Ask God, and he will be a refuge to you from the storm and from the tempest.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Seek ye the Lord - He had exhorted sinners to penitence; he now calls the righteous to persevere and increase more and more. He bids them “seek diligently”, and that with a three-fold call, to seek Him from whom they received daily the three-fold blessing Numbers 6:23-26, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as he had just before threatened God‘s impending judgment with the same use of the mysterious number, three. They, whom he calls, were already, by the grace…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3all you humble: True humility means submitting to and depending on God (Psalms 18:25–27; 119:142–144; Proverbs 15:33; 18:12; 22:4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. As in Zep 2:1 (compare Note, see on Zep 1:12) he had warned the hardened among the people to humble themselves, so now he admonishes "the meek" to proceed in their right course, that so they may escape the general calamity (Psa 76:9). The meek bow themselves under God's chastisements to God's will, whereas the ungodly become only the more hardened by them. Seek ye the Lord--in contrast to those that "sought not the Lord" (Zep 1:6). The meek are not to…Read the comment
Topics related to Zephaniah 2:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Zephaniah 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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