Therefore wait ye for me, saith Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
Zephaniah 3:6 I have cut off nations; their battlements are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
Zephaniah 3:7 I said, Only fear thou me; receive correction; so her dwelling shall not be cut off, [according to] all that I have appointed concerning her: but they rose early and corrupted all their doings.
Zephaniah 3:8 Therefore wait ye for me, saith Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
Zephaniah 3:9 For then will I turn to the peoples of a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent.
Zephaniah 3:10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
The verse centers on "therefore", "wait", "saith", "jehovah", "until", "rise", "prey", and "determination". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "therefore" and "wait", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 7's "I said Only fear thou me receive..." into verse 9's "For then will I turn to the...", so "therefore" and "wait" belong inside that flow. In Zephaniah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "therefore" and "wait" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.