Therefore wait ye for me, saith Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to assemble the nations, that I may gather the kingdoms together, to pour upon them mine indignation, 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 made their streets waste, 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 me, receive correction; so her dwelling shall not be cut off, howsoever I may punish her. But they rose early, they 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 assemble the nations, that I may gather the kingdoms together, to pour upon them mine indignation, 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 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 Cush my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine oblation.
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 me receive correction..." 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.