Zephaniah 1:6 (DRB)

Passage

And them that turn away from following after the Lord, and that have not sought the Lord, nor searched after him.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 1:4 And I will stretch out my hand upon Juda, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and I will destroy out of this place the remnant of Baal, and the names of the wardens of the temples with the priests:

Zephaniah 1:5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the tops of houses, and them that adore, and swear by the Lord, and swear by Melchom.

Zephaniah 1:6 And them that turn away from following after the Lord, and that have not sought the Lord, nor searched after him.

Zephaniah 1:7 Be silent before the face of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord hath prepared a victim, he hath sanctified his guests.

Zephaniah 1:8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the victim of the Lord, that I will visit upon the princes, and upon the king's sons, and upon all such as are clothed with strange apparel:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "turn", "away", "following", "after", "lord", "sought", and "searched". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "turn" and "away", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "And them that worship the host of..." into verse 7's "Be silent before the face of the...", so "turn" and "away" 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 "turn" and "away" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.