Zephaniah 2:2 (DRB)

Passage

Before the decree bring forth the day as dust passing away, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's indignation come upon you.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 2:1 Assemble yourselves together, be gathered together, O nation not worthy to be loved:

Zephaniah 2:2 Before the decree bring forth the day as dust passing away, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's indignation come upon you.

Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, you that have wrought his judgment: seek the just, seek the meek: if by any means you may be hid in the day of the Lord's indignation.

Zephaniah 2:4 For Gaza shall be destroyed, and Ascalon shall be a desert, they shall cast out Azotus at noonday, and Accaron shall be rooted up.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "before", "decree", "bring", "forth", "dust", "passing", and "away". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "before" and "decree", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Assemble yourselves together be gathered together O..." into verse 3's "Seek the Lord all ye meek of...", so "before" and "decree" 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 "before" and "decree" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.