Zephaniah 3:6 (GNV)

Passage

I haue cut off the nations: their towres are desolate: I haue made their streetes waste, that none shall passe by: their cities are destroyed without man and without inhabitant.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 3:4 Her prophets are light, and wicked persons: her priests haue polluted the Sanctuarie: they haue wrested the Lawe.

Zephaniah 3:5 The iust Lord is in the middes thereof: he will doe none iniquitie: euery morning doeth hee bring his iudgement to light, he faileth not: but the wicked will not learne to be ashamed.

Zephaniah 3:6 I haue cut off the nations: their towres are desolate: I haue made their streetes waste, that none shall passe by: their cities are destroyed without man and without inhabitant.

Zephaniah 3:7 I said, Surely thou wilt feare me: thou wilt receiue instruction: so their dwelling shoulde not be destroyed howsoeuer I visited them, but they rose earely and corrupted all their workes.

Zephaniah 3:8 Therefore wait ye vpon me, saith the Lord, vntill the day that I rise vp to the praye: for I am determined to gather the nations, and that I will assemble the kingdomes to powre vpon them mine indignation, euen all my fierce wrath: for all the earth shall be deuoured with the fire of my ielousie.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "haue", "nations", "towres", "desolate", "streetes", "waste", and "none". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "haue" and "nations", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "The iust Lord is in the middes..." into verse 7's "I said Surely thou wilt feare me...", so "haue" and "nations" 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 "haue" and "nations" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.