Zephaniah 1:1 (WEB)

Passage

Yahweh’s word which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 1:1 Yahweh’s word which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.

Zephaniah 1:2 I will utterly sweep away everything from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh.

Zephaniah 1:3 I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "yahweh", "word", "came", "zephaniah", "cushi", "gedaliah", "amariah", and "hezekiah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "yahweh" and "word", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The next verse adds "I will utterly sweep away everything from...", so "yahweh" and "word" should be read forward into that movement. In Zephaniah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "yahweh" and "word" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.