Zephaniah 1:3 (WEB)

Passage

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.

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.

Zephaniah 1:4 I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place: the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests,

Zephaniah 1:5 those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sweep", "away", "animal", "birds", "fish", and "heaps". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sweep" and "away", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "I will utterly sweep away everything from..." into verse 4's "I will stretch out my hand against...", so "sweep" 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 "sweep" and "away" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.