Zephaniah 1:6 (YLT)

Passage

And those removing from after Jehovah, And who have not sought Jehovah, nor besought Him.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 1:4 And stretched out My hand against Judah, And against all inhabiting Jerusalem, And cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, The name of the idolatrous priests, with the priests,

Zephaniah 1:5 And those bowing themselves On the roofs to the host of the heavens, And those bowing themselves, Swearing to Jehovah, and swearing by Malcham,

Zephaniah 1:6 And those removing from after Jehovah, And who have not sought Jehovah, nor besought Him.

Zephaniah 1:7 Hush! because of the Lord Jehovah, For near <FI>is<Fi> a day of Jehovah, For prepared hath Jehovah a sacrifice, He hath sanctified His invited ones.

Zephaniah 1:8 And it hath come to pass, In the day of the sacrifice of Jehovah, That I have laid a charge on the heads, And on sons of the king, And on all putting on strange clothing.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "removing", "after", "jehovah", "sought", and "besought". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "removing" and "after", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "And those bowing themselves On the roofs..." into verse 7's "Hush because of the Lord Jehovah For...", so "removing" and "after" 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 "removing" and "after" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.