Zephaniah 3:3 (YLT)

Passage

Her heads in her midst <FI>are<Fi> roaring lions, Her judges <FI>are<Fi> evening wolves, They have not gnawn the bone in the morning.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 3:1 Woe <FI>to<Fi> the rebellious and polluted, The oppressing city!

Zephaniah 3:2 She hath not hearkened to the voice, She hath not accepted instruction, In Jehovah she hath not trusted, Unto her God she hath not drawn near.

Zephaniah 3:3 Her heads in her midst <FI>are<Fi> roaring lions, Her judges <FI>are<Fi> evening wolves, They have not gnawn the bone in the morning.

Zephaniah 3:4 Her prophets unstable--men of treachery, Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, They have violated the law.

Zephaniah 3:5 Jehovah <FI>is<Fi> righteous in her midst, He doth not do perverseness, Morning by morning His judgment he giveth to the light, It hath not been lacking, And the perverse doth not know shame.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heads", "midst", "roaring", "lions", "judges", "evening", "wolves", and "gnawn". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heads" and "midst", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "She hath not hearkened to the voice..." into verse 4's "Her prophets unstable--men of treachery Her priests...", so "heads" and "midst" 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 "heads" and "midst" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.