Zephaniah 3:5 (KJV)

Passage

The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.

Nearby Context

Zephaniah 3:3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.

Zephaniah 3:4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.

Zephaniah 3:5 The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.

Zephaniah 3:6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.

Zephaniah 3:7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "just", "lord", "midst", "thereof", "iniquity", "morning", and "doth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "just", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Her prophets are light and treacherous persons..." into verse 6's "I have cut off the nations their...", so "light" and "just" 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 "light" and "just" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.