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Zephaniah 3:13

in Zephaniah 3

The remnant of Israel will no longer do wrong or speak lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. But they will feed and lie down, with no one to make them tremble.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

KJV

The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

This verse in Zephaniah 3

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Zephaniah · Written before 420.

(Verse 10 onwards) Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, there my scattered children, the offspring of my dispersed ones, will bring a gift to me. On that day you will no longer be ashamed of all your rebellious acts against me, for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast of their arrogance, and you will no longer exalt yourself on my holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a humble and oppressed people, and they will trust in the name of the Lord.

This site's exposition

them that rejoice in thy pride

on Zephaniah 3:11-13

Shame is removed not by forgetting the transgression but by removing the proud from the city's midst, the purge the bench reads as moral rather than merely political, pride specifically named as what must go before shame can lift. Verse 12 leaves in the city's place an afflicted and poor people who trust in the name of the Lord, the same remnant theme running through the whole book from the meek of 2:3 to the hidden ones the prophet's own name carries. Verse 13's remnant that shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies, feeding and lying down with none to make them afraid, pictures Micah's vine and fig tree peace given not to the powerful but to the humbled.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the L ORD . After the promises of the taking away of sin, here follow promises of the taking away of trouble; for when the cause is removed the effect will cease.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:43w-of-73

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

) that their sins should be mortified and their fears silenced, and then follows, Sing and rejoice. Note, Those that reform have cause to rejoice, whereas Israel cannot rejoice for joy as other people, while she goes a whoring from her God. God's promises, applied by faith, furnish the saints with constant and abundant matter for joy; they are filled with joy and peace in believing them.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

The remnant of Israel - The same poor people, the “true Israel” of whom God said, “I leave over” (the word is the same) “a poor people,” few, compared with the rest who were blinded; of whom the Lord said, “I know whom I have chosen” Joh 13:18. These “shall not do iniquity nor speak lies.” Cyril: “This is a spiritual adorning, a most beautiful coronet of glorious virtues.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

nor speak lies--worshipping God in truth, and towards man having love without dissimulation. The characteristic of the 144,000 sealed of Israel. none shall make them afraid--either foreign foe, or unjust prince (Zep 3:3), prophet, or priest (Zep 3:4).

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity - O what a change! And then, how different shall they be from their present selves! Iniquity, lying, and deceit shall not be found among them! A Jew once said to me “Tere are shome of you Christians who are making wonderful efforts to convert the Tshews (Jews.) Ah, dere ish none but Gott Almighty dat can convert a Tshew.” Truly I believe him. Only God can convert any man; and if there be a peculiar difficulty to convert any soul, that difficulty must lie in the conversion of the Jew.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

a humble and poor people A humble people that submits to humiliation.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Zephaniah 3:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • שְׁאֵרִ֨ית[the] remnant of

    sheeritH761166 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֜לIsrael

    yisraelH34782507 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H38085168 times

  • יַעֲשׂ֤וּthey will do

    yaasuH62132628 times

  • עַוְלָה֙injustice

    ʾavlahH5766

  • וְלֹא־and not

    velo'-H38085168 times

  • יְדַבְּר֣וּthey will speak

    yedaberuH1696

  • כָזָ֔בfalsehood

    khazavH3577

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H38085168 times

  • יִמָּצֵ֥אit will be found

    yimatze'H4672

  • בְּפִיהֶ֖םin mouth their

    befihemH6310

  • לְשׁ֣וֹןa tongue of

    leshonH3956

  • תַּרְמִ֑יתdeceitfulness

    tarmitH8649

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H35884482 times

  • הֵ֛מָּהthey

    hemahH1992

  • יִרְע֥וּthey will graze

    yiruH7462177 times

  • וְרָבְצ֖וּand they will lie down

    veravetzuH725730 times

  • וְאֵ֥יןand there not

    veeinH369789 times

  • מַחֲרִֽיד׃ ס[will be one who] disturbs [them]

    macharidH2729

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Micah 4:4

    And each man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, with no one to frighten him. For the mouth of the LORD of Hosts has spoken.

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 3:10

      On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, you will each invite your neighbor to sit under your own vine and fig tree.’”

    • 1 Kings 4:25

      Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.

  • Through

    Isaiah 60:21

    Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 15:13

      But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots.

    • Psalms 37:22

      Surely those He blesses will inherit the land, but the cursed will be destroyed.

    • Psalms 37:11

      But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant prosperity.

  • Through

    Revelation 14:5

    And no lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 5:27

      and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

    • Psalms 32:2

      Blessed is the man whose iniquity the LORD does not count against him, in whose spirit there is no deceit.

  • Through

    Zephaniah 2:7

    The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. They will lie down in the evening among the houses of Ashkelon, for the LORD their God…

    it leads to

    • Exodus 4:31

      and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.

Where this verse is studied

About Zephaniah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zephaniah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.