Zephaniah 3:20
in Zephaniah 3At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you. For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your captives before your very eyes,” says the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring back your captivity before your eyes, saith Jehovah.
KJV
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 Lord.
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This verse in Zephaniah 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAt that time - First, when the seventy years of the Babylonish captivity shall terminate. “I will bring you again” to your own land; and this restoration shall be a type of their redemption from sin and iniquity; and at this time, and at this only, will they have a name and praise among all the people of the earth, not only among the Jews, but the Gentiles. Before your eyes - Some read before Their eyes; that is, the eyes of all people.
This site's exposition
the solemn assembly
on Zephaniah 3:18-20
Those sorrowful for the solemn assembly are read by the bench as exiles grieving the feasts they could no longer keep, the reproach of losing Jerusalem's worship named as a burden the Lord promises specifically to lift. Verse 19's I will undo all that afflict thee, saving her that halteth and gathering her that was driven out, picks up Micah 4:6-7's same lame and driven out remnant, the Twelve's shared vocabulary for restoration. The book's last verse turns the reproach of verse 18 into praise and fame in every land, the same nations who watched Jerusalem's shame in chapter 1 becoming witnesses of her name and praise when the Lord turns back her captivity before her own eyes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Verse 19, 20: Behold, I will kill all those who have afflicted you at that time; and I will save the lame, and gather her who was cast out; and I will make them a praise and a name in all the earth's confusion. In the time when I bring you; and in the time when I gather you: for I will give you a name and a praise to all the peoples of the earth, when I turn your captivity before your eyes, says the Lord.
The salvation of human beings rests with divine lovingkindness alone: we do not earn it as the wages of righteousness; rather, it is a gift of divine goodness. Hence the Lord says, "on your behalf I shall save and welcome" and make my own what …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Thus the "Redeemer shall come to Zion," and to clear his own way, shall "turn away ungodliness from Jacob." These promises were to have their full accomplishment in gospel-times and gospel-graces. The Depravity of Jerusalem. 1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
The reproach brought upon them was therefore one of the sorest of their grievances (nothing cuts deeper to those that are in honour than disgrace does); and therefore when God returns, in mercy, to his church, it is here promised that she shall regain her credit; all the reproach shall be for ever rolled way, as Israel's at Gilgal, Josh. v. 9 .
17 ), and some of all nations said, we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you, Zech. viii. So the Christian church was when it was made to flourish in the world, for there is that in it which may justly recommend it to the value and esteem of all the people of the earth.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
At that time I will bring you again, even in the time that I gather you,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The Hebrew is plural, "captivities"; to express the captivities of different ages of their history, as well as the diversity of places in which they were and are dispersed. before your eyes--Incredible as the event may seem, your own eyes with delight shall see it.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
At that time will I bring you in - that is, into the one fold, the one Church, the one “Household of God, even in the time that I gather you.” “That time” is the whole time of the Gospel; the one “day of salvation,” in which all who shall ever be gathered, shall be brought into the new Jerusalem. These words were fulfilled, when, at our Lord’s first Coming, the remnant, the true Israel, those “ordained to eternal life” were brought in. It shall be fulfilled again, when “the fullness of the Gentiles shall be “come in,” and so all Israel shall be saved” Rom 11:25-26. It shall most perfectly be fulfilled at the end, when there shall be no going out of those once “brought” in, and those who have gathered others into the Church, shall be “a name and a praise among all people of the earth,” those whom God hath “redeemed out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” Rev 5:9, shining like stars forever and ever. When I turn back your captivity - Rup.: “That conversion, then begun, now perfected, when the dead shall rise and they shall be placed on the right hand, soon to receive the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. O mighty spectacle of the reversed captivity of those once captives; mighty wonder at their present blessedness, as they review the misery of their past captivity!” “Before your eyes,” so that we shall see what we now believe and hope for, the end of all our sufferings, chastisements, losses, achings of the heart, the fullness of our Redemption. That which our eyes have looked for, “our eyes shall behold and not another,” the everliving God as He is, face to Face; “saith the Lord,” Who is the Truth Itself, all Whose words will be fulfilled. […]
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָּעֵ֤ת | baet | at the time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| הַהִיא֙ | hahi' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| אָבִ֣יא | ʾavi' | I will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֔ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וּבָעֵ֖ת | uvaet | and at the time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| קַבְּצִ֣י | kabetzi | to gather I | H6908 → | 127 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֑ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֶתֵּ֨ן | ʾeten | I will make | H5414 → | |
| אֶתְכֶ֜ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לְשֵׁ֣ם | leshem | <into> a name | H8034 → | 864 times |
| וְלִתְהִלָּ֗ה | velithilah | and <into> praise | H8416 → | |
| בְּכֹל֙ | bekhol | among all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עַמֵּ֣י | ʾamei | [the] peoples of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בְּשׁוּבִ֧י | beshuvi | when turn back I | H7725 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁבוּתֵיכֶ֛ם | shevuteikhem | captiviti<es> your | H7622 → | |
| לְעֵינֵיכֶ֖ם | leeineikhem | to eyes your | H5869 → | |
| אָמַ֥ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
בָּעֵ֤תat the time
baetH6256 →296 times
הַהִיא֙<the> that
hahi'H1931 →1879 times
אָבִ֣יאI will bring
ʾavi'H935 →2568 times
אֶתְכֶ֔ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
וּבָעֵ֖תand at the time
uvaetH6256 →296 times
קַבְּצִ֣יto gather I
kabetziH6908 →127 times
אֶתְכֶ֑ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֶתֵּ֨ןI will make
ʾetenH5414 →
אֶתְכֶ֜ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
לְשֵׁ֣ם<into> a name
leshemH8034 →864 times
וְלִתְהִלָּ֗הand <into> praise
velithilahH8416 →
בְּכֹל֙among all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
עַמֵּ֣י[the] peoples of
ʾameiH5971 →1873 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
בְּשׁוּבִ֧יwhen turn back I
beshuviH7725 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁבוּתֵיכֶ֛םcaptiviti<es> your
shevuteikhemH7622 →
לְעֵינֵיכֶ֖םto eyes your
leeineikhemH5869 →
אָמַ֥רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Isaiah 60:15Whereas you have been forsaken and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, a joy from age to age.
it leads to
- Isaiah 61:7
Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy…
- Jeremiah 30:17
But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
- Isaiah 49:14–23
But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!”
- Isaiah 61:7
Through
Jeremiah 29:14I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD.…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 30:3
For behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore from captivity My people Israel and Judah, declares the LORD. I will restore them to the land that I gave to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 30:3
Through
Isaiah 56:5I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be…
it leads to
- Revelation 3:12
The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the…
- Revelation 3:5
Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His…
- 1 John 3:1
Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is…
- Revelation 3:12
Through
Amos 9:14I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
it leads to
- Isaiah 61:4
They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
- Isaiah 61:4
Where this verse is studied
About Zephaniah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ZEPHANIAH 3:19-20.