Zephaniah 3:6–8 concludes the middle section of the prophecy (Zephaniah 2:1 – 3:8) by directly quoting the Lord. He first summarizes some of his works in the past against other people rather than the people of Jerusalem. He indicates that his judgments on the nations (expressed in Zephaniah 2:4–15 were in part meant to be an image that Israel was to learn from, so that they might repent from their wickedness and turn to him. But especially Zephaniah 3:7–8 make plain that as nothing has availed, the people will have to take their place among the nations and wait for the Lord’s [universal] judgment.
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6 “I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant.