Zephaniah 3:14 Explained

"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem." — Zephaniah 3:14 (KJV)

A command to sing, issued at the end of the bleakest short book in the Old Testament.

Read it in context: The Book of Zephaniah. Also gathered under verses about joy.

Zephaniah 3:14 in context

What does Zephaniah 3:14 mean?

Four imperatives — sing, shout, be glad, rejoice — addressed to a people who have just been told what is coming. Joy is commanded rather than described, which means it is treated as something that can be obeyed. 'With all the heart' closes the escape route of doing it half-heartedly. Three verses later the same book has God singing over them, which is the only place in Scripture that image appears.

What is the context of Zephaniah 3:14?

Zephaniah opens by announcing that God will sweep everything from the face of the earth, and does not let up for two and a half chapters. This verse begins the last twenty lines, and nothing in the book prepares you for the change of key.

How do I pray Zephaniah 3:14?

Pray it as an instruction you are under rather than a mood you are waiting for. Sing something, out loud, badly. The command is not conditional on the situation having improved — in Zephaniah it has not — and treating it as conditional is how it gets postponed indefinitely.

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