Bible Strands
Zephaniah 3:15
The LORD has taken away your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. Israel’s King, the LORD, is among you; no longer will you fear any harm.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses Daughter of Zion on a future day of restoration, sandwiched between a command to rejoice (v. 14) and a command not to fear (v. 16). The speaker is Yahweh himself, stated as a completed action.
The words — פִּנָּה (pi.Nah, "he has cleared away") is a rare verb for removing obstacles to make a clear space; it is not a gentle withdrawal but an active clearing. מִשְׁפָּטַיִךְ (mishpaTayikh) is "your judgments" in the legal sense, broader than the BSB's "punishment."
The thread — Isaiah 51:22 uses the same removal language for the cup of Yahweh's wrath; Amos 9:15 and Isaiah 60:18 both anchor the new state in permanence ("never again," "no longer"). The shared pattern is a definitive, irreversible act by Yahweh that ends a prior condition.
Why it lands — The verse does not ask the reader to feel brave; it declares that the object of fear has been removed by Yahweh's hand. The demand is to stop operating as if the threat still stands.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 51:22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.
- Isaiah 60:18 No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders. But you will name your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.
- Amos 9:15 I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
- Zephaniah 3:5 The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.
- Genesis 30:23 and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said.
- Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
- Ezekiel 39:29 And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.
- Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us.
- Ezekiel 37:24 My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes.