KING JAMES VERSION (KJV)
TRANSLATION, MEANING, CONTEXT
To get what Zephaniah 2:3 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity.
“Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.”
What does this verse really mean? Use this table to get a word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew Scripture. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Use this reference information to gain deeper insight into the Bible and enrich your understanding. Information based on Strong's Exhaustive Concordance[1].
| KJV Verse | Original Hebrew | Meaning/ Definition This is a simplified translation of the original Hebrew word. Follow the buttons on the right to get more detail. | More Use the buttons below to get details on the Hebrew word and view related Bible verses that use the same root word. |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Seek” | בַּקְּשׁ֤וּ | To search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after | Seek |
| “ye” | אֶת | Properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely) | ye |
| “the Lord,” | יְהוָה֙ | (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God | Lord |
| “all” | כָּל | Properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense) | all |
| “ye meek” | עַנְוֵ֣י | Depressed (figuratively), in mind (gentle) or circumstances (needy, especially saintly) | meek |
| “of the earth,” | הָאָ֔רֶץ | The earth (at large, or partitively a land) | earth |
| “which” | אֲשֶׁ֥ר | Who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc | which |
| “have wrought” | פָּעָ֑לוּ | To do or make (systematically and habitually), especially to practise | wrought |
| “his judgment;” | מִשְׁפָּט֖וֹ | Properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style | judgment |
| “seek” | בַּקְּשׁוּ | To search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after | seek |
| “righteousness,” | צֶ֙דֶק֙ | The right (natural, moral or legal); also (abstractly) equity or (figuratively) prosperity | righteousness |
| “seek” | בַּקְּשׁ֣וּ | To search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after | seek |
| “meekness:” | עֲנָוָ֔ה | Condescension, human and subjective (modesty), or divine and objective (clemency) | meekness |
| “it may be” | אוּלַי֙ | If not; hence perhaps | it may be |
| “ye shall be hid” | תִּסָּ֣תְר֔וּ | To hide (by covering), literally or figuratively | hid |
| “in the day” | בְּי֖וֹם | A day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb) | day |
| “of the Lord's” | יְהוָֽה׃ | (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God | Lords |
| “anger.” | אַף | Properly, the nose or nostril; hence, the face, and occasionally a person; also (from the rapid breathing in passion) ire | anger |
See Zephaniah 2:3 with its adjacent verses in bold below. Follow either of the two large buttons below to see these verses in their broader context of the King James Bible or a Bible concordance.
| Very High |
Verse Search Popularity Levels What do people search for?Use the scale on the left to tell how often the verses below are googled compared to each other. |
|
| High | ||
| Medium | ||
| Low | ||
| Very Low |
1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you.
3 Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.
4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the Lord is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
The King James Bible (1611) and Strong's Concordance (1890) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool.