Flipping Zephaniah

This Sunday, the lectionary presents the second half of the third chapter of Zephaniah. 

Zephaniah 3:14-20

14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;

   shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

   O daughter Jerusalem!

15 The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,

   he has turned away your enemies.

The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

   you shall fear disaster no more.

16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

Do not fear, O Zion;

   do not let your hands grow weak.

17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,

   a warrior who gives victory;

he will rejoice over you with gladness,

   he will renew you* in his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing

18   as on a day of festival.*

I will remove disaster from you,*

   so that you will not bear reproach for it.

19 I will deal with all your oppressors

   at that time.

And I will save the lame

   and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise

   and renown in all the earth.

20 At that time I will bring you home,

   at the time when I gather you;

for I will make you renowned and praised

   among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

   before your eyes, says the Lord.

It is always a good thing to read what has been omitted from the Sunday lessons. Usually the Revised Common Lectionary omits verses that suggest judgement or imprecatory verses, and that is the case here when we flip back to verses 1-13,

1 Woe to the city of oppressors,

    rebellious and defiled!

2 She obeys no one,

    she accepts no correction.

She does not trust in the Lord,

    she does not draw near to her God.

3 Her officials within her

    are roaring lions;

her rulers are evening wolves,

    who leave nothing for the morning.

4 Her prophets are unprincipled;

    they are treacherous people.

Her priests profane the sanctuary

    and do violence to the law.

5 The Lord within her is righteous;

    he does no wrong.

Morning by morning he dispenses his justice,

    and every new day he does not fail,

    yet the unrighteous know no shame.

6 “I have destroyed nations;

    their strongholds are demolished.

I have left their streets deserted,

    with no one passing through.

Their cities are laid waste;

    they are deserted and empty.

7 Of Jerusalem I thought,

    ‘Surely you will fear me

    and accept correction!’

Then her place of refuge[a] would not be destroyed,

    nor all my punishments come upon[b] her.

But they were still eager

    to act corruptly in all they did.

8 Therefore wait for me,”

    declares the Lord,

    “for the day I will stand up to testify.

I have decided to assemble the nations,

    to gather the kingdoms

and to pour out my wrath on them—

    all my fierce anger.

The whole world will be consumed

    by the fire of my jealous anger.

9 “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples,

    that all of them may call on the name of the Lord

    and serve him shoulder to shoulder.

10 From beyond the rivers of Cush

    my worshipers, my scattered people,

    will bring me offerings.

11 On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame

    for all the wrongs you have done to me,

because I will remove from you

    your arrogant boasters.

Never again will you be haughty

    on my holy hill.

12 But I will leave within you

    the meek and humble.

The remnant of Israel

    will trust in the name of the Lord.

13 They will do no wrong;

    they will tell no lies.

A deceitful tongue

    will not be found in their mouths.

They will eat and lie down

    and no one will make them afraid.”

The words of the prophets may be written on the subway wall according to Simon and Garfunkle, but they are not written in the Sunday bulletins in many churches these days.