Editing Zephaniah (section)

===The Book of Zephaniah===<!-- This section is linked from [[Zephaniah]] -->
[[File:Sophonie s'adressant au peuple.jpg|thumb|upright|Zephaniah addressing people (France, 16th century).]]
The [[Book of Zephaniah]] contains the fundamental ideas of the preaching of Zephaniah. The scheme of the book in its present form is as follows:

# '''Zephaniah 1:2–2:3.''' Warnings about the "day of the Lord", a ''Dies irae, dies illa''<ref>"That day of wrath, that dreadful day," as described in ''Nelson's Compact Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', pp. 283, 283, Thomas Nelson Publishers (1964). Pre-ISBN book, only later (1978) edition found in WorldCat, {{ISBN|978-0-8407-5636-7}}.</ref> of the Old Testament. The judgment of the Lord will descend on Judah and Jerusalem as a punishment for the awful degeneracy in religious life (1:4–7a); it will extend to all classes of the people (1:7b–13), and will be attended with all the horrors of a frightful catastrophe (1:14–18); therefore, repent and seek the Lord (2:1–3).
# '''Zephaniah 2:4–15.''' Not only Jerusalem, but the entire world is subject to judgment, including the Philistines, (4–7) Moabites, Ammonites, (8–11) Ethiopians, (12) Assyrians and Ninevites (13-15).
# '''Zephaniah 3:1–8.''' The Prophet focuses once again on Jerusalem: "Woe to the provoking, and redeemed city ... She hath not hearkened to the voice, neither hath she received discipline." The severest reckoning will be required of the leading classes of the civil community, and of the Prophets and priests as the directors of public worship.
# '''Zephaniah 3:9–20.''' With a prophetic glance at the Kingdom of God of the future, in which all the world unites and turns to God, the prosperity of the Messianic Kingdom will be enjoyed.
# '''Zephaniah 3:9–20.''' The last message of Zephaniah also has a Messianic coloring, although not to an extent comparable with that which may be found in the [[Book of Isaiah]].