---
title: "Zephaniah 3 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/zephaniah/3/
description: "A woe to Jerusalem for her sins. A prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles… Zephaniah 3 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Zephaniah 3

Zephaniah 3 is chapter 3 of 3 in the Book of Zephaniah. Here are all 20 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> A woe to Jerusalem for her sins. A prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, and of the poor of Israel: God shall be with them. The Jews shall be converted at last.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Zephaniah 3 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. Woe to the provocatrix and the redeemed city, the dove.
2. She has not heeded the voice, nor has she accepted discipline. She has not trusted in the Lord; she did not draw near to her God.
3. Her leaders are in her midst like roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves; they leave nothing for the morning.
4. Her prophets are crazed; men without faith. Her priests have polluted what is holy; they have acted unjustly against the law.
5. The just Lord is in their midst; he will not do iniquity. In the morning, in the morning, he will bring his judgment into the light, and it will not be hidden. But the impious one has not known shame.
6. I have dispersed the nations, and their towers have been torn down. I have made their ways deserts, until there were none who passed through. Their cities have become desolate, with no man remaining, nor any inhabitant.
7. I said: Nevertheless, you will fear me; you will accept discipline. And her dwelling place will not perish, despite all the things about which I have visited her. Yet truly, they arose with the dawn and corrupted all their thoughts.
8. Because of this, expect me, says the Lord, in the day of my resurrection in the future, for my judgment is to gather together the Gentiles, and to collect the kingdoms, and to pour out over them my indignation, all the fury of my anger. For by the fire of my zeal, all the earth will be devoured.
9. For then I will restore to the people a chosen lip, so that all may invoke the name of the Lord and may serve him with one shoulder.
10. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my supplicants, the sons of my diaspora, will carry a gift to me.
11. In that day, you will not be ashamed over all of your inventions, by which you have transgressed against me. For then I will take away from your midst your arrogant boasters, and you will no longer be exalted on my holy mountain.
12. And I will bequeath into your midst a poor and needy people, and they will hope in the name of the Lord.
13. The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity, nor speak lies, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth. For they will pasture and will recline, and there will be no one to strike them with terror.
14. Give praise, daughter of Zion. Shout joyfully, Israel. Rejoice and exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem.
15. The Lord has taken away your judgment; he has turned aside your foes. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall no longer fear evil.
16. In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Do not be afraid,” and to Zion, “Do not let your hands be weakened.”
17. The Lord your God is the strength in your midst; he will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. In his love, he will be silent. He will exult over you with praise.
18. The triflers who withdrew from the law, I will gather together, because they were from you, so that you may no longer suffer disgrace over them.
19. Behold, I will execute all who have afflicted you in that time, and I will save those who are lame, and I will gather together her who had been cast out. And I will place them in praise and in renown, in all the land where they had been put to shame,
20. in that time, when I will lead to you, and in the time when I will gather for you. For I will deliver you into renown and into praise, among all the peoples of the earth, when I will have converted your captivity before your very eyes, says the Lord.

## Zephaniah 3 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Væ provocatrix, et redempta civitas, columba!
2. non audivit vocem, et non suscepit disciplinam; in Domino non est confisa, ad Deum suum non appropinquavit.
3. Principes ejus in medio ejus quasi leones rugientes; judices ejus lupi vespere, non relinquebant in mane.
4. Prophetæ ejus vesani, viri infideles; sacerdotes ejus polluerunt sanctum, injuste egerunt contra legem.
5. Dominus justus in medio ejus non faciet iniquitatem; mane, mane judicium suum dabit in lucem, et non abscondetur; nescivit autem iniquus confusionem.
6. Disperdidi gentes, et dissipati sunt anguli earum; desertas feci vias eorum, dum non est qui transeat; desolatæ sunt civitates eorum, non remanente viro, neque ullo habitatore.
7. Dixi: Attamen timebis me, suscipies disciplinam; et non peribit habitaculum ejus, propter omnia in quibus visitavi eam: verumtamen diluculo surgentes corruperunt omnes cogitationes suas.
8. Quapropter exspecta me, dicit Dominus, in die resurrectionis meæ in futurum: quia judicium meum ut congregem gentes, et colligam regna, et effundam super eos indignationem meam, omnem iram furoris mei: in igne enim zeli mei devorabitur omnis terra.
9. Quia tunc reddam populis labium electum, ut invocent omnes in nomine Domini, et serviant ei humero uno.
10. Ultra flumina Æthiopiæ, inde supplices mei; filii dispersorum meorum deferent munus mihi.
11. In die illa non confunderis super cunctis adinventionibus tuis, quibus prævaricata es in me, quia tunc auferam de medio tui magniloquos superbiæ tuæ, et non adjicies exaltari amplius in monte sancto meo.
12. Et derelinquam in medio tui populum pauperem et egenum: et sperabunt in nomine Domini.
13. Reliquiæ Israël non facient iniquitatem, nec loquentur mendacium, et non invenietur in ore eorum lingua dolosa, quoniam ipsi pascentur, et accubabunt, et non erit qui exterreat.
14. Lauda, filia Sion; jubila, Israël: lætare, et exsulta in omni corde, filia Jerusalem.
15. Abstulit Dominus judicium tuum; avertit inimicos tuos. Rex Israël Dominus in medio tui: non timebis malum ultra.
16. In die illa dicetur Jerusalem: Noli timere; Sion: Non dissolvantur manus tuæ.
17. Dominus Deus tuus in medio tui fortis, ipse salvabit: gaudebit super te in lætitia, silebit in dilectione sua, exsultabit super te in laude.
18. Nugas, qui a lege recesserant, congregabo, quia ex te erant: ut non ultra habeas super eis opprobrium.
19. Ecce ego interficiam omnes qui afflixerunt te in tempore illo: et salvabo claudicantem, et eam quæ ejecta fuerat congregabo: et ponam eos in laudem, et in nomen, in omni terra confusionis eorum,
20. in tempore illo quo adducam vos, et in tempore quo congregabo vos. Dabo enim vos in nomen, et in laudem omnibus populis terræ, cum convertero captivitatem vestram coram oculis vestris, dicit Dominus.

## Catechism of the Catholic Church

Paragraph numbers and the Catechism's own section headings (never quoted); text at vatican.va.
- CCC ¶ 2676: The Way of Prayer ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 722: The Spirit of Christ in the Fullness of Time ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))

## Read at Mass (US)

- Tue, Dec 15, 2026: Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent — First Reading, Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13
- Mon, May 31, 2027: Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary — First Reading, Zephaniah 3:14-18a
- Sun, Dec 12, 2027 (computed): Third Sunday of Advent — First Reading, Zephaniah 3:14-18a
- Tue, Dec 14, 2027 (computed): St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church — First Reading, Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13

1 more date through December 31, 2028, in the [liturgical calendar](https://blessbible.app/calendar/).

Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).