Zephaniah 3:13 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

The remnant of Israel, preserved in captivity and dispersion, purified in the furnace of affliction, and now returned to their own land, shall not do iniquity; shall not commit the sins they formerly committed, not provoke God with their abominations as before; it is not a prediction of a sinless, but of a reformed state; they shall be righteous, and taught of God, no more idolaters. Nor speak lies; they shall love truth, and speak truth, or, in a larger sense, shall be honest and upright amongst men. A deceitful tongue; a false accuser or witness, like Doeg, or Jezebel's evidences against Naboth; according to that, Psalms 15:2, Psalms 24:4. For they shall feed; or, they shall feed also, &c.; so it will be a blessing added as a crown of their piety and truth. Or if you read it, for they shall feed, & c., it gives you a reason why they shall not by frauds and lies, as formerly, sin against one another; they shall have a sufficiency by honest ways, and from God's blessing, and shall not be under any great temptation to dishonesty and lying. None shall make them afraid: frights made David, Abraham, and others to forget truth; here none should fright them, and they should not fear to speak the truth: their lips pure, Zephaniah 3:9; they trust in the Lord, Zephaniah 3:12; therefore shall not lie. Here is a cluster of spiritual promises with the temporal. The remnant of Israel, preserved in captivity and dispersion, purified in the furnace of affliction, and now returned to their own land, shall not do iniquity; shall not commit the sins they formerly committed, not provoke God with their abominations as before; it is not a prediction of a sinless, but of a reformed state; they shall be righteous, and taught of God, no more idolaters. Nor speak lies; they shall love truth, and speak truth, or, in a larger sense, shall be honest and upright amongst men. A deceitful tongue; a false accuser or witness, like Doeg, or Jezebel's evidences against Naboth; according to that, Psalms 15:2, Psalms 24:4. For they shall feed; or, they shall feed also, &c.; so it will be a blessing added as a crown of their piety and truth. Or if you read it, for they shall feed, & c., it gives you a reason why they shall not by frauds and lies, as formerly, sin against one another; they shall have a sufficiency by honest ways, and from God's blessing, and shall not be under any great temptation to dishonesty and lying. None shall make them afraid: frights made David, Abraham, and others to forget truth; here none should fright them, and they should not fear to speak the truth: their lips pure, Zephaniah 3:9; they trust in the Lord, Zephaniah 3:12; therefore shall not lie. Here is a cluster of spiritual promises with the temporal. The remnant of Israel, preserved in captivity and dispersion, purified in the furnace of affliction, and now returned to their own land, shall not do iniquity; shall not commit the sins they formerly committed, not provoke God with their abominations as before; it is not a prediction of a sinless, but of a reformed state; they shall be righteous, and taught of God, no more idolaters. Nor speak lies; they shall love truth, and speak truth, or, in a larger sense, shall be honest and upright amongst men. A deceitful tongue; a false accuser or witness, like Doeg, or Jezebel's evidences against Naboth; according to that, Psalms 15:2, Psalms 24:4. For they shall feed; or, they shall feed also, &c.; so it will be a blessing added as a crown of their piety and truth. Or if you read it, for they shall feed, & c., it gives you a reason why they shall not by frauds and lies, as formerly, sin against one another; they shall have a sufficiency by honest ways, and from God's blessing, and shall not be under any great temptation to dishonesty and lying. None shall make them afraid: frights made David, Abraham, and others to forget truth; here none should fright them, and they should not fear to speak the truth: their lips pure, Zephaniah 3:9; they trust in the Lord, Zephaniah 3:12; therefore shall not lie. Here is a cluster of spiritual promises with the temporal.