KJV King James Version
Her princes within her [are] roaring lions; her judges [are] evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
VERSE STUDY • KJV
Zephaniah 3:3
Her princes within her [are] roaring lions; her judges [are] evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
Read it in 5 translations
BSB Berean Standard Bible
Her princes are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning.
WEB World English Bible
Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
ASV American Standard Version
Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they leave nothing till the morrow.
YLT Young’s Literal Translation
Her heads in her midst are roaring lions, Her judges are evening wolves, They have not gnawn the bone in the morning.
Surrounding context — Zephaniah 3
1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.
3 Her princes within her [are] roaring lions; her judges [are] evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
4 Her prophets [are] light [and] treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
5 The just LORD [is] in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.
6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
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Original-language word links
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Cross-references
Habakkuk 1:8Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle [that] hasteth to eat.Ezekiel 22:25-27[There is] a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.Jeremiah 5:6Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, [and] a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, [and] their backslidings are increased.Job 4:8-11Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.Ezekiel 22:6Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood.Micah 3:1-4And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; [Is it] not for you to know judgment?Isaiah 1:23Thy princes [are] rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.Jeremiah 22:17But thine eyes and thine heart [are] not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do [it].Psalm 10:8-10He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.Proverbs 28:15[As] a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; [so is] a wicked ruler over the poor people.Micah 3:9-11Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
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