Zephaniah 3:18

“As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals – I took them away from you; they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. ¹ 

"The sorrows for the appointed feasts I will remove from you; they are a burden and a reproach to you.

"I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts— They came from you, O Zion; The reproach of exile is a burden on them.

"I will gather you who mourn for the appointed festivals; you will be disgraced no more.

"The accumulated sorrows of your exile will dissipate. I, your God, will get rid of them for you. You've carried those burdens long enough.

I will take away your troubles, lifting up your shame from off you.

as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it.

"I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, Who are among you, To whom its reproach is a burden.

“As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals – I took them away from you; they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. ¹ 

¹ tn Heb “The ones grieving from an assembly I gathered from you they were, tribute upon her, a reproach.” Any translation of this difficult verse must be provisional at best. The present translation assumes three things: (1) The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to “assembly” is causal (the individuals are sorrowing because of the assemblies or festivals they are no longer able to hold). (2) מַשְׂאֵת (mas’et) means “tribute” and refers to the exiled people being treated as the spoils of warfare (see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah [WEC], 385-86). (3) The third feminine singular suffix refers to personified Jerusalem, which is addressed earlier in the verse (the pronominal suffix in “from you” is second feminine singular). For other interpretive options see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 146.