Zephaniah

Zephaniah 1:1 places the prophet in Judah during Josiah's reign, 640–609 BC, and traces his ancestry to a Hezekiah—possibly, but not certainly, the earlier king. References to idolatry and foreign customs may point to the years before Josiah's reforms, though the text does not say so. Addressing Jerusalem, Judah, and surrounding nations, Zephaniah presents the "day of the LORD" as searching judgment on corrupt worship and abusive leadership. Yet judgment is not the final word: the humble are summoned to seek God, a purified remnant is preserved, and restored Zion rejoices in God's presence. Read it alongside 2 Kings 22–23 and early Jeremiah.