Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Zephaniah 1:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse completes the worship list with people who turn back and those who neither seek nor inquire of the LORD.
Creation language first, then Judah's worship is named
This verse is one part of that explanation in Zephaniah 1:2-6. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Zephaniah 1:2-6
Read Zephaniah 1:6 with 1:2-6. This verse completes the worship list with people who turn back and those who neither seek nor inquire of the LORD. The complete unit establishes this movement: The opening judgment uses creation-reversal language before concentrating on Judah's worship: open idolatry, mixed allegiance, abandonment, and refusal to seek the LORD all fall within the indictment.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The book begins by denying that covenant location shields Jerusalem: creation itself and Judah's religious life stand under the LORD's scrutiny before foreign nations are addressed. Within that movement, this verse completes the worship list with people who turn back and those who neither seek nor inquire of the LORD.
Read Zephaniah 1:2–6 together
Why these verses belong together: Creation-scale sweeping narrows into one list of Judah and Jerusalem's divided, abandoned, and unseeking worship.
Verse 2. 2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
Verse 3. 3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
Verse 4. 4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
Verse 5. 5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
Verse 6. 6 And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
What Remains True
Practical indifference and abandoned seeking matter alongside visible ritual failure.
How It Can Shape Life
- Renew honest inquiry and faithful practice without punishing doubt or unanswered questions.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Zephaniah 1:2-6 — Creation Is Swept Back and Judah's Divided Worship Is NamedSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Seeking and inquiring may include prayer, guidance, worship, or covenant response; the verse does not reduce them to one technique.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Zephaniah 1:2-6, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Zephaniah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew words, morphology, clause relationships, repeated roots, wordplays, names, and the base wording behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Zeph.xml, 1:2-6
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Zephaniah with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, text-critical, poetic, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Zephaniah PDF, printed pp. 1777, translation and notes on 1:2-6
Open source ↗