3:17. For the fig tree shall not blossom: and there shall be no spring in the vines. The labour of the olive tree shall fail: and the fields shall yield no food: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.
3:18. But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus.
3:19. The Lord God is my strength: and he will make my feet like the feet of harts: and he the conqueror will lead me upon my high places singing psalms.
THE PROPHECY OF SOPHONIAS
SOPHONIAS, whose name, saith St. Jerome, signifies The Watchman of the Lord, or The hidden of the Lord, prophesied in the beginning of the reign of Josias. He was a native of Sarabatha, and of the tribe of Simeon, according to the more general opinion. He prophesied the punishments of the Jews, for their idolatry and other crimes; also the punishments that were to come on divers nations; the coming of Christ, the conversion of the Gentiles, the blindness of the Jews, and their conversion towards the end of the world.
Sophonias Chapter 1
For divers enormous sins, the kingdom of Juda is threatened with severe judgment.
1:1. The word of the Lord that came to Sophonias the son of Chusi, the son of Godolias, the son of Amarias, the son of Ezechias, in the days of Josias, the son of Amon king of Juda.
1:2. Gathering, I will gather together all things from off the face of the land, saith the Lord:
Gathering, I will gather, etc.... That is, I will assuredly take away, and wholly consume, either by captivity, or death, both men and beasts out of this land.