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Zephaniah 3:13 · World English Bible

Zephaniah 3:13 Meaning The Remnant of Israel Will Not Do

The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.

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What does Zephaniah 3:13 mean?

The peace that lets an animal lie down unguarded grows from a mouth that has stopped lying. Fear lives in the gap between what a person says and what he knows.

From the Clinical Psychology reading below.

Zephaniah 3:13 through 1 lens

The same verse, read by one tradition.

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Clinical Psychology

The peace that lets an animal lie down unguarded grows from a mouth that has stopped lying. Fear lives in the gap between what a person says and what he knows. Every falsehood is a small betrayal he must remember and defend, and the accumulating dread of exposure never rests.

Strip the deceit away. The remnant described here can feed and sleep because nothing hidden waits to ambush them. Honesty is what makes a life safe to inhabit. Speak the truth long enough, and the creature in you finally lies down without watching the treeline.

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Clinical Psychology lens

Live Zephaniah 3:13 today

  1. Find the one small lie you have been maintaining, maybe about how far along something is, or how you spent an afternoon. Tell the truth about it today, even if it costs you a little.
  2. In your next conversation, when you catch yourself shaping the story to look better, stop mid sentence and give the plain version instead. Watch how little it actually costs.
  3. When someone asks a question you would rather dodge, at work or at the dinner table, answer it straight. "I don't know" and "I didn't do it yet" are both easier to carry than a cover story.

What are you still keeping track of that you could simply put down?

The same truth in other traditions

Buddhism · Right Speech

Truthful speech is one of the roots of a steady mind, because a person who never has to keep track of his own stories has nothing left to guard.

Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius

Live so that you would not mind anyone knowing what you did. A life that needs no cover story is a life you can rest inside.

Hinduism · the Upanishads

Truth is what holds a person together. Falsehood splits him into the self he shows and the self he hides, and that split is where fear lives.

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