Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more....
The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
as on a day of festival.
(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)
Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah the King of Judah (7th Century BCE) that the great Empire of Nineveh would collapse. He also mentions the 'Day of the Lord' more than any other book in the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). He also prophecies concerning Judah's fall to Babylon, and the eventual restoration of the whole world. He saw the 'Day of the Lord' as a day when God would judge the world, and bless His people. It was to be a new beginning.
Today's title for the Messiah - for the one who is to rescue us - is 'The Dayspring', which can mean 'Dawn' or 'Morning', or a 'New era'. The word for 'Dayspring' in Latin is 'Oriens', and the antiphon sung on this day at Evensong:
'The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness -
on them light has shone.'
Another translation has:
'O Dayspring,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.'
In Advent we look forward to this new time when God will come to rescue us and bring in His Kingdom of love.
O Wisdom,
O Adonai,
O Root of Jesse,
O Key of David,
O Dayspring,
help us to remember
that You will return
to rescue us,
and to bring in Your
Kingdom of Love.
Amen.
You might like to look up this site about the early history of the hymn 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel', which includes Kings College Choir singing the hymn:
You could also listen to these two Dominican monks (Stefan Ansinger O.P. & Alexandre Frezzato O.P) - in Latin: