1. All, collectively, are to gather solemnly together.
like chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have carried out His justice; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger." — Zephaniah 2:1–3
The first chapter is entirely devoted to a terrifying declaration and description of an imminent and comprehensive judgment decreed against the land of Judah, along with the reasons for it. Yet the prophet concludes with the words I have read, offering a gracious call to repentance to avert the execution of that judgment.
Consider first the people to whom this exhortation is directed. He speaks, first, collectively to the entire nation: "Gather yourselves together, O nation," calling them to a solemn and public act of repentance. Secondly, the call applies particularly and individually to each person within the nation, especially the unrepentant: "Search yourselves, O you who are not desired." And thirdly, if none will heed him, he then directs his message especially to the godly in the land who have already repented—"who have carried out His justice." To them he says, "Seek the Lord," and so on.
Next, consider the duties he urges upon them all. Though some are addressed more directly to the ungodly and others to the godly, all are applicable to everyone alike. As laid out in the text, these express the essential elements of repentance and their proper order:
1. All, collectively, are to gather solemnly together.
2. Once gathered, they are to search out (for the word also carries this meaning) the sins of the nation that have provoked the threatened judgment.