Midrash sa Sofonias 3:15: Otzar Midrashim, Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition) & Midrash Tehillim

And I rested for my prayer and also for my fasting for a day until it was revealed to me that this was the angel and he said to me and asked me something, I said to him, Lord, what will happen after these? The angel said to him, after all this the people of the West increase with large soldiers and they come mixed up and make war with the people of the East in their country and kill them, and the rest flee before them and come to Alexandria, and they will be chased by the people of the West and come there, and there will be a great war, and the people of the East will flee from there and come as far as Egypt and stay And they will take it from a customer and make it a wasteland, to fulfill what was said Egypt will be a wasteland (Joel 4:9). And they passed through the land of the deer and it was consumed by them, and everyone who was captured will not return until the Messiah comes, and when I heard this I wept very much. The angel said to him, Simon! what are you crying for I told him, Abraham's sons Isaac and Jacob will not have an escape in his days. He said to me, the matter is very difficult, if you put meat on the fire, you will not be able to escape from its smell, so Israel is not saved, and anyone who comes into the room and runs away and hides will be saved. He will fall by the sword (ibid. 13:15), and they will pass through the land of the deer and horses, as it is said, "And he came through the lands and washed and passed over" (Daniel 11:30), and they came to the rivers of the valleys and they were in the middle of it, and there will be a great war that all the prophets prophesied about and they will become streams and the waters of the Euphrates to the blood, and the rest will not be able to drink from it, and from there the kingdom of the East will break. And after all these, a bold-faced king will stand and do three and a half years, and at the beginning of his reign, when he stands, he takes the rich and diverts (a missing language, Zephaniah 3:15) from their wealth and kills them, and money will not escape its owners, as it is said that their silver and gold cannot be redeemed (Ezekiel 7 19), and his counsel and his thoughts will not stand on him, and anyone who mentions Shema Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, will be killed, and anyone who says, The God of Abraham will be killed. 7:25), times - they are the times, and religion - is the Torah, as it is said that the fire of religion is for him (Deuteronomy 33), and in his days there will be great trouble for Israel, and everyone who is exiled to the upper Galilee will escape, as it is said that there will be a plague on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem (Joel 3:5) Witness Demati condemns and kills Israel until he reaches Damascus, and when he reaches Damascus, God Almighty gives help and success to Israel, and in his days there will be strife and war in the world, and a city will fight with its friend and a country with a country and a nation against a nation and a nation against a nation, and there will be no peace for those who come and go, as it is said And my troubles came to man, and they went as blind (Zephaniah 1:17). And with the Lord there will be turmoil and trouble upon them for three years, and they will be given in his hand until the end of the three years, as it is said and they will be in his hand [עַד עִדָּן וְעִדָּנִין וּפְלַג עִדָּן] until Iddan and Iddain and peleg Iddan (Daniel 7:25), Iddan - one year, Iddain - two years, peleg Iddan - half a year, It is found that there are three years from the cancellation of the circumcision and prayer, which is said to have taken place at the time of the removal of the tabernacle and to give a glimpse of heaven for one thousand two hundred and ninety days (ibid. 12:11), and they are three and a half years. And there arose a king who put them to the frost, as it was said, and we gave the shadow of the desert (ibid. 11) and he was in front of you for three months, and after that, the sons of Ishmael made war with the Edomites in the valley of Acre, and immediately the Assyrians came upon them and drove them back, as it was said, "How long shall Assyria rest" (Numbers 24:22), and the fleet of the Hittites (ibid. 24) - these are Edomites who are destined to stand at the end of days, and when they go out as thieves they go out, as it is said if thieves come to you, etc. (Obadiah 1:5), and make war with the sons of Ishmael and kill A great number of them, and a great number of them gathered at streets of Akko, crushed with the iron and shame, and a water tank was brake with his fingers, and rush, rabble in Suswan (castle), and they joined legions with their people from Edom, and they came and made war in the valley of Acre until the horse was soaked up to its thigh in blood, and the children of Israel fled until they came to the valley of Jericho, and there they stood and said to one of his comrades, "Here we are fleeing, and let us rest." We bowed down and changed, and returned and waged another war in the Valley of Megiddo, and the Edomites fled and got into the ships, and a wind arose and brought them to Assyria, and they tormented the Assyrians and crossed the river. And at the end of nine months, the Assyrians went out and the Israelites and the Romans perished, as it was said, "How long shall Assyria be troubled"(Deuteronomy 24:20). And when you see Assyrians coming out and walking in the land of Israel, they are making peace, and Elijah the late comes out and announces peace to them as it was said, and it will be an Assyrian peace because it will come to our land (Micah 5:4), and the sons of Italy want to fight with them and the sons of Ishmael will almost return the kingdom to them, and there are not enough to take out their wives until Assyria captures them, and immediately a voice goes out and proclaims everywhere to the children of Israel: Go out and avenge God's vengeance on Edom, as it is said, I have given my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel (Ezekiel 25:14), and immediately the young men of the Israelites gather and listen and they reign A king from the seed of David reigned over them, and a dispute fell between one and another, and the children of the Land of Israel transgressed against the seed of David to fulfill what was said, and Israel transgressed in the house of David until this day (2 Chronicles 10:19).

Ula said: "Jerusalem will not be redeemed except through charity," as it is said (Is. 1, 27) Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and her converts through Tzedakah (righteousness, or charity)." R. Papa said: "When the haughty shall cease to exist in Israel, then the magicians [among the Persians] shall cease, as it is said, (Ib. ib. 25) And purge away as with lye thy dross, and remove all thy tin. When the judges [of Israel] shall cease to be, the brutal executions of the Persian court-servants will cease, as it is said (Zeph. 3, 15) The Lord hath removed Mishpatecha (thy judges); He hath cleared away the enemy." R. Jochanan said: "When you see a generation in which wisdom decreases continually, you may hope for the Messiah, as it is said (II Sam. 22, 28) And the afflicted people thou wilt save." R. Jochanan said again: "If you see a generation in which chastisements and evils increase like the waters of the ocean increase, await the Messiah, as it is said (Isa. 59, 19) For there shall come distress like a stream." And thereafter is written, "But unto Zion shall come the redeemer." R. Jochanan said further: "Ben David will appear either in a generation in which all will be righteous, or in one in which all will be wicked. All righteous, as it is said, (Ib. 60, 21) And thy people — they all will be righteous, forever shall they possess the land. Or all wicked, as it is said (Ib. 59, 16) "And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor." And it is also written (Ib. 48, 11) For My own sake, for My own sake, will I do it."

(Fol. 139a) We are taught that R. Jose b. Elisha said: "If thou seest a generation in which many troubles come, go and investigate the Judges of Israel, for it is said (Micah 3, 9.) Hear this, I pray you, O ye heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and make crooked all that is straight. And it is further written; They built up Zion with bloody guilt, and Jerusalem with wrong. Her chiefs judge for bribes, and her priests teach for reward, and her prophets divine for money, and yet will they lean upon the Lord, etc. They are all wicked, yet they all lean upon Him who created the world with his command. Therefore will the Holy One, praised be He! bring upon them three misfortunes for the three sins of which they are guilty; as it is said (Ib. ib. 12.). Therefore for your sake, shall Zion he ploughed up as a field, and Jerusalem shall become ruinous heaps, and the mount of the house, forest-covered high places. And the Holy One, praised be He! will not cause the Shechina to rest in Israel until such wicked judges and officers shall be destroyed from Israel, as it is said (Is. 1, 25.) And I will turn my hand against thee, and purge away as with lye thy dross, etc. And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning." Ulla said: "Jerusalem will not be redeemed except through righteousness, as it is said (Ib. ib. 27.) Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and her converts through righteousness." R. Papa said: "When the haughty will cease to exist, then the magicians (Sadducees) will cease; when the corrupt judges will cease, then also will the bribed officers cease to exist. When the haughty will cease, then will the magicians cease to exist, as it is said (Ib. ib. 25.) And I will purge away, as with lye thy dross etc. When the corrupt judges will cease to exist, then also will the bribed officers cease, for it is written (Zeph. 3, 15.) The Lord hath removed thy punishment, he hath cleared away thy enemy." R. Malai, in the name of R. Eliezer, the son of R. Simon, said: "What is meant by the passage (Is. 14, 5.) BroJcen hath the Lord the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of rulers? The staff of the wicked, refers to the judges who make themselves a staff (of support) to their sextons; The sceptre of rulers, refers to the learned men that are in the families of the wicked judges." Mar Zutra said: "This refers to teachers who give instruction in communal laws to ignorant disciples, who afterwards become judges [incapable of judging rightfully]." R. Elazar b. Malai, in the name of Resh Lakish, said: "What is meant by the passage (Is. 59, 3.) For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, and your tongue uttereth deception? For your hands are defiled with blood, refers to the judges. And your fingers with iniquities, refers to the scribes of the judges [who write false documents] Your lips have spoken falsehood. refers to the attorneys [who teach people to plead falsely"]. And your tongue uttereth deception, refers to the litigants themselves."