³ Noteworthy is the fact that, while Zephaniah proclaimed divine judgments against the civil “princes” of Judah (nobles, or tribal chiefs) and “the sons of the king,” he never mentioned the king himself in his criticism.a (Zephaniah 1:8; 3:3) This suggests that young King Josiah had already shown a propensity for pure worship, although, in view of the situation decried by Zephaniah, obviously he had not yet started his religious reforms. All of this suggests that Zephaniah prophesied in Judah during the early years of Josiah, who reigned from 659 to 629 B.C.E. The energetic prophesying of Zephaniah undoubtedly heightened young Josiah’s awareness of the idolatry, violence, and corruption that prevailed in Judah at that time and encouraged his later campaign against idolatry.—2 Chronicles 34:1-3.