Final answer:
Jerusalem was under a death sentence according to Zephaniah due to the city's sins and abandonment of the covenant with Yahweh, leading to its destruction and the Babylonian Captivity in 586 BCE.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the prophet Zephaniah, Jerusalem stood under a death sentence because of the city's and the inhabitants' sins and their straying from the covenant with Yahweh. This is seen in the context of other prophets who interpreted the destruction of Israel as a punishment for its unfaithfulness, including idol worship, social injustice, and corruption. Judah, having been a vassal to larger empires, faced destruction after rebelling against the Neo-Babylonian Empire. In 586 BCE, as punishment for this defiance, Jerusalem was destroyed and the people faced death and forced deportations in what is referred to as the Babylonian Captivity.
Prophets in Judah, such as Zephaniah and Ezekiel, warned about these dire consequences, as echoed in scriptural texts that recount the violent punishments meted out to the Israelites for their transgressions (EZ 6:12-13, EZ 9:4-6, EZ 20:26). This period was marked by upheaval, with mass slaughters (2CH 13:17), internal conflicts (2CH 21:4), and the eventual subjugation and exile of the Jewish people.