How does 3:5 fit in the flow of the text?

Zephaniah 3:5 functions as somewhat of a transitional verse in the first major section of chapter 3 (Zephaniah 3:1–13). This has led to some saying it is the start of the unit that goes to Zephaniah 3:7, and others saying it concludes the unit that began in Zephaniah 3:1. In favour of Zephaniah 3:5 starting a new unit are the arguments that the prophecy is shifting from the unrighteous leaders and people of Jerusalem to the righteous and just Lord in Jerusalem’s midst, and that this verse fits well in the transition from the third-person description of Jerusalem and the Lord in Zephaniah 3:1–4 to the first-person speech of the Lord that begins in verse Zephaniah 3:6.¹ In favour of the verse being part of the unit that began in Zephaniah 3:1 is the argument that Zephaniah 3:1–4 were addressing Jerusalem and Zephaniah 3:5 continues to do so by noting that the offenses of the city (Zephaniah 3:2) and leaders (Zephaniah 3:3–4) are inexcusable because the righteous Lord indwells the city. In this way Zephaniah 3:5 brings the preceding verses to the climax of a literary subunit, with Zephaniah 3:6 turning to what the Lord has done to other nations.^2,3 The latter option is the more attractive, for the above reasons and the additional fact that in verse six the focus turns to what the Lord has done to other nations and in that way marks the start of another subunit.