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sound the alarm on my holy hill.b
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lordc is coming.
It is close at handd—
2 a day of darknesse and gloom,f
a day of cloudsg and blackness.h
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty armyi comes,
such as never was in ancient timesj
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them firek devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,l
behind them, a desert wastem—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;n
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariotso
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling firep consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;q
every face turns pale.r
7 They charge like warriors;s
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,t
not swervingu from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;v
like thieves they enter through the windows.w
10 Before them the earth shakes,x
the heavens tremble,y
the sun and moon are darkened,z
and the stars no longer shine.a
at the head of his army;d
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the Lord is great;e
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?f
12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
“returng to me with all your heart,h
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your hearti
and not your garments.j
Returnk to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,l
slow to anger and abounding in love,m
and he relents from sending calamity.n
14 Who knows? He may turno and relentp
and leave behind a blessingq—
grain offerings and drink offeringsr
for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpets in Zion,t
declare a holy fast,u
call a sacred assembly.v
consecratew the assembly;
bring together the elders,x
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroomy leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who ministerz before the Lord,
weepa between the portico and the altar.b
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,c
a bywordd among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?e’ ”
18 Then the Lord was jealousf for his land
and took pityg on his people.
19 The Lord replieda to them:
“I am sending you grain, new wineh and olive oil,i
enough to satisfy you fully;j
never again will I make you
an object of scornk to the nations.
20 “I will drive the northern hordel far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land;
its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea
and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea.
And its stenchm will go up;
its smell will rise.”
Surely he has done great things!
21 Do not be afraid,n land of Judah;
be glad and rejoice.o
Surely the Lord has done great things!p
22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.q
The trees are bearing their fruit;
the fig treer and the vines yield their riches.t
rejoiceu in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
because he is faithful.v
He sends you abundant showers,w
both autumnx and spring rains,y as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
the vats will overflowz with new winea and oil.
25 “I will repay you for the years the locustsb have eatenc—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarmb—
my great armyd that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,e
and you will praisef the name of the Lord your God,
who has worked wondersg for you;
never again will my people be shamed.h
27 Then you will knowi that I am in Israel,
that I am the Lordj your God,
and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.k
28 “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spiritl on all people.m
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,n
your old men will dream dreams,o
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants,p both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.q
30 I will show wonders in the heavensr
and on the earth,s
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darknesst
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.u
on the name of the Lordv will be saved;w
for on Mount Zionx and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,y
as the Lord has said,
even among the survivorsz
3 a “In those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunesb of Judahc and Jerusalem,
2 I will gatherd all nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.b e
There I will put them on trialf
for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scatteredg my people among the nations
and divided up my land.
3 They cast lotsh for my people
and traded boys for prostitutes;
they sold girls for winei to drink.
4 “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidonj and all you regions of Philistia?k Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.l 5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.c m 6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,n that you might send them far from their homeland.
7 “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them,o and I will returnp on your own heads what you have done. 8 I will sell your sonsq and daughters to the people of Judah,r and they will sell them to the Sabeans,s a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.t
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war!u
Rouse the warriors!v
Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooksw into spears.x
Let the weaklingy say,
“I am strong!”z
11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
and assemblea there.
Bring down your warriors,b Lord!
12 “Let the nations be roused;
let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,c
for there I will sit
to judged all the nations on every side.
13 Swing the sickle,e
for the harvestf is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,g
for the winepressh is full
and the vats overflow—
so great is their wickedness!”
14 Multitudes,i multitudes
in the valleyj of decision!
For the day of the Lordk is near
in the valley of decision.l
15 The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.m
16 The Lord will roarn from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;o
the earth and the heavens will tremble.p
But the Lord will be a refugeq for his people,
a strongholdr for the people of Israel.
17 “Then you will knows that I, the Lord your God,t
dwell in Zion,u my holy hill.v
Jerusalem will be holy;w
never again will foreigners invade her.x
18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine,y
and the hills will flow with milk;z
all the ravines of Judah will run with water.a
A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s houseb
and will water the valley of acacias.d c
19 But Egyptd will be desolate,
Edome a desert waste,
because of violencef done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20 Judah will be inhabited foreverg
and Jerusalem through all generations.
21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged?h
No, I will not.i”
The Lord dwells in Zion!j
1 The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoaa—the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake,b when Uzziahc was king of Judah and Jeroboamd son of Jehoasha was king of Israel.e
“The Lord roarsf from Zion
and thundersg from Jerusalem;h
the pastures of the shepherds dry up,
and the top of Carmeli withers.”j
Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors
3 This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Damascus,k
even for four, I will not relent.l
Because she threshed Gilead
with sledges having iron teeth,
4 I will send firem on the house of Hazaeln
that will consume the fortresseso of Ben-Hadad.p
5 I will break down the gateq of Damascus;
I will destroy the king who is inb the Valley of Avenc
and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden.r
The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,s”
says the Lord.t
“For three sins of Gaza,u
even for four, I will not relent.v
Because she took captive whole communities
and sold them to Edom,w
7 I will send fire on the walls of Gaza
that will consume her fortresses.
8 I will destroy the kingd of Ashdodx
and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon.
I will turn my handy against Ekron,
till the last of the Philistinesz are dead,”a
says the Sovereign Lord.b
“For three sins of Tyre,c
even for four, I will not relent.d
Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom,
disregarding a treaty of brotherhood,e
10 I will send fire on the walls of Tyre
that will consume her fortresses.f”
11 This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Edom,g
even for four, I will not relent.
Because he pursued his brother with a swordh
and slaughtered the women of the land,
because his anger raged continually
and his fury flamed unchecked,i
12 I will send fire on Temanj
that will consume the fortresses of Bozrah.k”
13 This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Ammon,l
even for four, I will not relent.
Because he ripped open the pregnant womenm of Gilead
in order to extend his borders,
14 I will set fire to the walls of Rabbahn
that will consumeo her fortresses
amid war criesp on the day of battle,
amid violent windsq on a stormy day.
15 Her kinge will go into exile,
he and his officials together,r”
says the Lord.s
“For three sins of Moab,t
even for four, I will not relent.
Because he burned to ashesu
the bones of Edom’s king,
that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth.a v
Moab will go down in great tumult
amid war criesw and the blast of the trumpet.x
3 I will destroy her rulery
and kill all her officials with him,”z
says the Lord.a
“For three sins of Judah,b
even for four, I will not relent.
Because they have rejected the lawc of the Lord
and have not kept his decrees,d
because they have been led astraye by false gods,b f
the godsc their ancestors followed,g
5 I will send fireh on Judah
that will consume the fortressesi of Jerusalem.j”
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not relent.k
They sell the innocent for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.l
7 They trample on the heads of the poor
as on the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name.m
8 They lie down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge.n
In the house of their god
they drink wineo taken as fines.p
9 “Yet I destroyed the Amoritesq before them,
though they were tallr as the cedars
and strong as the oaks.s
I destroyed their fruit above
and their rootst below.
10 I brought you up out of Egyptu
and ledv you forty years in the wildernessw
to give you the land of the Amorites.x
11 “I also raised up prophetsy from among your children
and Naziritesz from among your youths.
Is this not true, people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.a
13 “Now then, I will crush you
as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.b
14 The swift will not escape,c
the strongd will not muster their strength,
and the warrior will not save his life.e
15 The archerf will not stand his ground,
the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
and the horsemang will not save his life.h
16 Even the bravest warriorsi
will flee naked on that day,”
declares the Lord.
Witnesses Summoned Against Israel
3 Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against youj—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:k
2 “You only have I chosenl
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punishm you
for all your sins.n”
unless they have agreed to do so?
4 Does a lion roaro in the thicket
when it has no prey?p
Does it growl in its den
when it has caught nothing?
5 Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
when no baitq is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
if it has not caught anything?
6 When a trumpetr sounds in a city,
do not the people tremble?
When disasters comes to a city,
has not the Lord caused it?t
7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
without revealing his planu
to his servants the prophets.v
who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
who can but prophesy?y
9 Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdodz
and to the fortresses of Egypt:
“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;a
see the great unrest within her
and the oppression among her people.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,b” declares the Lord,
“who store up in their fortressesc
what they have plunderedd and looted.”
11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“An enemy will overrun your land,
pull down your strongholds
and plunder your fortresses.e”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’sf mouth
only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
with only the head of a bed
and a piece of fabrica from a couch.b g”
13 “Hear this and testifyh against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.
14 “On the day I punishi Israel for her sins,
I will destroy the altars of Bethel;j
the hornsk of the altar will be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter housel
along with the summer house;m
the houses adorned with ivoryn will be destroyed
and the mansionso will be demolished,p”
declares the Lord.q
Israel Has Not Returned to God
4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashanr on Mount Samaria,s
you women who oppress the poort and crush the needyu
and say to your husbands,v “Bring us some drinks!w”
2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
“The timex will surely come
when you will be taken awayy with hooks,z
the last of you with fishhooks.a
3 You will each go straight out
through breaches in the wall,a
and you will be cast out toward Harmon,b”
declares the Lord.
4 “Go to Bethelb and sin;
go to Gilgalc and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,d
your tithese every three years.c f
5 Burn leavened breadg as a thank offering
and brag about your freewill offeringsh—
boast about them, you Israelites,
for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.
6 “I gave you empty stomachs in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.i
7 “I also withheldj rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.k
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.
8 People staggered from town to town for waterl
but did not get enoughm to drink,
yet you have not returnedn to me,”
declares the Lord.o
9 “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
destroying them with blight and mildew.p
Locustsq devoured your fig and olive trees,r
yet you have not returneds to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent plaguest among you
as I did to Egypt.u
I killed your young menv with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stenchw of your camps,
yet you have not returned to me,”x
declares the Lord.y
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.z
You were like a burning sticka snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.b
12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you, Israel,
prepare to meet your God.”
13 He who forms the mountains,c
who creates the wind,d
and who reveals his thoughtse to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earthf—
the Lord God Almighty is his name.g
A Lament and Call to Repentance
5 Hear this word, Israel, this lamenth I take up concerning you:
2 “Fallen is Virgini Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.j”
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:
“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.k”
4 This is what the Lord says to Israel:
do not go to Gilgal,n
do not journey to Beersheba.o
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.a p”
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;s
it will devour them,
and Bethelt will have no one to quench it.u
7 There are those who turn justice into bitternessv
and cast righteousnessw to the ground.x
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,y
who turns midnight into dawnz
and darkens day into night,a
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the Lord is his name.b
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
and brings the fortified city to ruin.c
10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in courtd
and detest the one who tells the truth.e
11 You levy a straw tax on the poorf
and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,g
you will not live in them;h
though you have planted lush vineyards,
you will not drink their wine.i
12 For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.j
There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribesk
and deprive the poorl of justice in the courts.m
13 Therefore the prudent keep quietn in such times,
for the times are evil.o
that you may live.p
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
maintain justice in the courts.s
Perhapst the Lord God Almighty will have mercyu
on the remnantv of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:
“There will be wailingw in all the streetsx
and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmersy will be summoned to weep
and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailingz in all the vineyards,
for I will pass througha your midst,”
says the Lord.b
18 Woe to you who long
for the day of the Lord!c
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?d
That day will be darkness,e not light.f
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,g
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.h
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,i not light—
pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?j
21 “I hate,k I despise your religious festivals;l
your assembliesm are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offeringsn and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.o
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.p
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.q
24 But let justicer roll on like a river,
righteousnesss like a never-failing stream!t
25 “Did you bring me sacrificesu and offerings
forty yearsv in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols,w
the star of your godb—
which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into exilex beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.y
6 Woe to youz who are complacenta in Zion,
and to you who feel secureb on Mount Samaria,c
you notable men of the foremost nation,
to whom the people of Israel come!d
2 Go to Kalnehe and look at it;
go from there to great Hamath,f
and then go down to Gathg in Philistia.
Are they better off thanh your two kingdoms?
Is their land larger than yours?
3 You put off the day of disaster
and bring near a reign of terror.i
4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory
and lounge on your couches.j
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.k
5 You strum away on your harpsl like David
and improvise on musical instruments.m
6 You drink winen by the bowlful
and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieveo over the ruin of Joseph.p
7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;q
your feasting and lounging will end.r
The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel
8 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himselfs—the Lord God Almighty declares:
and detest his fortresses;v
I will deliver upw the city
and everything in it.x”
9 If teny people are left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn thema z asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush!a We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For the Lord has given the command,
and he will smashb the great housec into pieces
and the small house into bits.d
12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?
Does one plow the seab with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poisone
and the fruit of righteousnessf into bitternessg—
13 you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debarc
and say, “Did we not take Karnaimd by our own strength?h”
14 For the Lord God Almighty declares,
“I will stir up a nationi against you, Israel,
that will oppress you all the way
Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line
7 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:l He was preparing swarms of locustsm after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. 2 When they had stripped the land clean,n I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?o He is so small!p”
3 So the Lord relented.q
“This will not happen,” the Lord said.r
4 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire;s it dried up the great deep and devouredt the land. 5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!u”
6 So the Lord relented.v
“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.w
7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,a with a plumb lineb in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,x Amos?y”
“A plumb line,z” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.a
9 “The high placesb of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuariesc of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.d”
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethele sent a message to Jeroboamf king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracyg against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.h 11 For this is what Amos is saying:
“ ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,i
away from their native land.’ ”j
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer!k Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.l 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,m because this is the king’s sanctuary and the templen of the kingdom.o”
14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophetp nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.q 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flockr and said to me, ‘Go,s prophesyt to my people Israel.’u 16 Now then, hearv the word of the Lord. You say,
“ ‘Do not prophesy againstw Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“ ‘Your wife will become a prostitutex in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
and you yourself will die in a paganc country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,y
away from their native land.z’ ”
8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:a a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “What do you see,b Amos?c” he asked.
“A basketd of ripe fruit,” I answered.
Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.e
3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.a f Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!g”
4 Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poorh of the land,i
“When will the New Moonj be over
that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
skimping on the measure,
boosting the price
and cheatingm with dishonest scales,n
6 buying the pooro with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.p
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:q “I will never forgetr anything they have done.s
8 “Will not the land tremblet for this,
and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
it will be stirred up and then sink
like the river of Egypt.u
9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.v
10 I will turn your religious festivalsw into mourning
and all your singing into weeping.x
I will make all of you wear sackclothy
and shavez your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only sona
and the end of it like a bitter day.b
11 “The days are coming,”c declares the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famined of hearing the words of the Lord.e
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.f
“the lovely young women and strong young meng
will faint because of thirst.h
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samariai—
who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’j
9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
“Strike the tops of the pillars
so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the headsn of all the people;
those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
none will escape.o
2 Though they dig down to the depths below,p
from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,q
from there I will bring them down.r
3 Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,s
there I will hunt them down and seize them.t
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,u
there I will command the serpentv to bite them.w
4 Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
there I will command the swordx to slay them.
“I will keep my eye on them
for harmy and not for good.z”a
5 The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,b
and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
then sinks like the river of Egypt;c
6 he builds his lofty palacea d in the heavens
and sets its foundationb on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the Lord is his name.e
the same to me as the Cushitesc?”f
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
the Philistinesg from Caphtord h
and the Arameans from Kir?i
8 “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord
are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroyj it
from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
the descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.k
9 “For I will give the command,
and I will shake the people of Israel
among all the nations
as grainl is shaken in a sieve,m
and not a pebble will reach the ground.n
10 All the sinners among my people
will die by the sword,o
all those who say,
‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’p
11 “In that day
“I will restore David’sq fallen shelterr—
I will repair its broken walls
and restore its ruinss—
and will rebuild it as it used to be,t
12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edomu
and all the nations that bear my name,e v”
declares the Lord, who will do these things.w
13 “The days are coming,”x declares the Lord,
“when the reapery will be overtaken by the plowmanz
and the planter by the one treadinga grapes.
New wineb will drip from the mountains
and flow from all the hills,c
14 and I will bringd my people Israel back from exile.f e
“They will rebuild the ruined citiesf and live in them.
They will plant vineyardsg and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.h
15 I will planti Israel in their own land,j
never again to be uprootedk
from the land I have given them,”l
says the Lord your God.m
Obadiah’s prophecy was a warning to the country of Edom, a nation bordering Judah. He announced that God would judge the nation and destroy it because the Edomites had invaded and plundered Jerusalem several times.
1–4pp—Jer 49:14–16
5–6pp—Jer 49:9–10
1 The visiona of Obadiah.
This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edomb—
We have heard a message from the Lord:
An envoyc was sent to the nations to say,
“Rise, let us go against her for battle”d—
2 “See, I will make you smalle among the nations;
you will be utterly despised.
3 The pridef of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocksa g
and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’h
4 Though you soar like the eagle
and make your nesti among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,”j
declares the Lord.k
if robbers in the night—
oh, what a disaster awaits you!—
would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
If grape pickers came to you,
would they not leave a few grapes?l
6 But how Esau will be ransacked,
his hidden treasures pillaged!
7 All your alliesm will force you to the border;
your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your breadn will set a trap for you,b
but you will not detect it.
8 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“will I not destroyo the wise men of Edom,
those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
9 Your warriors, Teman,p will be terrified,
and everyone in Esau’s mountains
will be cut down in the slaughter.
10 Because of the violenceq against your brother Jacob,r
you will be covered with shame;
you will be destroyed forever.s
while strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lotst for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.u
12 You should not gloatv over your brother
in the day of his misfortune,w
nor rejoicex over the people of Judah
in the day of their destruction,y
nor boastz so much
in the day of their trouble.a
13 You should not march through the gates of my people
in the day of their disaster,
nor gloat over them in their calamityb
in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth
in the day of their disaster.
14 You should not wait at the crossroads
to cut down their fugitives,c
nor hand over their survivors
in the day of their trouble.
15 “The day of the Lord is neard
for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
your deedse will return upon your own head.
16 Just as you drankf on my holy hill,g
so all the nations will drinkh continually;
they will drink and drink
and be as if they had never been.i
17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;j
it will be holy,k
and Jacob will possess his inheritance.l
and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
and they will set him on firem and destroyn him.
There will be no survivorso
from Esau.”
The Lord has spoken.
19 People from the Negev will occupy
the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess
the land of the Philistines.p
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,q
and Benjaminr will possess Gilead.
20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
will possess the land as far as Zarephath;s
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the towns of the Negev.t
21 Deliverersu will go up onc Mount Zion
to govern the mountains of Esau.
And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.v
Jonah was a prophet called by God to preach in the capital city of Assyria—Nineveh. Jonah resisted God’s call to preach to his nation’s longtime enemy. But after disobeying God and ending up in the belly of a fish, Jonah reluctantly went to Nineveh and found Israel’s enemies responsive to God’s message.
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonaha son of Amittai:b 2 “Go to the great city of Ninevehc and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
3 But Jonah rand away from the Lord and headed for Tarshishe. He went down to Joppa,f where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.g
4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.h 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.i
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and callj on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”k
7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.”l They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.m 8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord,n the God of heaven,o who made the seap and the dry land.q”
10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”r
13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.s 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man,t for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.”u 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.v 16 At this the men greatly fearedw the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vowsx to him.
17 Now the Lord providedy a huge fish to swallow Jonah,z and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
2 a From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I calleda to the Lord,b
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the deadc I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the depths,d
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your wavese and breakers
swept over me.f
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;g
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’h
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,b
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.i
6 To the roots of the mountainsj I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.k
7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I rememberedl you, Lord,
and my prayerm rose to you,
to your holy temple.n
8 “Those who cling to worthless idolso
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,p
will sacrificeq to you.
What I have vowedr I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvations comes from the Lord.’ ”
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonaht a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming,u “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.v
6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.w 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink.x 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone cally urgently on God. Let them give upz their evil waysa and their violence.b 9 Who knows?c God may yet relentd and with compassion turne from his fierce angerf so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relentedg and did not bring on them the destructionh he had threatened.i
Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion
4 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.j 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knewk that you are a graciousl and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love,m a God who relentsn from sending calamity.o 3 Now, Lord, take away my life,p for it is better for me to dieq than to live.”r
4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”s
5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God providedt a leafy planta and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.u 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die,v and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”w
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concernx for the great city of Nineveh,y in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moreshetha during the reigns of Jotham,b Ahazc and Hezekiah,d kings of Judahe—the visionf he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear,g you peoples, all of you,h
listen, earthi and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witnessj against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.k
Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem
3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwellingl place;
he comes downm and treads on the heights of the earth.n
4 The mountains melto beneath himp
and the valleys split apart,q
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria?r
What is Judah’s high place?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.s
I will pour her stonest into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.u
7 All her idolsv will be broken to pieces;w
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
I will destroy all her images.x
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,y
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
8 Because of this I will weepz and wail;
I will go about barefoota and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
9 For Samaria’s plagueb is incurable;c
it has spread to Judah.d
It has reached the very gatee of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gatha;
weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrahb
roll in the dust.
11 Pass by nakedf and in shame,
you who live in Shaphir.c
Those who live in Zaanand
will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Marothe writhe in pain,
waiting for relief,g
because disasterh has come from the Lord,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,i
harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zionj began,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting giftsk
to Moreshethl Gath.
The town of Akzibf m will prove deceptiven
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
The nobles of Israel
will flee to Adullam.p
16 Shaveq your head in mourning
for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.r
2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evils on their beds!t
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fieldsu and seize them,v
and houses, and take them.
They defraudw people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.x
“I am planning disastery against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,z
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;a
my people’s possession is divided up.b
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’ ”
5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgracee will not overtake us.f”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord becomea impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do goodg
to the one whose ways are upright?h
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.i
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
For this is not your resting place,j
because it is defiled,k
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiverl comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’m
that would be just the prophet for this people!n
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnanto of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.p
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up beforeq them;
they will break through the gater and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
3 Then I said,
“Listen, you leaderss of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;t
3 who eat my people’s flesh,u
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;v
who chopw them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?x”
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.y
At that time he will hide his facez from them
because of the evil they have done.a
“As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,b
they proclaim ‘peace’c
if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
who refuses to feed them.
6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.d
The sun will set for the prophets,e
and the day will go dark for them.f
7 The seers will be ashamedg
and the diviners disgraced.h
They will all coveri their facesj
because there is no answer from God.k”
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
to Israel his sin.l
9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;m
10 who buildn Zion with bloodshed,o
and Jerusalem with wickedness.p
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,q
her priests teach for a price,r
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.s
Yet they lookt for the Lord’s support and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us.”u
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,v
4 In the last days
the mountainy of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,z
and peoples will stream to it.a
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,b
to the temple of the God of Jacob.c
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The lawf will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.g
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.h
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for wari anymore.j
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,k
and no one will make them afraid,l
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.m
in the name of their gods,n
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
our God for ever and ever.o
6 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will gather the lame;p
I will assemble the exilesq
and those I have brought to grief.r
7 I will make the lame my remnant,s
those driven away a strong nation.t
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zionu
from that day and forever.v
8 As for you, watchtower of the flock,
strongholda of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restoredw to you;
kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.x”
Has your rulerc perished,
that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?z
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;a
there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeemb you
out of the hand of your enemies.
are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
let our eyes gloatc over Zion!”
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,d
that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,e Daughter Zion,
for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
and you will break to pieces many nations.”f
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,g
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem
5 a Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
on the cheekh with a rod.
2 “But you, Bethlehemi Ephrathah,j
though you are small among the clansb of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be rulerk over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,l
from ancient times.”m
3 Therefore Israel will be abandonedn
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flocko
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatnessp
will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peaceq
when the Assyrians invader our land
and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
even eight commanders,s
6 who will rulec the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrodt with drawn sword.d u
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
when they invade our land
and march across our borders.v
7 The remnantw of Jacob will be
in the midst of many peoples
like dewx from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,y
which do not wait for anyone
or depend on man.
8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,z
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and manglesa as it goes,
and no one can rescue.b
9 Your hand will be lifted upc in triumph over your enemies,
and all your foes will be destroyed.
10 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will destroy your horses from among you
and demolish your chariots.d
11 I will destroy the citiese of your land
and tear down all your strongholds.f
12 I will destroy your witchcraft
and you will no longer cast spells.g
13 I will destroy your idolsh
and your sacred stones from among you;i
you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.j
14 I will uproot from among you your Asherah polese k
when I demolish your cities.
15 I will take vengeancel in anger and wrath
on the nations that have not obeyed me.”
The Lord’s Case Against Israel
6 Listen to what the Lord says:
“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;m
let the hills hear what you have to say.
2 “Hear,n you mountains, the Lord’s accusation;o
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has a casep against his people;
he is lodging a chargeq against Israel.
3 “My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdenedr you?s Answer me.
4 I brought you up out of Egyptt
and redeemed you from the land of slavery.u
I sent Mosesv to lead you,
what Balaky king of Moab plotted
and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittimz to Gilgal,a
that you may know the righteous actsb of the Lord.”
6 With what shall I come beforec the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?d
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,e
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?f
Shall I offer my firstborng for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?h
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justlyi and to love mercy
and to walk humblya j with your God.k
9 Listen! The Lord is calling to the city—
and to fear your name is wisdom—
“Heed the rodl and the One who appointed it.b
10 Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house,
and the short ephah,c which is accursed?m
11 Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales,n
with a bag of false weights?o
12 Your rich people are violent;p
your inhabitants are liarsq
and their tongues speak deceitfully.r
13 Therefore, I have begun to destroys you,
to ruind you because of your sins.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied;t
your stomach will still be empty.e
You will store up but save nothing,u
because what you savef I will give to the sword.
15 You will plant but not harvest;v
you will press olives but not use the oil,
you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.w
16 You have observed the statutes of Omrix
and all the practices of Ahab’sy house;
you have followed their traditions.z
Therefore I will give you over to ruina
and your people to derision;
7 What misery is mine!
I am like one who gathers summer fruit
at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster of grapes to eat,
none of the early figsc that I crave.
2 The faithful have been swept from the land;d
not onee upright person remains.
Everyone lies in waitf to shed blood;g
they hunt each otherh with nets.i
3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil;j
the ruler demands gifts,
the judge accepts bribes,k
the powerful dictate what they desire—
they all conspire together.
4 The best of them is like a brier,l
the most upright worse than a thornm hedge.
The day God visits you has come,
the day your watchmen sound the alarm.
Now is the time of your confusion.n
put no confidence in a friend.o
Even with the woman who lies in your embrace
guard the words of your lips.
6 For a son dishonors his father,
a daughter rises up against her mother,p
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.q
7 But as for me, I watchr in hopes for the Lord,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will heart me.
8 Do not gloat over me,u my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will rise.v
Though I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be my light.w
9 Because I have sinned against him,
I will bear the Lord’s wrath,x
until he pleads my casey
and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;z
I will see his righteousness.a
and will be covered with shame,b
she who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”c
My eyes will see her downfall;d
even now she will be tramplede underfoot
like mire in the streets.
11 The day for building your wallsf will come,
the day for extending your boundaries.
12 In that day people will come to you
from Assyriag and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates
and from sea to sea
and from mountain to mountain.h
13 The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants,
as the result of their deeds.i
14 Shepherdj your people with your staff,k
the flock of your inheritance,
which lives by itself in a forest,
Let them feed in Bashanm and Gileadn
as in days long ago.o
15 “As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
I will show them my wonders.p”
16 Nations will see and be ashamed,q
deprived of all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouthsr
and their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick dusts like a snake,
like creatures that crawl on the ground.
They will come tremblingt out of their dens;
they will turn in fearu to the Lord our God
and will be afraid of you.
18 Who is a Godv like you,
who pardons sinw and forgivesx the transgression
of the remnanty of his inheritance?z
You do not stay angrya forever
but delight to show mercy.b
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquitiesc into the depths of the sea.d
20 You will be faithful to Jacob,
and show love to Abraham,e
as you pledged on oath to our ancestorsf
in days long ago.g
1 A prophecya concerning Nineveh.b The book of the visionc of Nahum the Elkoshite.
The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh
2 The Lord is a jealousd and avenging God;
the Lord takes vengeancee and is filled with wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on his foes
and vents his wrath against his enemies.f
3 The Lord is slow to angerg but great in power;
the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.h
His way is in the whirlwindi and the storm,j
and cloudsk are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukesl the sea and dries it up;m
he makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Carmeln wither
and the blossoms of Lebanon fade.
5 The mountains quakeo before him
and the hills melt away.p
The earth tremblesq at his presence,
the world and all who live in it.r
6 Who can withstands his indignation?
Who can enduret his fierce anger?u
His wrath is poured out like fire;v
the rocks are shatteredw before him.
7 The Lord is good,x
a refuge in times of trouble.y
He cares forz those who trust in him,a
8 but with an overwhelming floodb
he will make an end of Nineveh;
he will pursue his foes into the realm of darkness.
9 Whatever they plotc against the Lord
he will bringa to an end;
trouble will not come a second time.
10 They will be entangled among thornsd
and drunke from their wine;
they will be consumed like dry stubble.b f
11 From you, Nineveh, has one come forth
who plots evil against the Lord
and devises wicked plans.
12 This is what the Lord says:
“Although they have allies and are numerous,
they will be destroyedg and pass away.
Although I have afflicted you, Judah,
I will afflict you no more.h
13 Now I will break their yokei from your neck
and tear your shackles away.”j
14 The Lord has given a command concerning you, Nineveh:
“You will have no descendants to bear your name.k
I will destroy the imagesl and idols
that are in the temple of your gods.
I will prepare your grave,m
for you are vile.”
15 Look, there on the mountains,
the feet of one who brings good news,n
who proclaims peace!o
Celebrate your festivals,p Judah,
and fulfill your vows.
No more will the wicked invade you;q
they will be completely destroyed.c
2 a An attackerr advances against you, Nineveh.
Guard the fortress,
watch the road,
brace yourselves,
marshal all your strength!
2 The Lord will restores the splendort of Jacob
like the splendor of Israel,
though destroyers have laid them waste
and have ruined their vines.
3 The shields of the soldiers are red;
the warriors are clad in scarlet.u
The metal on the chariots flashes
on the day they are made ready;
the spears of juniper are brandished.b
4 The chariotsv storm through the streets,
rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
they dart about like lightning.
5 Nineveh summons her picked troops,
yet they stumblew on their way.
They dash to the city wall;
the protective shield is put in place.
6 The river gatesx are thrown open
and the palace collapses.
7 It is decreedc that Nineveh
be exiled and carried away.
Her female slaves moany like doves
and beat on their breasts.z
whose water is draining away.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one turns back.
Plunder the gold!
The supply is endless,
the wealth from all its treasures!
10 She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
Hearts melt,a knees give way,
bodies tremble, every face grows pale.b
11 Where now is the lions’ den,c
the place where they fed their young,
where the lion and lioness went,
and the cubs, with nothing to fear?
12 The lion killedd enough for his cubs
and strangled the prey for his mate,
filling his lairse with the kill
and his dens with the prey.f
13 “I am againstg you,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will burn up your chariots in smoke,h
and the swordi will devour your young lions.
I will leave you no prey on the earth.
The voices of your messengers
will no longer be heard.”j
3 Woe to the city of blood,k
full of lies,l
full of plunder,
never without victims!
the clatter of wheels,
galloping horses
and jolting chariots!
flashing swords
and glittering spears!
Many casualties,
piles of dead,
bodies without number,
people stumbling over the corpsesm—
4 all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute,
alluring, the mistress of sorceries,n
who enslaved nations by her prostitutiono
and peoples by her witchcraft.
5 “I am againstp you,” declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will lift your skirtsq over your face.
I will show the nations your nakednessr
and the kingdoms your shame.
6 I will pelt you with filth,s
I will treat you with contemptt
and make you a spectacle.u
7 All who see you will fleev from you and say,
‘Ninevehw is in ruinsx—who will mourn for her?’y
Where can I find anyone to comfortz you?”
8 Are you better thana Thebes,b
situated on the Nile,c
with water around her?
The river was her defense,
the waters her wall.
9 Cusha d and Egypt were her boundless strength;
Pute and Libyaf were among her allies.
10 Yet she was taken captiveg
and went into exile.
Her infants were dashedh to pieces
at every street corner.
Lotsi were cast for her nobles,
and all her great men were put in chains.j
11 You too will become drunk;k
you will go into hidingl
and seek refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with their first ripe fruit;m
when they are shaken,
the figsn fall into the mouth of the eater.
they are all weaklings.o
The gatesp of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has consumed the bars of your gates.q
14 Draw water for the siege,r
strengthen your defenses!s
Work the clay,
tread the mortar,
repair the brickwork!
15 There the firet will consume you;
the swordu will cut you down—
they will devour you like a swarm of locusts.
Multiply like grasshoppers,
multiply like locusts!v
16 You have increased the number of your merchants
till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky,
but like locustsw they strip the land
and then fly away.
17 Your guards are like locusts,x
your officials like swarms of locusts
that settle in the walls on a cold day—
but when the sun appears they fly away,
and no one knows where.
18 King of Assyria, your shepherdsb slumber;y
your nobles lie down to rest.z
Your people are scattereda on the mountains
with no one to gather them.
19 Nothing can heal you;b
your wound is fatal.
All who hear the news about you
clap their handsc at your fall,
for who has not felt
your endless cruelty?d
1 The prophecya that Habakkuk the prophet received.
2 How long,b Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?c
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?d
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you toleratee wrongdoing?f
Destruction and violenceg are before me;
there is strife,h and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the lawi is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justicej is perverted.k
5 “Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.l
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.m
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,a n
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole eartho
to seize dwellings not their own.p
7 They are a feared and dreaded people;q
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
8 Their horses are swifterr than leopards,
fiercer than wolvess at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9 they all come intent on violence.
Their hordesb advance like a desert wind
and gather prisonerst like sand.
and scoff at rulers.u
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen rampsv they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the windw and go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”x
12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?y
My God, my Holy One,z youc will never die.a
You, Lord, have appointedb them to execute judgment;
you, my Rock,c have ordained them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pured to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.e
Why then do you toleratef the treacherous?g
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?h
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The wickedi foe pulls all of them up with hooks,j
he catches them in his net,k
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incensel to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?m
2 I will stand at my watchn
and station myself on the ramparts;o
I will look to see what he will sayp to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.a q
2 Then the Lord replied:
“Writer down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a heraldb may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;s
it speaks of the endt
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, waitu for it;
itc will certainly come
and will not delay.v
4 “See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous personw will live by his faithfulnessd x—
5 indeed, winey betrays him;
he is arrogantz and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
and like death is never satisfied,a
he gathers to himself all the nations
and takes captiveb all the peoples.
6 “Will not all of them tauntc him with ridicule and scorn, saying,
“ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
and makes himself wealthy by extortion!d
How long must this go on?’
7 Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
Then you will become their prey.e
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.f
For you have shed human blood;g
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.h
9 “Woe to him who buildsi his house by unjust gain,j
setting his nestk on high
to escape the clutches of ruin!
10 You have plotted the ruinl of many peoples,
shamingm your own house and forfeiting your life.
11 The stonesn of the wall will cry out,
and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshedo
and establishes a town by injustice!
13 Has not the Lord Almighty determined
that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,p
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?q
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the gloryr of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.s
15 “Woe to him who gives drinkt to his neighbors,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
16 You will be filled with shameu instead of glory.v
Now it is your turn! Drinkw and let your nakedness be exposede!x
The cupy from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
17 The violencez you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and your destruction of animals will terrify you.a
For you have shed human blood;b
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
18 “Of what valuec is an idold carved by a craftsman?
Or an imagee that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.f
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’g
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;h
there is no breath in it.”i
20 The Lord is in his holy temple;j
let all the earth be silentk before him.
3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.a l
2 Lord, I have heardm of your fame;
I stand in awen of your deeds, Lord.o
Repeatp them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.q
3 God came from Teman,r
the Holy Ones from Mount Paran.b t
His glory covered the heavensu
and his praise filled the earth.v
4 His splendor was like the sunrise;w
rays flashed from his hand,
where his powerx was hidden.
5 Plaguey went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
6 He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbledz
and the age-old hillsa collapsedb—
but he marches on forever.c
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midiand in anguish.e
8 Were you angry with the rivers,f Lord?
Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the seag
when you rode your horses
and your chariots to victory?h
you called for many arrows.i
You split the earth with rivers;
10 the mountains saw you and writhed.j
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roaredk
and lifted its wavesl on high.
11 Sun and moon stood stillm in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,n
at the lightningo of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshedp the nations.
13 You came outq to deliverr your people,
to save your anointeds one.
You crushedt the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
14 With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,u
gloating as though about to devour
the wretchedv who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the seaw with your horses,
churning the great waters.x
16 I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.y
Yet I will wait patientlyz for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,a
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,b
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,c
I will be joyful in God my Savior.d
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;e
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.f
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
Zephaniah focused on the coming “day of the Lord” that would purge Judah. He encourages the people to return to God before the day of judgment. He also predicted the judgment and destruction of neighboring nations, but ended with a note of hope—God would bring his people home and restore their honor among the nations.
1 The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiaha son of Amonb king of Judah:
Judgment on the Whole Earth in the Day of the Lord
2 “I will sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,”c
declares the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away both man and beast;d
I will sweep away the birds in the skye
and the fish in the sea—
and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.”a
“When I destroy all mankind
on the face of the earth,”f
declares the Lord,g
4 “I will stretch out my handh against Judah
and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,i
the very names of the idolatrous priestsj—
5 those who bow down on the roofs
to worship the starry host,k
those who bow down and swear by the Lord
and who also swear by Molek,b l
6 those who turn back from followingm the Lord
and neither seekn the Lord nor inquireo of him.”
7 Be silentp before the Sovereign Lord,
for the day of the Lordq is near.
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice;r
he has consecrated those he has invited.
8 “On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
I will punishs the officials
and the king’s sonst
and all those clad
in foreign clothes.
all who avoid stepping on the threshold,c u
who fill the temple of their gods
with violence and deceit.v
10 “On that day,w”
declares the Lord,
“a cry will go up from the Fish Gate,x
wailingy from the New Quarter,
and a loud crash from the hills.
11 Wail,z you who live in the market districtd;
all your merchants will be wiped out,
all who trade withe silver will be destroyed.a
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who are complacent,b
who are like wine left on its dregs,c
who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,d
either good or bad.’e
13 Their wealth will be plundered,f
their houses demolished.
Though they build houses,
they will not live in them;
though they plant vineyards,
they will not drink the wine.”g
14 The great day of the Lordh is neari—
near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;
the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.
15 That day will be a day of wrath—
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of trouble and ruin,
a day of darknessj and gloom,
a day of clouds and blacknessk—
16 a day of trumpet and battle cryl
against the fortified cities
and against the corner towers.m
17 “I will bring such distressn on all people
that they will grope about like those who are blind,o
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured outp like dust
and their entrails like dung.q
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”r
In the fire of his jealousys
the whole earth will be consumed,t
for he will make a sudden end
of all who live on the earth.u
Judah and Jerusalem Judged Along With the Nations
Judah Summoned to Repent
2 Gather together,v gather yourselves together,
you shamefulw nation,
2 before the decree takes effect
and that day passes like windblown chaff,x
before the Lord’s fierce angery
comes upon you,
before the day of the Lord’s wrathz
comes upon you.
3 Seeka the Lord, all you humble of the land,
you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness,b seek humility;c
perhaps you will be shelteredd
on the day of the Lord’s anger.
4 Gazae will be abandoned
and Ashkelonf left in ruins.
At midday Ashdod will be emptied
and Ekron uprooted.
5 Woe to you who live by the sea,
you Kerethiteg people;
the word of the Lord is against you,h
Canaan, land of the Philistines.
He says, “I will destroy you,
and none will be left.”i
6 The land by the sea will become pastures
having wells for shepherds
and pens for flocks.j
to the remnantk of the people of Judah;
there they will find pasture.
In the evening they will lie down
in the houses of Ashkelon.
The Lord their God will care for them;
he will restore their fortunes.a l
8 “I have heard the insultsm of Moabn
and the taunts of the Ammonites,o
who insultedp my people
and made threats against their land.q
9 Therefore, as surely as I live,”
declares the Lord Almighty,
the God of Israel,
“surely Moabr will become like Sodom,s
the Ammonitest like Gomorrah—
a place of weeds and salt pits,
a wasteland forever.
The remnant of my people will plunderu them;
the survivorsv of my nation will inherit their land.w”
10 This is what they will get in return for their pride,x
for insultingy and mocking
the people of the Lord Almighty.z
11 The Lord will be awesomea to them
when he destroys all the godsb of the earth.c
Distant nations will bow down to him,d
all of them in their own lands.
will be slain by my sword.f”
13 He will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,g
leaving Ninevehh utterly desolate
and dry as the desert.i
14 Flocks and herdsj will lie down there,
creatures of every kind.
The desert owlk and the screech owll
will roost on her columns.
Their hooting will echo through the windows,
rubble will fill the doorways,
the beams of cedar will be exposed.
15 This is the city of revelrym
that lived in safety.n
She said to herself,
“I am the one! And there is none besides me.”o
What a ruin she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!p
All who pass by her scoffq
and shake their fists.r
3 Woe to the city of oppressors,s
2 She obeysv no one,
she accepts no correction.w
She does not trustx in the Lord,
she does not draw neary to her God.
are roaring lions;z
her rulers are evening wolves,a
who leave nothing for the morning.b
4 Her prophets are unprincipled;
they are treacherous people.c
Her priests profane the sanctuary
and do violence to the law.d
5 The Lord within her is righteous;e
he does no wrong.f
Morning by morningg he dispenses his justice,
and every new day he does not fail,h
yet the unrighteous know no shame.i
6 “I have destroyed nations;
their strongholds are demolished.
I have left their streets deserted,
with no one passing through.
Their cities are laid waste;j
they are deserted and empty.
‘Surely you will fear me
and accept correction!’k
Then her place of refugea would not be destroyed,
nor all my punishments come uponb her.
But they were still eager
to act corruptlyl in all they did.
8 Therefore waitm for me,”
declares the Lord,
“for the day I will stand up to testify.c
I have decided to assemblen the nations,o
to gather the kingdoms
and to pour out my wrathp on them—
all my fierce anger.q
The whole world will be consumedr
by the fire of my jealous anger.
Restoration of Israel’s Remnant
9 “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples,
that all of them may calls on the name of the Lordt
and serveu him shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cushd v
my worshipers, my scattered people,
will bring me offerings.w
11 On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shamex
for all the wrongs you have done to me,y
because I will remove from you
your arrogant boasters.z
Never again will you be haughty
on my holy hill.a
12 But I will leave within you
the meekb and humble.
The remnant of Israel
will trustc in the name of the Lord.
they will tell no lies.f
A deceitful tongue
will not be found in their mouths.g
They will eat and lie downh
and no one will make them afraid.i”
14 Sing, Daughter Zion;j
shout aloud,k Israel!
Be glad and rejoicel with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;m
never again will you fearn any harm.o
they will say to Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.p
17 The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.q
He will take great delightr in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,s
but will rejoice over you with singing.”t
all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals,
which is a burden and reproach for you.
with all who oppressedu you.
I will rescue the lame;
I will gather the exiles.v
I will give them praisew and honor
in every land where they have suffered shame.
20 At that time I will gather you;
at that time I will bringx you home.
I will give you honory and praisez
among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunese a
before your very eyes,”
says the Lord.
A Call to Build the House of the Lord
1 In the second year of King Darius,a on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggaib to Zerubbabelc son of Shealtiel, governord of Judah, and to Joshuaa e son of Jozadak,b f the high priest:g
2 This is what the Lord Almightyh says: “These peoplei say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.j’ ”
3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:k 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses,l while this house remains a ruin?m”
5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thoughtn to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little.o You eat, but never have enough.p You drink, but never have your fill.q You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages,r only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thoughts to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timbert and build my house, so that I may take pleasureu in it and be honored,v” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little.w What you brought home, I blewx away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin,y while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheldz their dewa and the earth its crops.b 11 I called for a droughtc on the fields and the mountains,d on the grain, the new wine,e the olive oilf and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.g”
12 Then Zerubbabelh son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnanti of the people obeyedj the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people fearedk the Lord.
13 Then Haggai,l the Lord’s messenger,m gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am withn you,” declares the Lord. 14 So the Lord stirred upo the spirit of Zerubbabelp son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak,q the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnantr of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.s
The Promised Glory of the New House
In the second year of King Darius,t
2 on the twenty-first day of the seventh month,u the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:v 2 “Speak to Zerubbabelw son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak,a x the high priest, and to the remnanty of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this housez in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?a 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong,b Joshua son of Jozadak,c the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am withd you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenantede with you when you came out of Egypt.f And my Spiritg remains among you. Do not fear.’h
6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little whilei I will once more shake the heavens and the earth,j the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desiredk by all nations will come, and I will fill this housel with glory,m’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the goldn is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The gloryo of this present housep will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,q’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Blessings for a Defiled People
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,r in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai: 11 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priestss what the law says: 12 If someone carries consecrated meatt in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?u’ ”
The priests answered, “No.”
13 Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”
“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.v”
14 Then Haggai said, “ ‘So it is with this peoplew and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offerx there is defiled.
15 “ ‘Now give careful thoughty to this from this day onb—consider how things were before one stone was laidz on another in the Lord’s temple.a 16 When anyone came to a heapb of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vatc to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty.d 17 I struck all the work of your handse with blight,f mildew and hail,g yet you did not returnh to me,’ declares the Lord.i 18 ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thoughtj to the day when the foundationk of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranatel and the olive tree have not borne fruit.m
“ ‘From this day on I will blessn you.’ ”
Zerubbabel the Lord’s Signet Ring
20 The word of the Lord came to Haggaio a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month:p 21 “Tell Zerubbabelq governor of Judah that I am going to shaker the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overturns royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms.t I will overthrow chariotsu and their drivers; horses and their ridersv will fall, each by the sword of his brother.w
23 “ ‘On that day,x’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servanty Zerubbabelz son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring,a for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius,a the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariahb son of Berekiah,c the son of Iddo:d
2 “The Lord was very angrye with your ancestors. 3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Returnf to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’g says the Lord Almighty. 4 Do not be like your ancestors,h to whom the earlier prophetsi proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil waysj and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me,k declares the Lord.l 5 Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But did not my wordsm and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?n
“Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve,o just as he determined to do.’ ”p
The Man Among the Myrtle Trees
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.q
8 During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a redr horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.s
9 I asked, “What are these, my lord?”
The angelt who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”u
10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”v
11 And they reported to the angel of the Lordw who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”x
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how longy will you withhold mercyz from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah,a which you have been angry with these seventyb years?” 13 So the Lord spokec kind and comforting wordsd to the angel who talked with me.e
14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealousf for Jerusalem and Zion, 15 and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure.g I was only a little angry,h but they went too far with the punishment.’i
16 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will returnj to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring linek will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.l
17 “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfortm Zion and choosen Jerusalem.’ ”o
18 Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns. 19 I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?”
He answered me, “These are the hornsp that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 I asked, “What are these coming to do?”
He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their hornsq against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”a r
2 a Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 I asked, “Where are you going?”
He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”s
3 While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him 4 and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without wallst because of the great numberu of people and animals in it.v 5 And I myself will be a wallw of firex around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its gloryy within.’z
6 “Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have scattereda you to the four winds of heaven,”b declares the Lord.c
7 “Come, Zion! Escape,d you who live in Daughter Babylon!”e 8 For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eyef—9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them.b g Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.h
10 “Shouti and be glad, Daughter Zion.j For I am coming,k and I will live among you,”l declares the Lord.m 11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people.n I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.o 12 The Lord will inheritp Judahq as his portion in the holy land and will again chooser Jerusalem. 13 Be stills before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.t”
Clean Garments for the High Priest
3 Then he showed me Joshuaa u the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satanb v standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you,w Satan! The Lord, who has chosenx Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning sticky snatched from the fire?”z
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin,a and I will put fine garmentsb on you.”
5 Then I said, “Put a clean turbanc on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.
6 The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: 7 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements,d then you will govern my housee and have chargef of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.g
8 “ ‘Listen, High Priesth Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolici of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.j 9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua!k There are seven eyesc l on that one stone,m and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sinn of this land in a single day.
10 “ ‘In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sito under your vine and fig tree,p’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
The Gold Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees
4 Then the angel who talked with me returned and wokeq me up, like someone awakened from sleep.r 2 He asked me, “What do you see?”s
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstandt with a bowl at the top and seven lampsu on it, with seven channels to the lamps. 3 Also there are two olive treesv by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.w
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:x ‘Noty by might nor by power,z but by my Spirit,’a says the Lord Almighty.
7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground.b Then he will bring out the capstonec to shoutsd of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundatione of this temple; his hands will also complete it.f Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent meg to you.
10 “Who dares despise the dayh of small things,i since the seven eyesj of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstonea in the hand of Zerubbabel?”k
11 Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive treesl on the right and the left of the lampstand?”
12 Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”
13 He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I said.
14 So he said, “These are the two who are anointedm tob serve the Lord of all the earth.”
5 I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.n
2 He asked me, “What do you see?”o
I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.a”
3 And he said to me, “This is the cursep that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thiefq will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falselyr will be banished. 4 The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falselys by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.t’ ”
5 Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”
He replied, “It is a basket.u” And he added, “This is the iniquityb of the people throughout the land.”
7 Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! 8 He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.v
9 Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork,w and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.
11 He replied, “To the country of Babyloniac x to build a housey for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”z
6 I looked up again, and there before me were four chariotsa coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, the second black,b 3 the third white,c and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. 4 I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 The angel answered me, “These are the four spiritsa d of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.e 6 The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west,b and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”
7 When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth.f And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.
8 Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spiritc restg in the land of the north.”h
9 The word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon.i Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown,j and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshuak son of Jozadak.d l 12 Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch,m and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.n 13 It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And hee will be a priesto on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ 14 The crown will be given to Heldai,f Tobijah, Jedaiah and Heng son of Zephaniah as a memorialp in the temple of the Lord. 15 Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord,q and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.r This will happen if you diligently obeys the Lord your God.”
Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting
7 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariaht on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev.u 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreatv the Lordw 3 by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mournx and fast in the fifthy month, as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fastedz and mourned in the fifth and seventha months for the past seventy years,b was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?c 7 Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophetsd when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at reste and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothillsf were settled?’ ”g
8 And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice;h show mercy and compassion to one another.i 10 Do not oppress the widowj or the fatherless, the foreignerk or the poor.l Do not plot evil against each other.’m
11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornlyn they turned their backso and covered their ears.p 12 They made their hearts as hard as flintq and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.r So the Lord Almighty was very angry.s
13 “ ‘When I called, they did not listen;t so when they called, I would not listen,’u says the Lord Almighty.v 14 ‘I scatteredw them with a whirlwindx among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it.y This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.z’ ”
The Lord Promises to Bless Jerusalem
8 The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I am very jealousa for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”
3 This is what the Lord says: “I will returnb to Zionc and dwell in Jerusalem.d Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City,e and the mountainf of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.g”
4 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem,h each of them with cane in hand because of their age. 5 The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.i”
6 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time,j but will it seem marvelous to me?k” declares the Lord Almighty.
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west.l 8 I will bring them backm to liven in Jerusalem; they will be my people,o and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.p”
9 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strongq so that the temple may be built.’ This is also what the prophetsr said who were present when the foundations was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty. 10 Before that time there were no wagest for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safelyu because of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the past,”v declares the Lord Almighty.
12 “The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit,w the ground will produce its crops,x and the heavens will drop their dew.y I will give all these things as an inheritancez to the remnant of this people.a 13 Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a cursea b among the nations, so I will savec you, and you will be a blessing.b d Do not be afraid,e but let your hands be strong.f”
14 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to bring disasterg on you and showed no pity when your ancestors angered me,” says the Lord Almighty, 15 “so now I have determined to do goodh again to Jerusalem and Judah.i Do not be afraid. 16 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truthj to each other, and render true and sound judgmentk in your courts;l 17 do not plot evilm against each other, and do not love to swear falsely.n I hate all this,” declares the Lord.
18 The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.
19 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth,o fifth,p seventhq and tenthr months will become joyfuls and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love trutht and peace.”
20 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, 21 and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreatu the Lord and seekv the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.’ 22 And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.”w
23 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’ ”x
9 A prophecy:y
The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
and will come to rest on Damascusz—
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
are on the Lord—a
2 and on Hamatha too, which borders on it,
and on Tyreb and Sidon,c though they are very skillful.
3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
she has heaped up silver like dust,
and gold like the dirt of the streets.d
4 But the Lord will take away her possessions
and destroye her power on the sea,
and she will be consumed by fire.f
5 Ashkelong will see it and fear;
Gaza will writhe in agony,
and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
and Ashkelon will be deserted.
6 A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
and I will put an endh to the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will take the blood from their mouths,
the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our Godi
and become a clan in Judah,
and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.j
8 But I will encampk at my temple
to guard it against marauding forces.l
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
for now I am keeping watch.m
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!n
Shout,o Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,p
righteous and victorious,q
lowly and riding on a donkey,r
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.s
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.t
He will proclaim peaceu to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the Riverb to the ends of the earth.v
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenantw with you,
I will free your prisonersx from the waterless pit.y
12 Return to your fortress,z you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twicea as much to you.
13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bowb
and fill it with Ephraim.c
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
against your sons, Greece,d
and make you like a warrior’s sword.e
14 Then the Lord will appear over them;f
his arrow will flash like lightning.g
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;h
he will march in the stormsi of the south,
15 and the Lord Almighty will shieldj them.
They will destroy
and overcome with slingstones.k
They will drink and roar as with wine;l
they will be full like a bowlm
used for sprinklingc the cornersn of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will save his people on that dayo
as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
like jewels in a crown.p
17 How attractive and beautiful they will be!
Grain will make the young men thrive,
and new wine the young women.
10 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rainq to all people,
and plants of the fieldr to everyone.
2 The idolss speak deceitfully,
divinerst see visions that lie;
they tell dreamsu that are false,
they give comfort in vain.v
Therefore the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.w
3 “My anger burns against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders;x
for the Lord Almighty will care
for his flock, the people of Judah,
and make them like a proud horse in battle.y
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone,z
from him the tent peg,a
from him the battle bow,b
from him every ruler.
5 Together theya will be like warriors in battle
trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.c
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.d
6 “I will strengthene Judah
and save the tribes of Joseph.
I will restore them
because I have compassionf on them.g
They will be as though
I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God
and I will answerh them.
7 The Ephraimites will become like warriors,
and their hearts will be glad as with wine.i
Their children will see it and be joyful;
their hearts will rejoicej in the Lord.
8 I will signalk for them
and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
they will be as numerousl as before.
9 Though I scatter them among the peoples,
yet in distant lands they will remember me.m
They and their children will survive,
and they will return.
10 I will bring them back from Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.n
I will bring them to Gileado and Lebanon,
and there will not be roomp enough for them.
11 They will pass through the sea of trouble;
the surging sea will be subdued
and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.q
Assyria’s prider will be brought down
and Egypt’s scepters will pass away.t
12 I will strengthenu them in the Lord
and in his name they will live securely,v”
declares the Lord.
11 Open your doors, Lebanon,w
so that firex may devour your cedars!
2 Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaksy of Bashan;
the dense forestz has been cut down!a
3 Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;b
the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!c
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.d 5 Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them.e 6 For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighborsf and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”g
7 So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter,h particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
The flock detestedi me, and I grew weary of them 9 and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.j Let those who are left eatk one another’s flesh.”
10 Then I took my staff called Favorl and broke it, revokingm the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.
12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.n
13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silvero and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.p
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.
17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,q
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his armr and his right eye!
May his arm be completely withered,
his right eye totally blinded!”s
Jerusalem’s Enemies to Be Destroyed
12 A prophecy:t The word of the Lord concerning Israel.
The Lord, who stretches out the heavens,u who lays the foundation of the earth,v and who forms the human spirit within a person,w declares: 2 “I am going to make Jerusalem a cupx that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.y Judahz will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nationsa of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rockb for all the nations. All who try to move it will injurec themselves. 4 On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.d 5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong,e because the Lord Almighty is their God.’
6 “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepotf in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consumeg all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intacth in her place.
7 “The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah.i 8 On that day the Lord will shieldj those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblestk among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God,l like the angel of the Lord going beforem them. 9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nationsn that attack Jerusalem.o
Mourning for the One They Pierced
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirita p of grace and supplication.q They will look onb me, the one they have pierced,r and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child,s and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.t 11 On that day the weepingu in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.v 12 The land will mourn,w each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives.x
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