1 The declaration about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum, the Elkoshite.
2 Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges;
Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath;
Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries,
and he continues his anger for his enemies.
3 Yahweh is slow to anger and great in power;
he will not acquit the wicked.
Yahweh makes his way in the whirlwind and the storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers.
Bashan is weak, and Carmel also;
the flowers of Lebanon have become weak.
5 The mountains shake in his presence,
and the hills melt;
the earth collapses in his presence, indeed,
the world and all people who live in it.
6 Who can stand before his rage?
Who can resist the fierceness of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are broken apart by him.
7 Yahweh is good,
a stronghold in the day of trouble;
and he acknowledges those who take refuge in him.
8 But he will make a full end to his enemies
with an overwhelming flood;
he will pursue them into darkness.
9 What are you people plotting against Yahweh?
He will make a full end to it;
trouble will not rise up a second time.
10 Like tangled thorns
and like the drink of drunkards,
they will be consumed like dry stubble.
11 From you, Nineveh, has come out
someone who plotted evil against Yahweh,
a wicked counselor.
12 This is what Yahweh says,
"Even if they are at their full strength and full numbers,
they will nevertheless be sheared; their people will pass away.
But you, Judah: Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13 Now will I break that people's yoke from off you;
I will break your chains."
14 Yahweh has given a command about you, Nineveh:
"There will be no more descendants bearing your name.
I will cut off the carved images and the cast metal figures
from the houses of your gods.
I will prepare your grave,
for you are contemptible."
15 Look, on the mountains
there are the feet of someone who is bringing good news,
who is announcing peace!
Celebrate your festivals, Judah,
and fulfill your vows,
for the wicked one will invade you no more;
he is completely cut off.
1 The one who scatters is coming up against you.
Guard the city wall, watch the road,
strengthen your loins, pull together all your strength.
2 For Yahweh is restoring the majesty of Jacob
like the majesty of Israel,
although the plunderers devastated them
and destroyed their vine branches.
3 The shields of his mighty men are red,
and the soldiers are clothed in scarlet;
the chariots flash with their metal
on the day that they are made ready,
and the cypress spears are waved in the air.
4 The chariots speed through the streets;
they rush back and forth in the wide streets.
They look like torches,
and they run like lightning.
5 He remembers his nobles;
they stumble over each other in their march;
they hurry to attack the city wall.
The large shield is made ready to protect these attackers.
6 The gates at the rivers are forced open,
and the palace collapses.
7 Huzzab is stripped
and is taken away;
her female servants moan like doves,
beating on their breasts.
8 Nineveh is like a leaking pool of water,
with its people fleeing away like rushing water.
Others shout, "Stop, stop,"
but no one turns back.
9 Take the silver plunder, take the gold plunder,
for there is no end to the treasure,
to the splendor of all Nineveh's desirable things.
10 Nineveh is empty; empty and devastated.
Everyone's heart melts, everyone's knees strike together,
and anguish is in all loins; their faces are all pale.
11 Where now is the lions' den,
the place where the young lion cubs were fed,
the place where the lion and lioness walked,
with the cubs, where they were afraid of nothing?
12 The lion tore his victims to pieces for his cubs;
he strangled victims for his lionesses,
and filled his cave with victims,
his dens with torn carcasses.
13 "See, I am against you—
this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts.
I will burn your chariots in the smoke,
and the sword will devour your young lions.
I will cut off your prey from your land,
and the voices of your messengers will be heard no more."
1 Woe to the city full of blood!
It is all full of lies and stolen property;
victims are always in her.
2 But now there is the noise of whips
and the sound of rattling wheels,
prancing horses, and bounding chariots.
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing swords and glittering spears!
Piles of the dead, bodies that could not be counted—
their attackers stumble over the bodies.
4 This is happening because of the lustful actions
of the beautiful prostitute, the expert in witchcraft,
who sells nations through her prostitution,
and peoples through her acts of witchcraft.
5 "See, I am against you—
this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—
I will raise up your skirt over your face
and show your private parts to the nations,
your shame to the kingdoms.
6 I will throw disgusting filth on you
and make you vile;
I will set you up as a spectacle.
7 It will come about that everyone who looks at you
will flee from you and say,
'Nineveh is destroyed; who will weep for her?'
Where can I go to find anyone to comfort you?"
8 Nineveh, are you better than Thebes,
which was located on the Nile River,
which had water around her,
whose rampart was the sea,
and the sea was its wall?
9 Cush and Egypt were her strength,
and there was no end to it;
Put and Libya were allies to her.
10 Yet Thebes was carried away;
she went into captivity;
her young children were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
her enemies threw lots for her honorable men,
and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 You also will become drunk; you will try to hide,
and you also will look for a refuge from your enemy.
12 All your fortresses will be like fig trees
with the earliest ripe figs:
if they are shaken,
they fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 See, the people among you are women;
the gates of your land have been opened wide to your enemies;
fire has devoured their bars.
14 Go draw water for the siege;
strengthen your fortresses;
go into the clay and tread the mortar;
pick up the molds for the bricks.
15 Fire will devour you there, and the sword will destroy you.
It will devour you as young locusts devour everything.
Make yourselves as many as the young locusts,
as many as the full-grown locusts.
16 You have multiplied your merchants
more than the stars in the heavens;
but they are like young locusts:
they plunder the land and then fly away.
17 Your princes are like locust swarms,
and your commanders are like locusts
that camp in the walls on a cold day.
But when the sun rises they flee,
and the place they go to is not known.
18 King of Assyria, your shepherds are asleep;
your nobles are lying down resting.
Your people are scattered on the mountains,
and there is no one to gather them.
19 No healing is possible for your wounds.
Your wounds are severe.
Everyone who hears the news about you
will clap their hands in joy over you.
On whom has your wickedness
not trodden continually?
1 The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2 "Yahweh, how long will I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
I cry out to you, 'Violence!'
but you will not save.
3 Why do you make me see iniquity
and cause me to look upon wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and contention rises up.
4 Therefore the law is weakened,
and justice does not last for any time.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
therefore twisted justice goes out."
5 "Look at the nations and observe them;
be amazed and astonished!
For I am surely about to do something in your days
that you will not believe when it is reported to you.
6 For look! I am about to raise up the Chaldeans—
that fierce and impetuous nation—
they are marching throughout the breadth of the land
to seize homes that were not their own.
7 They are terrifying and fearsome;
their judgment and splendor proceed from themselves.
8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards,
quicker than the evening wolves.
So their horses stamp,
and their horsemen come from a great distance—
they fly like an eagle hurrying to eat.
9 They all come for violence;
their multitudes go like the desert wind
and they gather captives like sand. [1]
10 So they mock kings,
and rulers are only a mockery for them.
They laugh at every stronghold,
for they heap up earth and seize it.
11 Then the wind will rush on;
it will move past—
guilty men, those whose might is their god."
12 "Are you not from ancient times,
Yahweh my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
Yahweh has ordained them for judgment,
and you, Rock, have established them for correction.
13 Your eyes are too pure to gaze upon evil,
and you are not able to look on wrongdoing with favor.
Why then have you looked favorably on those who betray?
Why are you silent while the wicked devour
those more righteous than they are?
14 You make men like fish in the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler over them.
15 He brings all of them up with a fishhook;
he drags men away in his fishnet;
he gathers them together in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and he is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury,
and his food is the richest kind.
17 Will he therefore keep emptying his net,
and will he continually slaughter the nations without mercy?"
1 I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the watchtower,
and I will watch carefully to see what he will say to me
and how I should turn from my complaint. [1]
2 Yahweh answered me and said,
"Record this vision,
and write plainly on the tablets
so that the one reading them might run.
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time
and will testify and not fail.
Though it delays, wait for it.
For it will surely come and will not tarry.
4 Look! The one whose desires are not right within him
is puffed up.
But the righteous will live by his faith.
5 Indeed, as wine is treacherous,
even so an arrogant man does not stay at home.
He has made his throat as wide as Sheol;
and like death, he is never satisfied.
He has gathered together all the nations,
and he has assembled to himself all the people.
6 Will all these not take up a proverb and mockery, riddles about him, saying,
'Woe to the one increasing
what is not his!
For how long will you increase
the weight of the pledges you have taken?'
7 Will the ones biting at you not rise up suddenly,
and the ones terrifying you awaken?
You will become a victim for them.
8 Because you have plundered many peoples,
all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you.
For you have shed human blood
and acted with violence against the land,
the cities, and all who live in them.
9 'Woe to the one who gets evil gains for his house,
so he can set his nest on high
to deliver himself from the hand of evil.'
10 You have devised shame for your house
by cutting off many people,
and have sinned against your life.
11 For the stones will cry out from the wall,
and the rafters of timber will answer them,
12 'Woe to the one who builds a city with blood,
and who establishes a town in iniquity.'
13 Is it not from Yahweh of hosts
that peoples labor for fire,
and nations weary themselves in vain?
14 Yet the land will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh
as the waters cover the sea.
15 'Woe to the one who forces his neighbors to drink—
you express your anger [2] and you make them drunk
in order to look at their nakedness.'
16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
Now it is your turn!
Drink, and you will expose your uncircumcised foreskin!
The cup in Yahweh's right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
17 The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you
and the devastation of animals will terrify you.
For you have shed the blood of man
and you have acted with violence
against the land, the cities, and all who live in them.
18 What profit is there in a carved image?
For a carver has carved it!
Or a cast metal figure, a teacher of lies?
For the maker trusts in what he has made
when he makes these worthless idols.
19 Woe to the one saying to the wood, 'Wake up!
or to the silent stone, 'Arise!'
Do these things teach?
See, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
but there is no breath at all within it.
20 But Yahweh is in his holy temple!
Be silent before him, all the land."
1 The prayer of Habakkuk the prophet: [1]
2 Yahweh, I have heard your report,
and I am afraid.
Yahweh, revive your work in the midst of these times;
in the midst of these years make it known;
remember to have compassion in your wrath.
3 God came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
4 With brightness like the light,
two-pronged rays flash from his hand;
and there he hid his power.
5 Deadly disease went before him,
and the plague came out at his feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth;
he looked and shook the nations.
Even the eternal mountains were shattered,
and the everlasting hills bowed down.
His path is everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction,
and the fabric of the tents in the land of Midian trembling.
8 Was Yahweh angry at the rivers?
Was your wrath against the rivers,
or your fury against the sea,
when you rode upon your horses
and your victorious chariots?
9 You have brought out your bow without a cover;
you put arrows to your bow! Selah
You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw you and twisted in pain.
Downpours of water passed over them;
the deep sea raised a shout.
It lifted up its hands.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their high places
at the flash of your arrows as they fly,
at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 You have marched over the earth with indignation.
In wrath you have threshed the nations.
13 You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed one.
You shatter the head of the house of the wicked
to lay bare from the base up to the neck. Selah
14 You have pierced the head of his warriors
with his own spears since they came
like a storm to scatter us;
their gloating was like one
who devours the poor in a hiding place.
15 You have trampled on the sea with your horses,
and heaped up the great waters.
16 I heard, and my inner parts trembled!
My lips quivered at the sound.
Decay comes into my bones,
and under myself I tremble
as I wait quietly for the day of distress
to come upon the people who invade us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no produce from the vines;
and though the produce of the olive tree disappoints
and the fields produce no food;
and though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there are no cattle in the stalls,
this is what I will do.
18 Still, I will rejoice in Yahweh.
I will be joyful because of the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord Yahweh is my strength
and he makes my feet like the deer's.
He makes me go forward on my high places.
—To the music director, on my stringed instruments.
1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 "I will utterly destroy everything
from off the surface of the earth—
this is Yahweh's declaration.
3 I will destroy men and animals;
I will destroy the birds of the heavens
and the fish of the sea,
the ruins along with the wicked.
For I will cut off man
from the surface of the earth—
this is Yahweh's declaration.
4 I will reach out with my hand over Judah
and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every remnant of Baal from this place
and the names of the idolatrous people among the priests,
5 the people who on the housetops
worship the heavenly bodies,
and the people who worship and swear to Yahweh
but who also swear by their king. [1]
6 I will also cut off those who have turned away from following Yahweh,
those who neither seek Yahweh nor ask for his guidance."
7 Be silent before the Lord Yahweh!
For the day of Yahweh is near;
Yahweh has prepared the sacrifice
and set apart his guests.
8 "It will come about on the day of Yahweh's sacrifice,
that I will punish the princes
and the king's sons,
and everyone dressed
in foreign clothes.
9 On that day I will punish
all those who leap over the threshold,
those who fill their master's house
with violence and deceit.
10 So it will be on that day—
this is Yahweh's declaration—
that a cry of distress will come from the Fish Gate,
wailing from the Second District,
and a great crashing sound from the hills.
11 Wail, inhabitants of the Market District,
for all the people of Canaan will be ruined;
all those who weigh out silver will be cut off.
12 It will come about at that time
that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men
who have settled into their wine and say in their heart,
'Yahweh will not do anything,
either good or evil.'
13 Their wealth will become plunder,
and their houses will be an abandoned devastation!
They will build houses but not live in them,
and plant vineyards but not drink their wine.
14 The great day of Yahweh is near,
near and hurrying quickly!
The sound of the day of Yahweh
will be that of a warrior crying bitterly!
15 That day will be a day of fury,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of storm and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds
and thick darkness.
16 It will be a day of rams' horns and alarms
against the fortified cities
and the high battlements.
17 For I will bring distress upon mankind,
so that they will walk about like blind men
since they have sinned against Yahweh.
Their blood will be poured out like dust,
and their inner parts like dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to deliver them
on the day of Yahweh's fury.
In the fire of his jealousy
the whole earth will be consumed,
for he will bring a complete,
a terrible end of all the inhabitants of the earth."
1 Rally yourselves together and gather,
unashamed nation—
2 before the decree takes effect
and that day passes like the chaff,
before the fierce anger of Yahweh's wrath
comes upon you,
before the day of Yahweh's wrath
comes upon you.
3 Seek Yahweh, all you humble people on earth
who obey his ordinances!
Seek righteousness. Seek humility,
and perhaps you will be protected
in the day of Yahweh's wrath.
4 For Gaza will be abandoned,
and Ashkelon will turn into a devastation.
They will drive out Ashdod at noon,
and they will uproot Ekron!
5 Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
the nation of the Kerethites!
Yahweh has spoken against you,
Canaan, land of the Philistines.
I will destroy you
until no inhabitant remains.
6 So the seacoast will become pastures
for shepherds
and for sheep pens.
7 The coastal region will belong
to the remnant of the house of Judah,
who will shepherd their flocks there.
Their people will lie down in the evening
in the houses of Ashkelon,
for Yahweh their God will care for them
and reverse their captivity.
8 "I have heard the taunts of Moab
and the insults of the people of Ammon
when they taunted my people
and violated their borders.
9 Therefore, as I live—
this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts,
God of Israel—
Moab will become like Sodom,
and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah;
a place of nettles and a salt pit,
deserted forever.
But the remnant of my people will plunder them,
and the remainder of my nation will take possession of them."
10 This will happen to Moab and Ammon because of their pride,
since they taunted and became arrogant
against the people of Yahweh of hosts.
11 Then Yahweh will be terrifying to them,
for he will destroy all the gods of the earth.
Everyone will bow down to him,
each from his own place,
from the coastlands of all nations.
12 You Cushites also
will be pierced by my sword,
13 and God's hand will attack the north
and destroy Assyria,
so that Nineveh will become an abandoned devastation,
as dry as the desert.
14 Then herds will lie down there,
every animal of the nations;
both the desert owl and the screech owl
will rest in the top of her columns.
A call will sing out from the windows;
rubble will be in the doorways;
her carved cedar beams will be exposed.
15 This is the joyful city
that lived without fear,
that said in her heart,
"I am, and nothing is my equal."
How she has become a horror,
a place for beasts to lie down in.
Everyone that passes by her
will hiss and shake his fist at her.
1 Woe to the rebellious city!
The violent city is defiled.
2 She has not listened to the voice of God,
nor accepted correction from Yahweh.
She does not trust in Yahweh
and will not approach her God.
3 Her princes are roaring lions
in her midst.
Her judges are evening wolves
who leave nothing to be gnawed upon in the morning.
4 Her prophets are insolent
and treasonous men.
Her priests have profaned what is holy
and have done violence to the law.
5 Yahweh is righteous in her midst.
He can do no wrong.
Morning by morning he will dispense his justice!
It will not be hidden in the light,
yet the unjust knows no shame.
6 "I have destroyed nations;
their fortresses are ruined.
I have made their streets ruins,
so that no one passes over them.
Their cities are destroyed
so that there is no man inhabiting them.
7 I said, 'Surely you will fear me.
Accept correction
and do not be cut off from your homes
by all that I have planned to do to you.'
But they were eager to begin each morning
by corrupting all their deeds.
8 Therefore wait for me—
this is Yahweh's declaration—
until the day that I rise up to seize the prey.
For my decision is to assemble the nations,
to gather the kingdoms,
to pour out on them my anger—
all of my burning wrath;
for in the fire of my jealousy
all the earth will be consumed. [1]
9 But then I will purify the lips of the peoples,
that all of them may call upon the name of Yahweh
to serve him shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the river of Cush
my worshipers—my scattered people—
will bring offerings due me.
11 In that day you will not be put to shame
for all your deeds by which you rebelled against me,
since at that time I will remove from among you
those who boasted in your pride,
and because you will no longer act arrogantly
on my holy mountain.
12 But I will leave among you
a lowly and poor people,
and they will find refuge
in the name of Yahweh.
13 The remnant of Israel will no longer
commit injustice or speak lies,
and no deceitful tongue
will be found in their mouth;
so they will graze and lie down,
and no one will make them afraid."
14 Sing, daughter of Zion!
Shout, Israel.
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
daughter of Jerusalem.
15 Yahweh has taken away your punishment;
he has turned away your enemies!
Yahweh is the king of Israel among you.
You will never again fear evil!
16 In that day
they will say to Jerusalem,
"Do not fear, Zion.
Do not let your hands become weak.
17 Yahweh your God is among you,
a mighty one to save you.
He will celebrate over you with joy;
he will be silent over you in his love;
he will be glad over you with a shout for joy.
18 I will gather those who grieve,
those who cannot attend the appointed feasts,
so you will no longer
bear any shame for it. [2]
19 Behold, I am about to deal
with all your oppressors.
At that time, I will rescue the lame
and gather up the outcast.
I will make them as praise,
and I will change their shame into renown
in all the earth.
20 At that time I will lead you;
at that time I will gather you together.
I will give you renown and praise
among all the peoples of the earth
when I reverse your captivity before your eyes,"
says Yahweh.
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua son of Jozadak, saying, 2 "Yahweh of hosts says this: These people say, 'It is not time for us to come or to build the house of Yahweh.'"
3 Then the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your finished houses, while this house lies ruined? 5 So now Yahweh of hosts says this: Consider your ways!
6 You have sown much seed, but bring in little;
you eat but do not have enough;
you drink but cannot get drunk.
You wear clothes but cannot warm yourselves,
and the wage earner earns money
only to put it into a bag full of holes!
7 Yahweh of hosts says this: "Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountain, bring timber, and build my house; then I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified!—says Yahweh." 9 "You looked for much, but behold! you have brought little home, for I blew it away! Why?" declares Yahweh of hosts. "Because my house lies in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. 10 Because of this the heavens withhold the dew from you, and the earth withholds its produce. 11 I have summoned a drought upon the land and upon the mountains, upon the grain and upon the new wine, upon the oil and upon what the earth sends forth, upon men and upon animals, and upon all the labor of your hands!"
12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and the high priest Joshua son of Jozadak, along with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, because Yahweh their God had sent him and the people feared the face of Yahweh. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of Yahweh, spoke Yahweh's message to the people and said, "I am with you!—this is Yahweh's declaration!" 14 So Yahweh stirred up the spirit of the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and the spirit of the high priest Joshua son of Jozadak, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, so that they went and worked on the house of Yahweh of hosts, their God 15 in the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
1 In the seventh month on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, 2 "Speak to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua son of Jozadak, and to the remnant of the people. Say, 3 'Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not like nothing in your eyes? 4 Now, be strong, Zerubbabel!—this is Yahweh's declaration— and be strong, high priest Joshua son of Jozadak; and be strong, all you people in the land! —this is Yahweh's declaration—and work, for I am with you!— this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. 5 This is the covenant that I established with you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit stands among you. Do not fear!
6 For Yahweh of hosts says this: In a little while I will once again shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land! 7 I will shake every nation, and every nation will bring their precious things to me, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of hosts. 8 The silver and gold are mine!—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. 9 The glory of this house will be greater in the future than at the beginning, says Yahweh of hosts, and I will give peace in this place!—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts."
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 11 "Yahweh of hosts says this: Ask the priests concerning the law, and say, 12 'If a man carries meat that is set apart to Yahweh in the fold of his garment, and the fold touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy?'"
The priests answered and said, "No."
13 Then Haggai said, "If someone who is unclean because of death touches any of these things, do they become unclean?" The priests answered and said, "Yes, they become unclean."
14 So Haggai answered and said, "So it is with this people and this nation before me!— this is Yahweh's declaration—and so it is with the work of their hands. What they offer to me is unclean!
15 So now, think in your minds about the past leading up to this very day. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of Yahweh, 16 how was it then? When you came to a heap of twenty measures of grain, there were only ten; and when you came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17 I afflicted you and all the work of your hands with blight and mildew, but you still did not turn to me—this is Yahweh's declaration. 18 Consider from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the temple of Yahweh was laid. Consider it! 19 Is there still seed in the storehouse? The vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not borne! But from this day will I bless you!"
20 Then the word of Yahweh came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month and said, 21 "Speak to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, and say,
'I will shake the heavens and the earth.
22 For I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms
and destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations!
I will overthrow the chariots and their riders;
the horses and their riders will fall down,
each one because of his brother's sword.
23 On that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts— I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, as my servant—this is Yahweh's declaration. I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you!— this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts!'"
1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius' reign, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah son of Berekiah son of Iddo, the prophet, saying, 2 "Yahweh was exceedingly angry with your fathers! 3 Say to them, 'Yahweh of hosts says this: Turn to me!—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts— and I will return to you, says Yahweh of hosts. 4 Do not be like your fathers to whom the prophets cried out previously, saying, "Yahweh of hosts says this: Turn from your evil ways and wicked practices!" But they would not hear and did not pay attention to me—this is Yahweh's declaration.' 5 Your fathers—where are they? And the prophets—do they live forever? 6 But my words and my decrees that I commanded my servants the prophets, have they not overtaken your fathers? So they repented and said, 'Just as Yahweh of hosts planned to do to us what our ways and actions deserved, so he has dealt with us.'"
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius' reign, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah son of Berekiah son of Iddo, the prophet, saying, 8 I saw in the night, and, look! A man was riding on a red horse, and he was among the myrtle trees that are in the valley; and behind him there were red, reddish-brown, and white horses. 9 I said, "What are these things, Lord?" Then the angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what these things are." 10 Then the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, "These are those Yahweh has sent out to roam throughout the earth." 11 They answered the angel of Yahweh who stood among the myrtle trees; they said to him, "We have been roaming throughout the earth; see, all the earth sits still and is at rest."
12 Then the angel of Yahweh answered and said, "Yahweh of hosts, how long will you show no compassion to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?" 13 Yahweh answered the angel who had talked with me, with good words, words of comfort.
14 So the angel who had talked with me said to me, "Call out and say, 'Yahweh of hosts says this: I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great jealousy! 15 I am very angry with the nations that are at ease. When I was only a little angry with them, they made the disaster worse. 16 Therefore Yahweh of hosts says this: I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house will be built within her— this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—and the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem!' 17 Again call out, saying, 'Yahweh of hosts says this: My cities will once again overflow with goodness, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and he will once again choose Jerusalem.'"
18 Then I lifted up my eyes and saw four horns! 19 I spoke to the angel who talked with me, "What are these?" He answered me, "These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." 20 Then Yahweh showed me four craftsmen. 21 I said, "What are these people coming to do?" He answered, and said, "These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no man would lift up his head. But the blacksmiths have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations that lifted up a horn against the land of Judah to scatter her."
1 Next I lifted up my eyes and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 I said, "Where are you going?" So he said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to determine its width and length." 3 Then the angel who had talked with me went away and another angel went out to meet him. 4 The second angel said to him, "Run and speak to that young man; say, 'Jerusalem will sit in the open country because of the multitudes of men and livestock within her.
5 For I—this is Yahweh's declaration—will become for her a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.
6 Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north—this is Yahweh's declaration—for I have scattered you like the four winds of the skies!—This is Yahweh's declaration.
7 Up! Escape to Zion, you who live with the daughter of Babylon!'"
8 For after Yahweh of hosts honored me and sent me against the nations that plundered you—for whoever touches you, touches the apple of God's eye!—after Yahweh did this, he said, 9 "I myself will shake my hand over them, and they will be plunder for their slaves." Then you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me.
10 "Sing for joy and be glad, daughter of Zion, for I myself am about to come and dwell among you!—this is Yahweh's declaration." 11 Then great nations will join themselves to Yahweh in that day. He says, "Then you will become my people; for I will dwell in the midst of you," and you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you.
12 For Yahweh will inherit Judah as his rightful possession in the holy land and will once again choose Jerusalem for himself. 13 Be silent, all flesh, before Yahweh, for he has been roused from out of his holy place!
1 Then Yahweh showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh and Satan was standing at his right hand to accuse him of sin. 2 The angel of Yahweh said to Satan, "May Yahweh rebuke you, Satan; may Yahweh, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is this not a brand pulled from the fire?" 3 Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel spoke and said to those who stood before him, "Remove the filthy garments from upon him." Then he said to Joshua, "Look! I have caused your iniquity to pass from you and I will dress you in official robes." 5 Then I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head!" So they set a clean turban on Joshua's head and clothed him with clean garments, while the angel of Yahweh was standing by.
6 Next the angel of Yahweh solemnly commanded Joshua and said, 7 "Yahweh of hosts says this: If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my commandments, then you will govern my house and guard my courts, for I will allow you to go and come among these who stand before me. 8 Listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your companions who live with you! For these men are a sign, for I myself will bring up my servant the Branch. 9 Now look at the stone that I have set before Joshua. There are seven eyes on this single stone, and I will engrave an inscription—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts— and I will remove the iniquity from this land in one day. 10 In that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—each man will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree."
1 Then the angel who was talking with me turned and roused me like a man roused from his sleep. 2 He said to me, "What do you see?" I said, "I see a lampstand made entirely of gold, with a bowl on its top. It has seven lamps on it and seven lamp wicks at the top of each lamp. 3 Two olive trees are by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on the left side." 4 So I spoke again to the angel who was talking with me. I said, "What do these things mean, my master?" 5 The angel who was talking with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these things mean?" I said, "No, my master." 6 So he said to me, "This is the word of Yahweh to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says Yahweh of hosts. 7 What are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain, and he will bring out the top stone to shouts of 'Grace! Grace to it!'"
8 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 9 "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house and his hands will bring it to completion. Then you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you.
10 Who has despised the day of small things? These people will rejoice and will see the plumb stone in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven lamps are the eyes of Yahweh that roam over the whole earth."
11 Then I asked the angel, "What are these two olive trees that stand on the left and the right of the lampstand?"
12 Once more I asked him, "What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that have golden oil pouring out of them?" 13 Then he said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" I said, "No, my master."
14 So he said, "These are the sons of fresh olive oil who stand before the Lord of all the earth."
1 Then I turned and lifted my eyes, and I saw, behold, a flying scroll! 2 The angel said to me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide." 3 Then he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land. For every thief will be cut off according to what it says on the one side, and everyone who swears a false oath will be cut off according to what it says on the other side. 4 "I will send it out—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—so it will enter into the house of the thief and into the house of the one that swears falsely by my name. It will remain in his house and consume its timber and stones."
5 Then the angel who was speaking with me went out and said to me, "Raise your eyes and see what is coming!" 6 I said, "What is it?" He said, "This is a basket containing an ephah that is coming. This is their iniquity in the whole land." [1]7 Then a lead covering was lifted off the basket and there was a woman under it sitting in it! 8 The angel said, "This is Wickedness!" He threw her back inside the basket, and he threw the lead cover over its opening. 9 I lifted my eyes and saw two women coming toward me, and wind was in their wings—for they had wings like a stork's wings. They lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 So I said to the angel who was talking to me, "Where are they taking the basket?" 11 He said to me, "To build a temple in the land of Shinar for it, so that when the temple is ready, the basket will be set there on its prepared base."
1 Then I turned and lifted my eyes and I saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains; and the two mountains were made of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, the second chariot had black horses, 3 the third chariot had white horses, and the fourth chariot had spotted gray horses. 4 So I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my master?" 5 The angel answered and said to me, "These are the four winds of heaven that go out from the place where they were standing before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The one with the black horses is going out to the north country; the white horses are going out to the west country; and the spotted gray horses are going out to the south country." 7 These strong horses went out and sought to go and roam over the earth, so the angel said, "Go and roam over the earth!" and they left for all the earth. 8 Then he called out to me and spoke to me and said, "Look at the ones that are going out to the north country; they will appease my spirit concerning the north country."
9 So the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 10 "Take an offering from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah—and go this same day and take it into the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah, who has come from Babylon. 11 Then take the silver and gold, make a crown and set it upon the head of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. 12 Speak to him and say, 'Yahweh of hosts says this: This man, his name is Branch! He will grow up where he is and will then build the temple of Yahweh! 13 It is he who builds the temple of Yahweh, and he will be clothed with royal splendor, and will sit and rule on his throne. He will be a priest on his throne, and he will bear a counsel of peace between the two. 14 The crown will given to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and for Hen son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of Yahweh. 15 Then those who are far off will come and build the temple of Yahweh, so you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you; for this will happen if you truly listen to the voice of Yahweh your God!'"
1 When King Darius had been ruler for four years, on the fourth day of Kislev (which was the ninth month), the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah. 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek and their men to beg before the face of Yahweh. 3 They spoke to the priests who were at the house of Yahweh of hosts and to the prophets; they said, "Should I mourn in the fifth month by means of a fast, as I have done these many years?"
4 So the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, 5 "Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests and say, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, were you truly fasting for me? 6 When you ate and drank, did you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7 Were these not the same words that Yahweh proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem and the surrounding cities were inhabited and prosperous, and the Negev and the lowlands to the west were inhabited?'" 8 The word of Yahweh came to Zechariah, saying, 9 "Yahweh of hosts says this, 'Judge with true justice, covenant faithfulness, and mercy. Let each man do this for his brother. 10 About the widow and orphan, the foreigner, and the poor person—do not oppress them, and let none of you plot any harm against another in your heart.' 11 But they refused to pay attention and set their shoulders stubbornly. They stopped up their ears so they would not hear. 12 They made their hearts as hard as rock so they would not hear the law or the words of Yahweh of hosts. He had sent these messages to the people by his Spirit in earlier times, by the mouth of the prophets. But the people refused to listen, so Yahweh of hosts was very angry with them. 13 It happened that when he called, they did not listen. In the same way," said Yahweh of hosts, "they will call out to me, but I will not listen. 14 For I will scatter them with a whirlwind to all the nations that they have not known, and the land will be desolate after them. For no one will pass through the land or return to it since the people have made their delightful land into a wasteland."
1 The word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, 2 "Yahweh of hosts says this: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am passionate for her with great anger! 3 Yahweh of hosts says this: I will return to Zion and will live in the midst of Jerusalem, for Jerusalem will be called The City of Truth and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts will be called The Holy Mountain! 4 Yahweh of hosts says this: Old men and old women will once again be in the streets of Jerusalem, and every person will need a staff in his hand because he has grown so old. 5 The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in them.
6 Yahweh of hosts says this: If something seems impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also seem impossible in my eyes?—this is Yahweh's declaration.
7 Yahweh of hosts says this: Behold, I am about to rescue my people from the land of the sunrise and from the land of the setting sun! 8 For I will bring them back, and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem, so they will again be my people, and I will be their God in truth and in righteousness!
9 Yahweh of hosts says this: You who now continue to hear the same words that came from the prophets' mouths when the foundation of my house was laid—this house of mine, Yahweh of hosts: Strengthen your hands so that the temple can be built. 10 For before those days no crops were gathered in by anyone, there was no profit for either man or animal, and there was no peace from enemies for anyone going or coming. I had set every person each against his neighbor. 11 But now it will not be as in former days, I will be with the remnant of this people— this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts. 12 For seeds of peace will be sown; the climbing vine will give its fruit and the earth will give its produce; the skies will give their dew, for I will make the remnant of this people inherit all these things. 13 You were an example to the other nations of a curse, house of Judah and house of Israel. So I will rescue you and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid; let your hands be strong!
14 For Yahweh of hosts says this: Just as I planned to do harm to you when your ancestors provoked my anger— says Yahweh of hosts—and did not relent, 15 so also I will plan in these days to do good again to Jerusalem and the house of Judah! Do not fear! 16 These are the things that you must do: Speak truth, every person with his neighbor. Judge with truth, justice, and peace in your gates. 17 Do not plan to do evil within your heart against one another, and do not love deceptive oaths—for these are the things I hate!—this is Yahweh's declaration."
18 Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying, 19 "Yahweh of hosts says this: The fasts of the fourth month, the fifth month, the seventh month, and the tenth month will become times of joy, gladness, and happy festivals for the house of Judah! Therefore love truth and peace!
20 Yahweh of hosts says this: People will come again, even those who are living in many different cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city will go to another city and say, 'Let us quickly go to beg before the face of Yahweh and to seek Yahweh of hosts! We ourselves are also going.' 22 Many people and mighty nations will come to seek Yahweh of hosts in Jerusalem and beg for the favor of Yahweh!
23 Yahweh of hosts says this: In those days ten men from every language and nation will grasp the hem of the robe of a Jew and say, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you!'"
1 "This is a declaration of Yahweh's word concerning the land of Hadrak
and Damascus, its resting place;
for the eyes of all humanity and all the tribes of Israel
are toward Yahweh.
2 This declaration also concerns Hamath, which borders on Damascus,
and it concerns Tyre and Sidon, for they are very wise.
3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold
and heaped up silver like dust
and refined gold like mud in the streets.
4 Look! The Lord will dispossess her
and destroy her strength on the sea,
so she will be devoured by fire.
5 Ashkelon will see and be afraid!
Gaza also will tremble greatly!
Ekron, her hopes will be disappointed!
The king will perish from Gaza,
and Ashkelon will not remain.
6 Strangers will make their homes in Ashdod,
and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
7 For I will remove their blood from their mouths
and their abominations from between their teeth.
Then they will become a remnant for our God
like a clan in Judah,
and Ekron will become like the Jebusites.
8 I will camp around my land against enemy armies, [1]
so no one can pass through or return,
for no oppressor will overrun them,
for now I see with my own eyes!
9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!
Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold! Your king is coming to you.
He is righteous and victorious.
He is humble and is riding on a donkey,
on the colt of a donkey.
10 Then I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the horse from Jerusalem,
and the bow will be cut off from battle;
for he will speak peace to the nations,
and his dominion will be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth!
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the pit where there is no water.
12 Return to the stronghold, prisoners of hope!
Even today I am declaring that I will return double to you,
13 for I have bent Judah as my bow.
I have filled my quiver with Ephraim.
I have roused your sons, Zion,
against your sons, Greece,
and have made you, Zion, like a warrior's sword!"
14 Yahweh will appear to them,
and his arrows will shoot out like lightning!
For my Lord Yahweh will blow the ram's horn
and will advance with the storms from Teman.
15 Yahweh of hosts will defend them,
and they will devour them and defeat the stones of the slings.
Then they will drink and shout like men drunk on wine,
and they will be filled with wine like bowls,
like the corners of the altar.
16 So Yahweh their God will rescue them on that day,
as the flock of his people.
They are the jewels of a crown
that will shine on his land.
17 How good and how beautiful they will be!
The young men will flourish on grain
and the virgins on sweet wine!"
1 Ask for rain from Yahweh in the season of the spring rain—
Yahweh who makes thunderstorms—
and he gives rain showers to everyone
and vegetation in the field.
2 For household idols speak wickedness;
the diviners envision a lie;
they tell deceitful dreams
and give empty comfort,
so they wander like sheep and suffer
because there is no shepherd.
3 "My wrath burns against the shepherds;
it is the male goats—the leaders—that I will punish.
Yahweh of hosts will also attend to his flock, the house of Judah,
and make them like his warhorse in battle!
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone;
from him will come the tent peg;
from him will come the war bow;
from him will come every ruler together. [1]
5 They will be like warriors
who trample their enemies into the mud of the streets in battle;
they will make war, for Yahweh is with them,
and they will shame those who ride warhorses.
6 I will strengthen the house of Judah
and save the house of Joseph,
for I will restore them
and have mercy on them.
They will be as though
I had not rejected them,
for I am Yahweh their God,
and I will respond to them.
7 Then Ephraim will be like a warrior,
and their hearts will rejoice as with wine;
their children will see and rejoice.
Their hearts will rejoice in me!
8 I will whistle for them
and gather them,
for I will rescue them,
and they will become as great as they previously were!
9 I sowed them among the peoples,
but they will remember me in distant countries,
so they and their children will live and return.
10 For I will restore them from the land of Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon
until there is no more room for them.
11 I will pass through the sea of their affliction;
I will strike the waves of that sea and will dry up all the depths of the Nile.
The majesty of Assyria will be brought down,
and the scepter of Egypt will go away from the Egyptians.
12 I will strengthen them in myself,
and they will walk in my name—
this is Yahweh's declaration."
1 Open your doors, Lebanon,
that fire may devour your cedars!
2 Wail, cypress trees, for the cedar trees have fallen!
What was glorious has been devastated!
Wail, you oaks of Bashan,
for the impenetrable forest has gone down.
3 There is the sound of the shepherds' howl,
for their glory has been destroyed!
There is the voice of the young lions' roar,
for the pride of the Jordan River has been devastated!
4 This is what Yahweh my God says, "Like a shepherd, watch over the flock set aside for slaughter! 5 (Those who buy them slaughter them and are not guilty, and those who sell them say, 'Blessed be Yahweh! I have become rich!' for the shepherds working for the flocks' owners have no pity on them.) 6 For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land!—this is Yahweh's declaration. See! I myself am about to turn over every person into the hand of his neighbor and into the hand of his king, and they will destroy the land and none of them will I deliver them from their hand."
7 So I became the shepherd of the flock marked for slaughter for those who dealt in sheep. I took two staffs; one staff I called "Favor" and the other I called "Unity." In this way I shepherded the flock. 8 In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. I became impatient with them, and they also hated me. 9 Then I said to the owners, "I will not work as a shepherd for you any longer. The sheep that are dying—let them die; the sheep that are being destroyed—let them be destroyed. Let the sheep that remain each eat the flesh of its neighbor." 10 So I took my staff "Favor" and broke it to break the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11 On that day the covenant was broken, and those who dealt in sheep and who were watching me knew that Yahweh had spoken. 12 I said to them, "If it seems good to you, pay me my wages. But if not, do not do it." So they weighed out my wages—thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then Yahweh said to me, "Deposit the silver in the treasury, the excellent price at which they valued you!" So I took the thirty pieces of silver and deposited them in the treasury in the house of Yahweh. 14 Then I broke my second staff, "Unity," to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 Yahweh said to me, "Again, take the equipment of a foolish shepherd for yourself, 16 for see, I am about to set in place a shepherd in the land. He will not care for the perishing sheep. He will not seek out the sheep gone missing, nor heal the crippled sheep. He will not feed the sheep that are healthy, but will eat the flesh of the fattened sheep and will tear off their hooves.
17 Woe to the worthless shepherd
who abandons the flock!
May the sword come against his arm and his right eye!
May his arm wither away
and may his right eye become blind!"
1 This is a declaration of Yahweh's word concerning Israel—a declaration of Yahweh, who stretched out the skies and laid the foundation of the earth, who fashions the spirit of mankind within man, 2 "See, I am about to make Jerusalem into a cup causing all the peoples surrounding her to stagger about. It will also be like that for Judah during the siege against Jerusalem. 3 On that day, I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. Anyone trying to carry that stone will hurt himself very much, and all the nations of the earth will gather against that city. 4 On that day—this is Yahweh's declaration—I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. Over the house of Judah I will open my eyes, but every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness. 5 Then the chiefs of Judah will say in their hearts, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are our strength because of Yahweh of hosts, their God.' 6 On that day I will make the chiefs of Judah like firepots among wood and like a flaming torch among standing grain, for they will consume all the surrounding peoples on their right and on their left. Jerusalem will again live in her own place.
7" Yahweh will save the tents of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and the honor of those who live in Jerusalem may not be greater than the rest of Judah. 8 On that day Yahweh will be the defender of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on that day those who are weak among them will be like David, while the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh in front of them. 9 "On that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 "But I will pour out a spirit of compassion and pleading on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so they will look on me, the one they have pierced. They will mourn for me, as one mourns for an only son; they will bitterly lament for him like those who lament the death of a firstborn son. 11 On that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be like the wailing at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, each clan separate from other clans. The clan of the house of David will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. The clan of the house of Nathan will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. 13 The clan of the house of Levi will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. The clan of the Shimeites will be separate and their wives will be separate from the men. 14 Every clan of the remaining clans—each clan will be separate and the wives will be separate from the men."
1 "On that day a spring will be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for their sin and impurity. 2 On that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—I will cut off the names of the idols from the land and they will no longer be remembered. I will remove the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness from the land. 3 If any man continues to prophesy, his father and mother who bore him will tell him, 'You will not live, for you speak lies in the name of Yahweh!' Then the father and mother who bore him will pierce him when he prophesies. 4 On that day each prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he is about to prophesy. These prophets will no longer wear a hairy cloak, in order to deceive the people. 5 For each will say, 'I am not a prophet! I am a man who works the soil, for the land became my work while I was still a young man!' 6 But someone will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' and he will answer, 'I was wounded with those in my friends' house.'
7 "Sword! Rouse yourself against my shepherd,
the man who stands close to me—
this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts.
Strike the shepherd,
and the flock will scatter!
For I will turn my hand against the lowly ones.
8 Then it will come about that throughout all the land—this is Yahweh's declaration—
that two-thirds of it will be cut off! Those people will perish;
only one-third will remain there.
9 I will bring that third through the fire
and refine them as silver is refined;
I will test them as gold is tested.
They will call on my name,
and I will answer them and say,
'This is my people!'
and they will say, 'Yahweh is my God!'"
1 Behold! A day for Yahweh is coming when your plunder will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather every nation against Jerusalem for battle and the city will be captured. The houses will be plundered and the women raped. Half of the city will go out into captivity, but the remainder of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 But Yahweh will go out and make war against those nations as when he makes war on the day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is beside Jerusalem to the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half between the east and the west by a very great valley and half of the mountain will go back toward the north and half toward the south. 5 Then you will flee down the valley between Yahweh's mountains, for the valley between those mountains will reach to Azel. You will flee just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then Yahweh my God will come and all the holy ones will be with him. 6 On that day there will be no light, but no cold or frost either. 7 On that day, a day known only to Yahweh, there will no longer be day or night, for the evening will be a time of light. 8 On that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem. Half of them will flow to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter.
9 Yahweh will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be Yahweh, the one God, and his name alone. 10 All the land will be like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will continue to be raised up and remain in its own place, from the Benjamin Gate to the place where the first gate was, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses. 11 The people will live in Jerusalem and there will be no more complete destruction from God against them. Jerusalem will live in safety.
12 This will be the plague with which Yahweh will attack all the peoples that waged war against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot away even as they are standing on their feet. Their eyes will rot in their sockets and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 On that day that great panic from Yahweh will come among them. Each one will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will be raised up against the hand of another. 14 Judah will also make war against Jerusalem. They will gather the wealth of all the surrounding nations—gold, silver, and fine clothes in great abundance. 15 A plague will also be on the horses and the mules, the camels and the donkeys, and on every animal in those camps will also suffer that same plague.
16 Then it will happen that all who remain in those nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, and to keep the Festival of Shelters. 17 It will happen that if anyone from all the nations of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, then Yahweh will not bring rain on them. 18 If the nation of Egypt does not go up, then they will not receive rain. A plague from Yahweh will attack the nations that do not go up to keep the Festival of Shelters. 19 This will be the punishment for Egypt and the punishment for every nation that does not go up to keep the Festival of Shelters. 20 But on that day, the bells of the horses will say, "Set apart to Yahweh," and the basins in the house of Yahweh will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 For every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be set apart to Yahweh of hosts and everyone who brings a sacrifice will eat from them and boil in them. On that day traders will no longer be in the house of Yahweh of hosts.
1 The burden of the word of Yahweh to Israel by the hand of Malachi.
2 "I have loved you," says Yahweh. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares Yahweh. "Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated. I have made his mountains an abandoned devastation, and I have made his inheritance a place for the jackals of the wilderness." 4 If Edom says, "We are beaten down, but we will return and rebuild the ruins," Yahweh of hosts will say, "They may rebuild, but I will throw down again. Others will call them 'The country of wickedness' and 'The people with whom Yahweh is angry forever.' 5 Your own eyes will see this, and you will say, 'Yahweh is great beyond the borders of Israel.'
6 "A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master. If I, then, am a Father, where is my honor? If I am a master, where is the reverence for me?" says Yahweh of hosts to you priests, who despise my name. "But you say, 'How have we despised your name?' 7 By offering polluted bread upon my altar. But you say, 'How have we polluted you?' By saying that Yahweh's table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not evil? When you offer the lame and sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor! Will he accept you or will he lift up your face?" says Yahweh of hosts. 9 Now you keep asking the face of God, that he may be gracious to us. But Yahweh of hosts says that with such an offering in your hand, would he lift up any of your faces? 10 "Oh, if only there were one of you who would shut the temple gates, so that you might not light fires on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you," says Yahweh of hosts, "and I will not accept any offering from your hand. 11 For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations and in every place incense and pure grain offerings will be offered in my name. For my name will be great among the nations," says Yahweh of hosts. 12 "But you are profaning it when you say the Lord's table is polluted, and that its fruit, its food, is to be despised. 13 You also say, 'How tiresome this is,' and you snort at it," says Yahweh of hosts. "You bring what has been torn or is lame or sick; and this you bring as your offering. Should I accept this from your hand?" says Yahweh. 14 "May the deceiver be cursed who has a male animal in his flock and vows to give it to me, and yet sacrifices to me, the Lord, what is flawed! For I am a great king," says Yahweh of hosts, "and my name will be honored among the nations."
1 Now you priests, this command is for you. 2 "If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it on your heart to give honor to my name," says Yahweh of hosts, "then I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them, because you are not laying my command on your heart. 3 See, I am about to rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the dung from your festivals, and he will take you away with it. [1][2]4 You will know that I have sent this command to you, and that my covenant may continue to be with Levi," says Yahweh of hosts. 5 "My covenant with him was life and peace, and I gave them to him; I gave him fear, and he feared me, and he stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness and he turned many away from iniquity. 7 For a priest's lips should keep knowledge and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is a messenger of Yahweh of hosts. 8 But you have turned away from the true path. You have caused many to stumble with respect to the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi," says Yahweh of hosts. 9 "So, I have made you contemptible and lowly before all the people, because you have not kept my ways, but have instead shown partiality in matters of the law."
10 Is there not one Father for us all? Has not one God created us? Why are we faithless each man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless. A disgusting thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the holy place of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, the one who is awake and the one who answers, even if he is bringing an offering to Yahweh of hosts. [3]13 You also do this: You cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping and sighing, because he still does not turn toward the offering or accept it with favor from your hand. 14 But you say, "Why does he not?" Because Yahweh was a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been faithless, even though she was your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of his spirit? Then why did he make you one? Because he was seeking an offspring from God. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. 16 "For I hate divorce," says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "and the one who covers his garment with violence," says Yahweh of hosts. "So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless."
17 You have wearied Yahweh with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied him?" By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the eyes of Yahweh, and he delights in them," or "Where is the God of justice?"
1 "See, I am about to send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, see, he will come," says Yahweh of hosts.
2 But who will be able to endure the day of his coming? Who will be able to stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire and like laundry soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi. He will refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings of righteousness to Yahweh. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years. 5 "Then I will approach you for judgment. I will quickly become a witness against the sorcerers, the adulterers, those who swear to deception, and against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, those who oppress the widow and the orphan, against those who turn away the foreigner, and against those who do not honor me," says Yahweh of hosts. 6 "For I, Yahweh, have not changed; therefore you descendants of Jacob have not been consumed.
7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says Yahweh of hosts. "But you say, 'How will we return?' 8 Would a person rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this," says Yahweh of hosts, "if I do not open to you the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on you, until there is no more room for it all. 11 I will rebuke those who destroy your crops, so that they do not destroy the harvest of your land. Your vines in the fields will not lose their fruit," says Yahweh of hosts. 12 "All the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight," says Yahweh of hosts.
13 "Your words against me have been strong," says Yahweh. "But you say, 'What have we said among ourselves against you?' 14 You have said, 'It is useless to serve God. What profit is it that we have kept his requirements or walked mournfully before Yahweh of hosts? 15 So now we call those who do evil blessed. Evildoers not only prosper, but they even test God and escape.'"
16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke with one another. Yahweh paid attention and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him about those who feared Yahweh and honored his name. 17 "They will be mine," says Yahweh of hosts, "my own treasured possession, on the day that I act. I will pity them, as a man pities his own son who serves him. 18 Then once again you will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who worships God and one who does not worship him.
1 For see, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and all the evildoers will become stubble. The day that is coming will burn them up," says Yahweh of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and you will leap like calves from the stall. 3 On that day you will trample down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I act," says Yahweh of hosts.
4 "Remember the law of my servant Moses that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and the rulings. 5 See, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and fearful day of Yahweh. 6 He will turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, so that I do not come and attack the land with complete destruction."