All thy strongholds are like fig-trees with the first-ripe figs: if they be shaken, they even fall into the mouth of the eater.

Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.

Get water for the time when you are shut in, make strong your towns: go into the potter's earth, stamping it down with your feet, make strong the brickworks.

Increase your merchants more than the stars of heaven! They are like the young locust which sheds its skin and flies away.

Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.

Your pain may not be made better; you are wounded to death: all those hearing the news about you will be waving their hands in joy over you: for who has not undergone the weight of your evil-doing again and again?

"How long, LORD, must I cry out for help, but you won't listen? I'm crying out to you, "Violence!' but you aren't providing deliverance.

Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

For this reason the law is feeble and decisions are not effected: for the upright man is circled round by evil-doers; because of which right is twisted.

"Look at the nations and pay attention! You will be shocked and amazed! For I will do something in your lifetime that you will not believe even though you are forewarned.

For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.

They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

All of them come to do violence;
their faces are set in determination.
They gather prisoners like sand.

Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision unto him; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.

Then they sweep by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty; their strength is their god.

Are You not from everlasting,
O Lord, my God, My Holy One?
We will not die.
O Lord, You have appointed the Chaldeans [who rule in Babylon] to execute [Your] judgment,
And You, O Rock, have established them to correct and chastise.

Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,
And You cannot look favorably on wickedness.
Why then do You look favorably
On those who act treacherously?
Why are you silent when the wicked (Chaldean oppressors) destroy
Those more righteous than they?

Why do You make men like the fish of the sea,
Like reptiles and creeping things that have no ruler [and are helpless against their enemies]?

They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness.

“Moreover, wine is treacherous and betrays the arrogant man,
So that he does not stay at home.
His appetite is large like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He gathers to himself all nations
And collects to himself all peoples [as if he owned them].

Shall they not rise up suddenly that are your creditors, and awake that shall oppress you, and you shall be for booty unto them?

“Because you [king of Babylon] have looted many nations,
All peoples who are left will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and for the violence done to the land,
To the city and all its inhabitants.

You have brought shame to yourself by killing many people you are forfeiting your own life.

Lo, is it not from Jehovah of Hosts And peoples are fatigued for fire, And nations for vanity are weary?

"Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies!

You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh's right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.

For the violent acts against Lebanon will come on you, and the destruction of the cattle will be a cause of fear to you, because of men's blood and the violent acts against the land and the town and all who are living in it.

LORD, as I listen to what has been said about you, I am afraid. LORD, revive your work throughout all of our lives reveal yourself throughout all of our lives when you are angry, remember compassion.

His brilliance is like light;
rays are flashing from His hand.
This is where His power is hidden.

He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

I see the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble; the tent curtains of the land of Midian are shaking.

Are You angry at the rivers, Lord?
Is Your wrath against the rivers?
Or is Your rage against the sea
when You ride on Your horses,
Your victorious chariot?

Utterly naked Thou dost make Thy bow, Sworn are the tribes -- saying, 'Pause!' With rivers Thou dost cleave the earth.

Seen thee -- pained are mountains, An inundation of waters hath passed over, Given forth hath the deep its voice, High its hands it hath lifted up.

Thou hast pierced with his staves the head of his leaders, They are tempestuous to scatter me, Their exultation is as to consume the poor in secret.

Thou hast driven, into the sea, thy chariot-horses. Foaming are the mighty waters!

When I hear this, my body is vexed, my lips tremble at the voice thereof, my bones corrupt, I am afraid where I stand. O that I might rest in the day of trouble, that I might go up unto our people, which are already prepared.

Though the fig tree does not blossom
And there is no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive fails
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock is cut off from the fold
And there are no cattle in the stalls,

I will take away man and beast, I will take away the bird of the heavens and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks, even them who are lawless, - and will cut off mankind, from off the face of the ground, Declareth Yahweh.

And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him.

And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

And I have laid a charge on every one Who is leaping over the threshold in that day, Who are filling the house of their masters With violence and deceit.

Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

And I will bring distress to mankind, and they shall walk like them who are blind, because, against Yahweh, have they sinned, - and their blood, shall be poured out, as dust, and their bowels like dung.

Even their silver and their gold will not be able to keep them safe in the day of the Lord's wrath; but all the land will be burned up in the fire of his bitter wrath: for he will put an end, even suddenly, to all who are living in the land.

Seek Jehovah, all ye humble of the land, Who His judgment have done, Seek ye righteousness, seek humility, It may be ye are hidden in a day of the anger of Jehovah.

Those who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete, are as good as dead. The Lord has decreed your downfall, Canaan, land of the Philistines: "I will destroy everyone who lives there!"

Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah will take possession of it. By the sea they will graze, in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening, for the Lord their God will intervene for them and restore their prosperity.

Therefore, as surely as I live," says the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel, "be certain that Moab will become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah. They will be overrun by weeds, filled with salt pits, and permanently desolate. Those of my people who are left will plunder their belongings; those who are left in Judah will take possession of their land."

Also ye, O Cushim, pierced of My sword are they.

Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.

Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.

The righteous LORD who lives within her will do no wrong; he will bring justice to light morning by morning. He never fails, but the unjust are shameless.

I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.

“I said, ‘Most certainly you will [reverently] fear Me;
Accept correction.’
So Jerusalem’s dwelling will not be cut off
In accordance with all that I have appointed concerning her [punishment],
But they were eager [even rising early] to make all their deeds corrupt.

I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.

Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you, and I will save those who are lame, and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honor, whose shame has been in all the earth.

These are the words of the Lord of armies: These people say, The time has not come for building the Lord's house.

Here then is what the Lord who rules over all says: 'Think carefully about what you are doing.

Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

Looking for much, and lo, little, And ye brought it home, and I blew on it, Wherefore? -- an affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, Because of My house that is waste, And ye are running -- each to his house,

And Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest, and all the remnant of the people, do hearken to the voice of Jehovah their God, and unto the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God had sent him, and the people are afraid of the face of Jehovah.

Who among you hath been left that saw this house in its former honour? And what are ye seeing it now? Is it not, compared with it, as nothing in your eyes?

The agreement which I made with you when you came out of Egypt, and my spirit, are with you still; have no fear.

These are the words of the Lord of armies: Put now a point of law to the priests, saying,

Then Haggai answered, “‘So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there [on the altar] is unclean [because they who offer it are unclean].

Overturning the power of kingdoms; and I will send destruction on the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; by me war-carriages will be overturned with those who are in them; and the horses and the horsemen will come down, everyone by the sword of his brother.

And you are to say to them, These are the words of the Lord of armies: Come back to me, says the Lord of armies, and I will come back to you.

Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?

I have seen by night, and lo, one riding on a red horse, and he is standing between the myrtles that are in the shade, and behind him are horses, red, bay, and white.

Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.

And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

And they answered the angel of the LORD, that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, 'We have gone through the world: and behold all the world dwell at ease, and are careless.'

And the angel who was talking to me said to me, Let your voice be loud and say, These are the words of the Lord of armies: I am greatly moved about the fate of Jerusalem and of Zion.

And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

And I say, 'Whither are thou going?' And he saith unto me, 'To measure Jerusalem, to see how much is its breadth, and how much its length.'

“Go, Zion! Escape, you who are living with Daughter Babylon.”

For thus said Jehovah of Hosts: After honour He hath sent me unto the nations who are spoiling you, For he who is coming against you, Is coming against the daughter of His eye.

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my requirements, then you will judge my house, and you will also guard my courtyards, and I will give to you passageways among these that are standing here.

Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; upon one stone are seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:

and two olive-trees are by it, one on the right of the bowl, and one on its left.'

So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord.

Who art thou, O great mountain Before Zerubbabel -- for a plain! And he hath brought forth the top-stone, Cries of Grace, grace -- are to it.'

For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?

And I answered the second time, and said unto him, What are these two olive-branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that empty the golden oil out of themselves?

And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord.

Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

And he asked me, "What [are] you seeing?" And I said, "I [am] seeing a flying scroll twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide."

And I said, 'What is it?' He answered, 'This is a measure going out.' He said moreover, 'Even thus are they that dwell upon the whole earth to look upon.'

And I lift up mine eyes, and see, and lo, two women are coming forth, and wind in their wings; and they have wings like wings of the stork, and they lift up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.