But my words and my statutes that I gave as commands to my servants the prophets did they not overwhelm your ancestors? And they returned to me: "The LORD of the Heavenly Armies acted toward us just as he planned to do in keeping with our lifestyles and in keeping with our actions.'"

The LORD will take possession of Judah as his own property in the Holy Land and he will choose Jerusalem again.

Now Joshua was wearing filthy clothes as he stood in the presence of the angel.

Then the angel who had been speaking with me returned and woke me up as if I had been asleep.

Yes, he will indeed rebuild the Temple of the LORD, and he will exalt its majesty by sitting and ruling on his throne. He will serve as priest on his throne, and no contention will exist between them.

The crowns will go to Helem, to Tobijah, to Jedaiah, and to Zephaniah's son Hen, as a memorial in the Temple of the LORD.

and to speak to the priests assigned to the Temple of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies along with the prophets, asking, "Am I to go about mourning, denying myself throughout the fifth month, as I have these many years?"

"Talk to everyone in the land, as well as to the priests. Ask them, "When you were fasting and mourning during the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, were you really fasting for me?

Isn't this what the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets, when a prosperous Jerusalem was inhabited, as were its surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah?'"

Therefore, just as when I cried out and they would not listen, so also they will cry out, and I will not listen,' says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

"I will scatter them to all of the nations, which they have not known.'" Now the earth was left desolate after them. As a result, no one came or went because they had turned a pleasant land into a desert.

""But now I will not treat the survivors of this people as I did formerly,' declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Just as I intended to bring harm to you when your ancestors angered me,' says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and I did not relent,

I will remove the blood from its mouth, along with its abominations from between its teeth. Its survivors will be dedicated to our God; It will be like a clan of Judah, and Ekron will be as a Jebusite.

For I have bent Judah as if it were my bow, loading it with Ephraim. I raised up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, wielding you like a mighty warrior's sword."

The LORD their God will save them at that time as his very own flock of people, because they are his crown jewels, exalted throughout his land.

"Ask the LORD for rain in the spring the LORD who fashions lightning thunderstorms, giving rain showers to mankind along with grain in the fields.

"Against the shepherds my anger rises I am punishing the leaders also, because the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah, appointing them as his royal war horse for battle.

"I will fortify the house of Judah, and the house of Joseph I will save. I will surely bring them back, because I care about them. They will be as if I had never cast them away. Since I am the LORD their God, I will answer them.

I will whistle for them, gathering them together, because I have redeemed them, and they will multiply as they were before.

Their buyers slaughter them without being punished, continuing to sell them as they say, "Bless the LORD!' and, "I'm rich!' Meanwhile, their shepherds show them no compassion.

So I said, "I will no longer be your shepherd. Let those who are about to die perish, and let what is about to be destroyed be destroyed. As for the survivors, let them devour each other."

"At that time, I will make the leaders of Judah like a brazier filled with blazing wood, or like a torch setting fire to harvested grain. They will devour all the invading armies, both on the right hand and on the left. As a result, Jerusalem will again be inhabited in its rightful place as the real Jerusalem.'"

Then they will mourn for him, as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him, as for a firstborn son. At that time, Jerusalem will mourn deeply, like the mourning about Hadad-rimmon that took place in the plain of Megiddo.

Furthermore, it will come about at that time that every prophet will become ashamed of his vision as he prophesies. They will wear no rough garments intended to deceive others."

And I will bring that surviving third through, testing them as if through fire, purifying them like silver, assaying them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "This is my people,' and they will say, "The LORD is my God.'"

Then the LORD will go out to battle against those nations, waging war as in a day of battle.

You will run away through my mountain valley, because the valley of the mountains will extend as far as Azal. You will flee, as you fled from the earthquake during the reign of King Uzziah of Judah. And so the LORD my God will come, and all his holy ones will be accompanying you."