Don't be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets proclaimed: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "It's time to turn from your evil lifestyles and from your evil actions," "but they would neither listen nor pay attention to me,'" declares the LORD.'

"Your ancestors where are they? And the prophets do they live forever?

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.'"

Then I said, O my lord, what are these? And the angel who was talking to me said to me, I will make clear to you what they are.

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

Then they reported to the angel of the LORD who stood among the myrtle trees, "We have wandered throughout the earth and look! the entire earth is at rest. Everything is quiet and peaceful."

I am deeply angry with the nations who are complacent, with whom I was only a little displeased but they made things worse!"

Then I asked, "What have they come to do?" He answered, "Those horns that dispersed Judah so that no one could lift up his head those artisans are coming to disrupt the power of nations, tearing them down now that they've come to power and dispersed the land of Judah."

And look, I will shake my fist over them, and they will become plunder for their former slaves. And you will know that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies sent me."'"

"Many nations will join themselves to Yahweh on that day, and they will be my people, and I will dwell in your midst. And you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you.

Then I said, "Let them place a pure diadem on his head." So they placed the pure diadem on his head and clothed him with fine garments while the angel of the LORD was standing beside them.

Hear now, Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee for they are men of portent for behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.

“Don’t you know what they are?” replied the angel who was speaking with me.

I said, “No, my lord.”

For who has despised the time of insignificant things? They will rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven lights represent the eyes of the LORD, which are looking throughout all of the earth."

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.'

Then I looked up to see two women coming forward with the wind filling their wings. (They had wings like those of a stork.) They took up the basket, holding it between the earth and sky.

So I asked the angel who was talking to me, "Where are they taking the basket?"

He answered me, "To the land of Shinar, so they can build a temple to the woman in the basket. Then when its preparations are complete, the basket will be set there in its place."

They in whose chariot are the black horses, are going forth into the land of the North, and, the white, have gone forth after them, - and, the spotted, have gone forth into the land of the South;

When the strong [horses] went out, they were anxious to go to patrol the earth. And he said, "Go, patrol the earth." And they patrolled the earth.

Then cried he to me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, they that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.

Take gifts of them of the captivity, of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, and come thou the same day, and enter into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, whither they are come from Babylon;

Indeed, he will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed in splendor, sitting as king on his throne. Moreover, there will be a priest with him on his throne and they will see eye to eye on everything.

And they that are far off shall come and build at the temple of Jehovah: and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah your God.

When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,

and that they should say unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of Hosts, and to the prophets, "Should I weep in the fifth month, and abstain, as I have done now certain years?"

But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder and {stopped their ears from listening}.

{They made their hearts adamant} in order not to hear the law and the words that Yahweh of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets; [therefore] great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts.

'Thus, just as I called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear,' says Yahweh of hosts.

'And I scattered them with a wind among all the nations that they had not known; the land was made desolate behind them-- no one crossing through [it] or returning--and they made the desirable land a desolation.'"

The city parks will be filled with boys and girls. They will play in the city's open parks.'

and I will bring them and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will be their God in faithfulness and in righteousness.'

but they shall be a seed of peace. The vineyard shall give her fruit, the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew: and I shall cause the remnant of this people, to have all these in possession.

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth months, are to the house of Judah for joy and for rejoicing, and for pleasant appointed seasons, and the truth and the peace they have loved.

and they will travel from one place to another place and say, "Let's go quickly to pray in the presence of the LORD and to inquire of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.' And I will go, too.

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: In those days take hold do ten men of all languages of the nations, Yea, they have taken hold on the skirt of a man, a Jew, saying: We go with you, for we heard God is with you!

and also Hamath, [which] borders on it; Tyre and Sidon--yes, they are very wise!

I will take the blood from their mouths
And their detestable things from between their teeth [those repulsive, idolatrous sacrifices eaten with the blood].
Then they too will be a remnant for our God,
And be like a clan in Judah,
And Ekron will be like one of the Jebusites.

And they will come back to you, O daughter of Zion, as prisoners of hope: today I say to you that I will give you back twice as much;

Yahweh of hosts will defend them, and they will devour and subdue the slingstones; they will drink, they will make noise like wine, and they will be full like the sacrificial basin, [drenched] like the corners of an altar.

And Yahweh their God will save them on that day, as the flock of his people; for [they are like] the stones of a diadem, glittering on his land.

How lovely and beautiful they will be!
Grain will make the young men flourish,
and new wine, the young women.

They asked of Jehovah rain in a time of latter rain, Jehovah is making lightnings, And rain in showers He doth give to them. To each -- the herb in the field.

Because the household gods speak deceit, and those who practice divination see a lie, and the dreamers of vanity speak in vain. Therefore [the people] wander like sheep; they are afflicted because there is no shepherd.

And they will be like warriors, trampling in the mud of [the] streets in the battle. They will fight, because Yahweh [is] with them, and they will put to shame [the] riders on horses.

And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and the house of Joseph I will save. And I will bring them back, because I have compassion on them, and they will be as if I had not rejected them, for I [am] Yahweh their God, and I will answer them.

And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their hearts shall rejoice as through wine; and their children shall see it, and rejoice; their heart shall be joyful in Jehovah.

I will whistle to them and gather them, for I have redeemed them, and they will become numerous as they have been numerous [before].

Though I sow them among the nations, in the distant places they will remember me, and they will stay alive with their children, and they will return.

I will bring them again also from the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria. I will carry them into the land of Gilead and to Lebanon and they shall want nothing.

They will pass through the sea of affliction, and they will strike the waves in that sea. All of the depths of the Nile will evaporate, Assyria's arrogance will be brought down low, and the ruling power of Egypt will disappear.

I will make them strong in Yahweh, and in his name they will walk, {declares} Yahweh.

whose possessors slay them without being held guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah! for I am become rich; and their own shepherds pity them not.

For I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land," {declares} Yahweh. "Look, I [am] going to cause humankind to fall, each into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they will devastate the land, and I will not deliver [anyone] from their hand."

And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for {I grew impatient} with them, and {they also became tired of me}.

And saying, I will not feed you: the dying shall die, and the concealed shall be concealed; and they being left shall eat each the flesh of her neighbor.

And I said to them, "If {it seems right to you}, give [me] my wages, but if not, {keep them}." And they weighed out my wages, thirty silver [shekels].

Then the LORD told me, "Throw the money into the treasury that magnificent value they placed on me!"

"Look, I am making Jerusalem an unstable cup toward all of its surrounding armies when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.

" 'On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a pan of fire among [sticks of] wood, and like a torch of fire among stalks of grain, and they will devour to [the] right and to [the] left all the surrounding peoples, and Jerusalem will be inhabited again [in] its place, in Jerusalem.

" 'I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look to me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn over him, as one wails over an only child, and they will grieve bitterly over him as [one] grieves bitterly over a firstborn.

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.

At that time, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for those who live in Jerusalem so they can be cleansed from sin and ceremonial impurity.

{And then}, on that day,' {declares} Yahweh of hosts, 'I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness I will banish from the land.

{And then} on that day, each of the prophets will be ashamed because of his vision when he was prophesying, and they will not put on a cloak of hair in order to deceive,

And it hath come to pass, In all the land, an affirmation of Jehovah, Two parts in it are cut off -- they expire, And the third is left in it.

And I will bring the [remaining] third into the fire, and I will refine them like [one] refines silver, and I will test them like [one] tests gold. They will call my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'Yahweh [is] my God.'"

See, a day of the Lord is coming when they will make division of your goods taken by force before your eyes.

I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, and they will loot the houses, and the women will be raped; half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be cut off from the city.

And they will dwell in it, and {there will be no more ban imposed}, and Jerusalem will dwell in security.

And this will be the plague [with] which Yahweh will strike all the peoples that fight against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they [are] standing on their feet; their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

{And then} on that day a great panic from Yahweh will fall on them, and {they will seize one another's hand}, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of {another}.

And it shall come to pass, that, as for every one that is left out of all the nations that came against Jerusalem, that they shall come up, from year to year, to bow down to the king, Yahweh of hosts, and to celebrate the festival of booths.

But if any of the nations anywhere on earth refuse to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord who rules over all, they will get no rain.

And, if the family of Egypt shall not come up, and shall not enter in, upon whom there falleth none, then shall smite them the plague wherewith Yahweh, did plague, the nations, because they came not up to celebrate the festival of booths.

This, shall be the punishment of Egypt, - and the punishment of all the nations, when they come not up to celebrate the festival of booths.

And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto Jehovah of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein. And in that day there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah of hosts.