The sun and moon are darkened; the stars withhold their brightness.

Hate what is wrong, love what is right! Promote justice at the city gate! Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph.

They say to the people: "Journey over to Calneh and look at it! Then go from there to Hamath-Rabbah! Then go down to Gath of the Philistines! Are they superior to our two kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?"

They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, and pour the very best oils on themselves. Yet they are not concerned over the ruin of Joseph.

If ten men are left in one house, they too will die.

You are happy because you conquered Lo-Debar. You say, "Did we not conquer Karnaim by our own power?"

Don't prophesy at Bethel any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!"

These are the ones who now take oaths in the name of the sinful idol goddess of Samaria. They vow, 'As surely as your god lives, O Dan,' or 'As surely as your beloved one lives, O Beer Sheba!' But they will fall down and not get up again."

"You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight," says the Lord. "Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir.

The exiles of this fortress of the people of Israel will take possession of what belongs to the people of Canaan, as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will take possession of the towns of the Negev.

The ship's captain approached him and said, "What are you doing asleep? Get up! Cry out to your god! Perhaps your god might take notice of us so that we might not die!"

They said to him, "Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us? What's your occupation? Where do you come from? What's your country? And who are your people?"

He said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down, because I know it's my fault you are in this severe storm."

He prayed to the Lord and said, "Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish! -- because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment.

The Lord said, "Are you really so very angry?"

God said to Jonah, "Are you really so very angry about the little plant?" And he said, "I am as angry as I could possibly be!"

Should I not be even more concerned about Nineveh, this enormous city? There are more than one hundred twenty thousand people in it who do not know right from wrong, as well as many animals!"

All this is because of Jacob's rebellion and the sins of the nation of Israel. How has Jacob rebelled, you ask? Samaria epitomizes their rebellion! Where are Judah's pagan worship centers, you ask? They are right in Jerusalem!

Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; shave your foreheads as bald as an eagle, for they are taken from you into exile.

Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, because they have the power to do so.

In that day people will sing this taunt song to you -- they will mock you with this lament: 'We are completely destroyed; they sell off the property of my people. How they remove it from me! They assign our fields to the conqueror.'

But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! For this land is not secure! Sin will thoroughly destroy it!

This is what the Lord says: "The prophets who mislead my people are as good as dead. If someone gives them enough to eat, they offer an oracle of peace. But if someone does not give them food, they are ready to declare war on him.

Jerusalem, why are you now shouting so loudly? Has your king disappeared? Has your wise leader been destroyed? Is this why pain grips you as if you were a woman in labor?

But now slash yourself, daughter surrounded by soldiers! We are besieged! With a scepter they strike Israel's ruler on the side of his face.

As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah -- from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past.

Faithful men have disappeared from the land; there are no godly men left. They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; they hunt their own brother with a net.

They are determined to be experts at doing evil; government officials and judges take bribes, prominent men make demands, and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them.

The best of them is like a thorn; the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen -- your appointed time of punishment -- is on the way, and then you will experience confusion.

For a son thinks his father is a fool, a daughter challenges her mother, and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are his own servants.

The mountains tremble before him, the hills convulse; the earth is laid waste before him, the world and all its inhabitants are laid waste.

No one can withstand his indignation! No one can resist his fierce anger! His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire, boulders are broken up as he approaches.

This is what the Lord says: "Even though they are powerful -- and what is more, even though their army is numerous -- nevertheless, they will be destroyed and trickle away! Although I afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.

And now, I will break Assyria's yoke bar from your neck; I will tear apart the shackles that are on you."

The Lord has issued a decree against you: "Your dynasty will come to an end. I will destroy the idols and images in the temples of your gods. I will desecrate your grave -- because you are accursed!"

The shields of his warriors are dyed red; the mighty soldiers are dressed in scarlet garments. The metal fittings of the chariots shine like fire on the day of battle; the soldiers brandish their spears.

The sluice gates are opened; the royal palace is deluged and dissolves.

Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days, but now her people are running away; she cries out: "Stop! Stop!" -- but no one turns back.

You are no more secure than Thebes -- she was located on the banks of the Nile; the waters surrounded her, her rampart was the sea, the water was her wall.

All your fortifications will be like fig trees with first-ripe fruit: If they are shaken, their figs will fall into the mouth of the eater!

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

Your courtiers are like locusts, your officials are like a swarm of locusts! They encamp in the walls on a cold day, yet when the sun rises, they fly away; and no one knows where they are.

Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria! Your officers are slumbering! Your people are scattered like sheep on the mountains and there is no one to regather them!

"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.

They are frightening and terrifying; they decide for themselves what is right.

Their horses are faster than leopards and more alert than wolves in the desert. Their horses gallop, their horses come a great distance; like a vulture they swoop down quickly to devour their prey.

Lord, you have been active from ancient times; my sovereign God, you are immortal. Lord, you have made them your instrument of judgment. Protector, you have appointed them as your instrument of punishment.

You are too just to tolerate evil; you are unable to condone wrongdoing. So why do you put up with such treacherous people? Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour those more righteous than they are?

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

Because you robbed many countries, all who are left among the nations will rob you. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.

"You who force your neighbor to drink wine are as good as dead -- you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger, so you can look at their genitals.

He takes his battle position and shakes the earth; with a mere look he frightens the nations. The ancient mountains disintegrate; the primeval hills are flattened. He travels on the ancient roads.

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

Is the Lord mad at the rivers? Are you angry with the rivers? Are you enraged at the sea? Is this why you climb into your horse-drawn chariots, your victorious chariots?

When the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines; when the olive trees do not produce, and the fields yield no crops; when the sheep disappear from the pen, and there are no cattle in the stalls,

At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps. I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, those who think to themselves, 'The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.'

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."

Her princes are as fierce as roaring lions; her rulers are as hungry as wolves in the desert, who completely devour their prey by morning.

Her prophets are proud; they are deceitful men. Her priests defile what is holy; they break God's laws.

"I destroyed nations; their walled cities are in ruins. I turned their streets into ruins; no one passes through them. Their cities are desolate; no one lives there.

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

You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but are never filled. You drink, but are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but are not warm. Those who earn wages end up with holes in their money bags.'"

Then Haggai responded, "'The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,' says the Lord. 'And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean.

"As for your ancestors, where are they? And did the prophets live forever?

Then I asked one nearby, "What are these, sir?" The angelic messenger who replied to me said, "I will show you what these are."

Then the man standing among the myrtle trees spoke up and said, "These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk about on the earth."

So I asked the angelic messenger who spoke with me, "What are these?" He replied, "These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."

I asked, "What are these going to do?" He answered, "These horns are the ones that have scattered Judah so that there is no one to be seen. But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah's enemies and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people."

I asked, "Where are you going?" He replied, "To measure Jerusalem in order to determine its width and its length."

"The Lord who rules over all says, 'If you live and work according to my requirements, you will be able to preside over my temple and attend to my courtyards, and I will allow you to come and go among these others who are standing by you.

Listen now, Joshua the high priest, both you and your colleagues who are sitting before you, all of you are a symbol that I am about to introduce my servant, the Branch.

As for the stone I have set before Joshua -- on the one stone there are seven eyes. I am about to engrave an inscription on it,' says the Lord who rules over all, 'to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.

There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the receptacle and the other on the left."

Then I asked the messenger who spoke with me, "What are these, sir?"

He replied, "Don't you know what these are?" So I responded, "No, sir."

"What are you, you great mountain? Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple capstone with shoutings of 'Grace! Grace!' because of this."

For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes will joyfully look on the tin tablet in Zerubbabel's hand. (These are the eyes of the Lord, which constantly range across the whole earth.)

Next I asked the messenger, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the menorah?"

Before he could reply I asked again, "What are these two extensions of the olive trees, which are emptying out the golden oil through the two golden pipes?"

He replied, "Don't you know what these are?" And I said, "No, sir."

So he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth."

I asked the messenger who was speaking to me, "Where are they taking the basket?"

Then I asked the angelic messenger who was speaking with me, "What are these, sir?"

The messenger replied, "These are the four spirits of heaven that have been presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

The chariot with the black horses is going to the north country and the white ones are going after them, but the spotted ones are going to the south country.

All these strong ones are scattering; they have sought permission to go and walk about over the earth." The Lord had said, "Go! Walk about over the earth!" So they are doing so.

Then those who are far away will come and build the temple of the Lord so that you may know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God."'"

And now when you eat and drink, are you not doing so for yourselves?'"

Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.' Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful land a waste."

"The Lord who rules over all also says, 'Gather strength, you who are listening to these words today from the mouths of the prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord who rules over all, so that the temple might be built.

These are the things you must do: Speak the truth, each of you, to one another. Practice true and righteous judgment in your courts.

Do not plan evil in your hearts against one another. Do not favor a false oath -- these are all things that I hate,' says the Lord."

An oracle of the word of the Lord concerning the land of Hadrach, with its focus on Damascus: The eyes of all humanity, especially of the tribes of Israel, are toward the Lord,

as are those of Hamath also, which adjoins Damascus, and Tyre and Sidon, though they consider themselves to be very wise.

On that day the Lord their God will deliver them as the flock of his people, for they are the precious stones of a crown sparkling over his land.

Those who buy them slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, 'Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.' Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a means of strength to us through their God, the Lord who rules over all.'

Then someone will ask him, 'What are these wounds on your chest?' and he will answer, 'Some that I received in the house of my friends.'