And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he held up his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and a half a time (three and a half years); and as soon as they finish shattering and crushing the power of the holy people, all these things will be finished.

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and have children of [her] prostitution; for the land commits great acts of prostitution by not following the Lord.”

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

And the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet in a little while I will avenge the blood [that was shed in the Valley] of Jezreel and inflict the punishment for it on the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

Afterward the sons of Israel will return [in deep repentance] and seek the Lord their God and [seek from the line of] David their king [the King of kings—the Messiah]; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness and blessing in the last days.

Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel,
For the Lord has a [legal] case with the inhabitants of the land,
Because there is no faithfulness [no steadfast love, no dependability] or loyalty or kindness
Or knowledge of God [from personal experience with Him] in the land.

Ephraim is joined to idols,
So let him alone [to suffer the consequences].

They will go with their flocks and with their herds
To seek the Lord [diligently searching for Him], but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them [refusing to hear the prayers of the unrepentant].

“After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up
That we may live before Him.

“So let us know and become personally acquainted with Him; let us press on to know and understand fully the [greatness of the] Lord [to honor, heed, and deeply cherish Him].
His appearing is prepared and is as certain as the dawn,
And He will come to us [in salvation] like the [heavy] rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.”

On the [special] day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;
The king stretched out his hand [in association] with scoffers (lawless people).

Strangers have devoured his strength,
Yet he does not know it;
Gray hairs are sprinkled on him,
Yet he does not know.

Though the pride of Israel testifies against him,
Yet they do not return [in repentance] to the Lord their God,
Nor seek nor search for nor desire Him [as essential] in spite of all this.

Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy shall pursue him.

For Ephraim has constructed many altars for sin;
They are altars intended for sinning [which multiply his guilt].

I wrote for him the ten thousand precepts of My law,
But they are regarded as a strange thing [which does not concern him].

They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord;
Their sacrifices will not please Him.
Their bread will be like mourners’ bread [eaten at funerals];
All who eat it will be [ceremonially] unclean,
For their bread will be for themselves;
It will not enter the house of the Lord [to be consecrated].

My God will reject them and cast them away
Because they did not listen to Him;
And they will be wanderers (fugitives) among the nations.

Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to tread out the grain,
But I will come over her fair neck with a heavy yoke [for hard field work].
I will harness Ephraim;
Judah will plow and Jacob will harrow and rake for himself.

Sow with a view to righteousness [that righteousness, like seed, may germinate];
Reap in accordance with mercy and lovingkindness.
Break up your uncultivated ground,
For it is time to seek and search diligently for the Lord [and to long for His blessing]
Until He comes to rain righteousness and His gift of salvation on you.

When Israel was a child [a young nation], I loved him,
And I called My son out of Egypt.

My people are bent on turning from Me;
Though the prophets call them to the One on high,
None at all exalts Him.

I will not execute the fierceness of My anger;
I will not return to Ephraim to destroy him again.
For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst [who will not revoke My covenant],
And I will not come in wrath or enter the city [in judgment].

The Lord also has a dispute [a legal complaint and an indictment] with Judah,
And He will punish Jacob in accordance with his ways;
He will repay him in accordance with his deeds.

He wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept [in repentance] and sought His favor.
He met Him at Bethel
And there God spoke with [him and through him with] us—

Even the Lord, the God of hosts,
The name of Him [who spoke with Jacob] is the Lord.

Ephraim has provoked most bitter anger;
So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him [invoking punishment]
And bring back to him his shame and dishonor.

I gave you a king in My anger,
And I took him away in My wrath [as punishment].

The pains of childbirth come on him;
But he is not a wise son,
For it is not the time to delay [his chance at a new birth] as the womb opens [but he ignores the opportunity to change].

Take the words [confessing your guilt] with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “Take away all our wickedness;
Accept what is good and receive us graciously,
So that we may present the fruit of our lips (gratitude).

O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
It is I who have answered and will care for you and watch over you.
I am like a luxuriant cypress tree;
With Me your fruit is found [which is to nourish you].

Who knows whether He will relent [and revoke your sentence],
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink offering [from the bounty He provides you]
For the Lord your God?

“I also will break the bar [of the gate] of Damascus,
And cut off and destroy the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven (Wickedness),
And the ruler who holds the scepter, from Beth-eden (Damascus);
And the people of Aram [conquered by the Assyrians] will go into exile to Kir,”
Says the Lord.

“And I will cut off and destroy the inhabitants from Ashdod,
And the ruler who holds the scepter, from Ashkelon;
And I will unleash My power and turn My hand [in judgment] against Ekron,
And the rest of the Philistines [in Gath and the towns dependent on these four Philistine cities] shall die,”
Says the Lord God.

“I will also cut off and destroy the ruler from its midst
And slay all the princes with him,” says the Lord.

“They stretch out beside every [pagan] altar on clothes taken in pledge [to secure a loan, disregarding God’s command],
And in the house of their God [in contempt of Him] they frivolously drink the wine [which has been] taken from those who have been fined.

“Flight will be lost to the swift [so they will be unable to escape],
And the strong shall not strengthen nor maintain his power,
Nor shall the mighty man save his own life.

Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no bait in it?
Does a trap spring up from the ground when it has caught nothing at all? [Of course not! So it is that Israel has earned her impending judgment.]

“On that day when I punish Israel’s transgressions,
I shall also punish the altars of Bethel [with their golden calves];
And the horns of the altar shall be cut off
And fall to the ground.

“Seek the Lord [search diligently for Him and long for Him as your most essential need] so that you may live,
Or He will rush down like a [devouring] fire, O house of Joseph,
And there will be no one to quench the flame for [idolatrous] Bethel,

He who made the [cluster of stars called] Pleiades and [the constellation] Orion,
Who turns deep darkness into the morning
And darkens the day into night,
Who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The Lord is His name.

They hate the one who reprimands [the unrighteous] in the [court held at the city] gate [regarding him as unreasonable and rejecting his reprimand],
And they detest him who speaks [the truth] with integrity and honesty.

Therefore, because you impose heavy rent on the poor
And demand a tribute (food-tax) of grain from them,
Though you have built [luxurious] houses of square stone,
You will not live in them;
You have planted beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink their wine.

It is as if a man runs from a lion [escaping one danger]
And a bear meets him [so he dies anyway],
Or goes home, and leans with his hand against the wall
And a snake bites him.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the one who gathers the harvest,
And the one who treads the grapes [shall overtake] him who sows the seed [for the harvest continues until planting time];
When the mountains will drip sweet wine
And all the hills shall melt [that is, everything that was once barren will overflow with streams of blessing].

So the captain came up to him and said, “How can you stay asleep? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps your god will give a thought to us so that we will not perish.”

Then they said to him, “Now tell us! Who is to blame for this disaster? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country?”

Then the men became extremely frightened and said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was running from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

Then they said to him, “What should we do to you, so that the sea will become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming more and more violent.

So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.

So the Lord God prepared a plant and it grew up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head to spare him from discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about [the protection of] the plant.

The mountains shall melt under Him
And the valleys shall be split
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep place.

“Is it being said, O house of Jacob:
‘Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?
Or are these [prophesied judgments] His doings?’
Do not My words do good
To the one walking uprightly?

Thus says the Lord concerning the [false] prophets who lead my people astray;

When they have something good to bite with their teeth,
They call out, “Peace,”
But against the one who gives them nothing to eat,
They declare a holy war.

This One [the Messiah] shall be our peace.
When the Assyrian invades our land
And tramples on our citadels and in our palaces,
Then shall we raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight princes [an overpowering force] among men.

“My people, remember now
What Balak king of Moab devised [with his evil plan against Israel]
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him [turning the curse into blessing for Israel],
[Remember what the Lord did for you] from Shittim to Gilgal,
So that you may know the righteous and saving acts [displaying the power] of the Lord.”

With what shall I come before the Lord [to honor Him]
And bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?

The voice of the Lord shall call to the city [of Jerusalem]—
And it is sound wisdom to heed [solemnly] and fear Your name [with awe-filled reverence];
“Hear, O tribe [the rod of punishment]. Who has appointed its time?

But as for me, I will look expectantly for the Lord and with confidence in Him I will keep watch;
I will wait [with confident expectation] for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.

I will bear the indignation and wrath of the Lord
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will behold His [amazing] righteousness and His remarkable deliverance.

The mountains quake before Him
And the hills melt away;
Indeed the earth is shaken by His presence—
Yes, the world and all that dwell in it.

Who can stand before His indignation [His great wrath]?
And who can stand up and endure the fierceness of His anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire
And the rocks are destroyed by Him.

The Lord is good,
A strength and stronghold in the day of trouble;
He knows [He recognizes, cares for, and understands fully] those who take refuge and trust in Him.

Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news [telling of Assyria’s destruction],
Who announces peace and prosperity!
Celebrate your feasts, O Judah;
Perform your vows.
For the wicked one [the king of Assyria] will never again pass through you;
He is completely cut off.

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?

I will stand at my guard post
And station myself on the tower;
And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me,
And what answer I will give [as His spokesman] when I am reproved.

“Look at the proud one,
His soul is not right within him,
But the righteous will live by his faith [in the true God].

“Will all these [victims of his greed] not take up a taunting song against him,
And in mocking derision against him
Say, ‘Woe (judgment is coming) to him who increases that which is not his—
How long [will he possess it]?
And [woe to him who] makes himself wealthy with loans.’

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who obtains wicked gain for his house [and thinks by so doing]
To set his nest on high,
That he may be rescued from the hand of evil.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds a city with bloodshed
And establishes a town by violence!

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you who make your neighbors drink,
Who mix in your venom to make them drunk
So that you may look at their nakedness!

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who says to the wooden image, ‘Awake!’
And to the speechless stone, ‘Arise!’
And that is your teacher?
Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
And there is no breath at all inside it.

“But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth hush and be silent before Him.”

Before Him goes the pestilence [of judgment as in Egypt],
And [the burning] plague [of condemnation] follows at His feet [as in Sennacherib’s army].

I heard and my whole inner self trembled;
My lips quivered at the sound.
Decay and rottenness enter my bones,
And I tremble in my place.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade and attack us.

And those who bow down and worship the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, and the stars] on their housetops
And those who bow down and swear [oaths] to [and pretend to worship] the Lord and [yet also] swear by [the pagan god called] Milcom [god of the Ammonites],

Seek the Lord [search diligently for Him and regard Him as the foremost necessity of your life],
All you humble of the land
Who have practiced His ordinances and have kept His commandments;
Seek righteousness, seek humility [regard them as vital].
Perhaps you will be hidden [and pardoned and rescued]
In the day of the Lord’s anger.

The Lord will be terrifying and awesome to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down and worship Him, everyone from his own place.

She did not listen and heed the voice [of God];
She accepted no correction.
She did not trust in the Lord [but trusted her own power];
She did not draw near to her God [but to the pagan gods of Baal or Molech].

“Then I will give to the peoples [clear and pure speech from] purified lips [which reflect their purified hearts],
That all of them may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him shoulder to shoulder (united).

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people [who had returned from exile], listened carefully and obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, since the Lord their God had sent him. And the people [reverently] feared the Lord.

In the night I saw [a vision] and behold, a Man was riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees that were in the ravine; and behind Him were horses: red, sorrel (reddish-brown), and white.

And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him,

Then the guiding angel showed me Joshua the high priest [representing disobedient, sinful Israel] standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at Joshua’s right hand to be his adversary and to accuse him.

He spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And He said to Joshua, “See, I have caused your wickedness to be taken away from you, and I will clothe and beautify you with rich robes [of forgiveness].”

And I (Zechariah) said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with [rich] garments. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.

‘What are you, O great mountain [of obstacles]? Before Zerubbabel [who will rebuild the temple] you will become a plain (insignificant)! And he will bring out the capstone [of the new temple] with loud shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

Then I said to him [who was speaking with me], “What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on its left?”

And a second time I said to him, “What are these two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes by which the golden oil is emptied?”

I will send the curse out,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night in that house and consume it, both its timber and its stones.”

Then say to Joshua, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold (look, keep in sight, watch), a Man (Messiah) whose name is Branch, for He shall branch out from His place (Israel, the Davidic line); and He shall build the [ultimate] temple of the Lord.

For before those days there were no wages for man or animal; nor was there any peace or success for him who went out or came in because of his enemies, for I set all men against one another.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men [as representatives] from all the nations will grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”

“From them (Judah) shall come the Cornerstone,
From them the tent peg,
From them the bow of battle,
From them every ruler, all of them together.

The oracle (a burdensome message) of the word of the Lord concerning Israel.

Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him:

“I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace (unmerited favor) and supplication. And they will look at Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him as one who weeps bitterly over a firstborn.

And if anyone still [appears as a prophet and falsely] prophesies, then his father and his mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord’; and his father and his mother who gave birth to him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.

And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those wounds I received in the house of my friends.’

You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; and you will flee just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones (believers, angels) with Him.