"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.

"This is what the LORD says: "I will return to Zion and I will live in the midst of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem will be called, "The City of Truth" and the mountain of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will be called, "The Holy Mountain".'

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "There will yet be old men and old women sitting in the parks of Jerusalem, each one of them holding canes in their hands due to their old age!

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

I will also bring them back to live in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will truly be their righteous God.'"

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

"For there will be a sowing of peace: the vine will produce its fruit, the earth will produce its full yield, the sky will produce its dew, and I will make the survivors of this people inherit all these things.

Furthermore, house of Judah and house of Israel, even though you used to be a curse among the nations, now I will surely save you, and you will be a blessing. Stop being afraid. Instead, grow stronger.'"

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "The fasts that occur in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will be joyful and glad times for the house of Judah, replete with cheerful festivals. Therefore, love truth and peace.'"

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "In the future, people will come, including residents of many cities,

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.

Many people and powerful nations will come to inquire of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies in Jerusalem, and to pray in the presence of the LORD."'"

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "In the future, ten men speaking all the languages of the nations will grab hold of one Jewish person by the hem of his garment and say, "Let us go up to Jerusalem with you, because we heard that God is with you."'"

A declaration: this message from the LORD in the land of Hadrach, with Damascus its confederate, because the eyes of humanity will look to the LORD, along with those of all the tribes of Israel.

Look! The Lord will evict her, striking at her power in the sea, and she will be consumed by fire.

Ashkelon will see it happen and will be terrified; Gaza will tremble greatly. Ekron will be ashamed of her expectations, Gaza's king will perish, and Ashkelon will become uninhabited.

A strange people will inhabit Ashdod, and I will eliminate the arrogance of Philistia.

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.

I will set a garrison around my Temple, to hinder those who might come and go, and to guard against oppressors who intend to invade; for I have taken note of this with my eyes."

I will banish chariots from Ephraim and horses from Jerusalem. War weapons will be banished, and your king will speak peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the River to the farthest portion of the earth.

Return to your fortress, you prisoners who have hope. Even today I am telling you: In return I will repay you double.

The LORD will appear over them his arrow will shoot like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and go out with the southern windstorm.

The LORD of the Heavenly Armies will defend them; they will devour and conquer those who sling stones. They will drink and be boisterous like those who are drunk. They will be filled to the brim with blood, like the corners of the altar.

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.

For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men thrive, and new wine the virgins.

They will be like mighty soldiers who trample mud in the streets during battle. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and the opposing horsemen will be confused.

"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.

"The people of Ephraim will become like mighty soldiers; they will be glad, like those who have wine. Their children will see this and rejoice; their hearts will find joy in the Lord.

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

I will scatter them among the nations, and so they will remember me in distant countries. They will rear their children, and they will return.

I will bring them once again out of the land of Egypt, gathering them from Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, but there will not be enough space for them.

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 strengthen them in the LORD, and they will march here and there in his name," declares the LORD.

Open your doors, Lebanon, and fire will consume your cedars.

Therefore I will no longer show compassion upon those who live in the land," declares the LORD. "Look! I will deliver every single person into the control of his neighbor and into the control of the king. Even though they assault the land, I will not deliver it from their control."

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."

for I am now raising up a shepherd in the land who will neither search for the lost, nor care for the young, nor fix the broken, nor sustain the healthy. Instead, he will devour the meat of the best of the sheep, tearing off their hoofs."

It will come about at that time that I will make Jerusalem a heavy weight; so everyone who burdens themselves with it will be crushed, even though all of the nations of the earth gather themselves against it.

At that time,' declares the LORD, "I will strike every horse with panic and every rider with insanity. I will keep my eyes on the house of Judah, but I will blind every horse of the invading armies.

The leaders of Judah will say to themselves, "Those who live in Jerusalem are my strength through the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, their God."

"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.'"

The LORD will deliver the tents of Judah first, so that neither the glory of the house of David nor the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem overshadows Judah.

At that time, the LORD will defend those who live in Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them at that time will be like David. The entire house of David will be like God indeed, like the angel of the LORD in their midst!

""At that time, I will search out and destroy all of the nations who have come against Jerusalem.

I will pour out on the house of David and on the residents of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications, and they will look to me the one whom they pierced.'"

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.

And so the land will mourn, families by families, alone by themselves the family of the house of David by itself with their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself with their wives by themselves,

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.

"At that time," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "I will eliminate the names of the idols from the land, and they will not be remembered anymore. I will also force both prophet and demon to leave the land.

It will also come about that if any man would dare to prophesy, then his father and his mother who bore him will respond to him, "You will not live, because you are speaking lies in the name of the LORD.' Then his father and mother who bore him will stab him for prophesying.

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."

"He will say, "I am no mere prophet. A servant of mankind am I, because a man dedicated to this have I been from my youth.'

"Someone will say to him, "What are these injuries to your hands?' "He will reply, ""what I received at my friend's house.'

"Arise, sword, against my shepherd, against the mighty one who is related to me," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "Strike the shepherd, the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the insignificant ones.

It will come about in all of the land," declares the LORD, "that two thirds of the people living there will die, but a third will survive who live there.

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.'"

"Look! A day is coming for the LORD, when your plunder will be divided among you.

I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem, to lay siege against it. The city will be captured, the houses will be ransacked, the women raped, and half of the city will go into exile, but the remaining people will not be cut off from the city.

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

His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a very large valley, with half of the mountain moving toward the north and half toward the south.

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."

"At that time, the daylight will be neither bright nor overcast.

It will be a unique day, known only to the LORD neither daytime nor nighttime and it will come about at twilight there will be light!

At that time, flowing waters will run perennially from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half to the Mediterranean Sea.

The LORD will be king over all the earth at that time. There will be one LORD, and his name the only one.

The entire land will become like the Arabah plain from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. It will be raised up and inhabited where it is, from the Gate of Benjamin to the First Gate, then to the Corner Gate, to the Hananel Tower, and to the king's winepresses.

People will live there, there will be no more destruction, and Jerusalem will be safely inhabited."

"This will be the plague with which the LORD inflicts all of the people who have attacked Jerusalem: he will cause their flesh to rot away, even while they're standing on their feet. He will cause their eyes to rot away in their sockets, and their tongues to rot away in their mouths.

At that time, they will be stricken with a terrible panic from the LORD. Everyone will attack each other.

Judah, too, will fight at Jerusalem. Then the wealth of the surrounding nations will be gathered up: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.

A similar plague will also strike horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all of the animals in those camps."

"It will come about that all of the survivors of the nations who came against Jerusalem will come there from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, and to observe the Festival of Tents.

If anyone from the families of the earth will not come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, there will be no rain for them.

If the people of Egypt do not come to Jerusalem to take part, they will have no annual Nile overflow. A plague will come from the LORD to strike the nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents.

This will be the punishment for Egypt and all nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents."

"At that time, there will be written on the bells of the horses: HOLINESS TO THE LORD

and the pots in the Temple of the LORD will be like the bowls in front of the altar every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be consecrated to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. Everyone who offers sacrifices will come, will take them, and will cook in them. Furthermore, at that time, there will no longer be a Canaanite in the Temple of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies."

Even though Edom may claim, "We were crushed, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,' this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "They may rebuild, but I'll demolish. People will call them, "The Wicked Land,' and, "The People With Whom the LORD is Forever Angry.'

Your own eyes will see this, and you will say, "Great is the LORD even beyond the borders of Israel!'"

"And now, go ahead and implore God by saying, "Be gracious to us.' Will he receive you favorably and accept offerings like that from your hand?" asks the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

Even so, from where the sun rises to where it sets my name will be great among the Gentiles. Incense will be brought to me everywhere, along with pure offerings, because my name will be great among the Gentiles," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

Look! I'm rebuking your descendants because of you, and I'll spread waste on your faces, the waste of your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.

"You will know that I sent this commandment to you in order to continue my covenant with Levi," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

"Watch out! I'm sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the LORD you are looking for will come to his Temple. He is the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Watch out! He is coming!" says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

But who will survive the day when he comes? Or who can stand when he appears? Because he's like a refiner's fire and a launderer's soap,

he will sit refining and purifying silver, purifying the descendants of Levi, refining them like gold and silver. Then they'll bring a righteous offering to the LORD.

Then the offering to the LORD by Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable as it was in the past, even as in former years.

"Ever since the time of your ancestors, you have turned away from my decrees and haven't kept them. Return to me and I'll return to you," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "But you ask, "How will we return?'

"Will a person rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you ask, "How are we robbing you?' "By the tithe and the offering.

And I'll prevent the devourer from harming you, so that he does not destroy the crops of your land. Nor will the vines in your fields drop their fruit," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

"Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

When you return, you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, and between the one who serves God and the one who does not."

"The coming day is certainly going to burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and all who practice evil will be stubble the coming day will set them on fire," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

But the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in its light for those who fear my name. You will go out and leap like calves released from their stalls

and trample down the wicked. Indeed, they will become ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I do this," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

and he will turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I'll come, strike the land, and utterly destroy it."

She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he is the one who will save his people from their sins."

"See, a virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,"

"O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, because from you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

and settled in a town called Nazareth in order to fulfill what was said by the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."