And the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many nations, like dew from Yahweh, like showers upon the grass which does not wait for a man, nor delays for the children of humankind.

Hear, O mountains, the indictment of Yahweh, and you eternal foundations of the earth, for Yahweh has an indictment against his people, and against Israel he contends.

For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and from the house of slavery I redeemed you. And I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.

Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body [for the] sin of my soul?

The voice of Yahweh calls to the city ([it is] sound judgment to fear your name): "Hear, staff! Now who has appointed it?

For you have observed the regulations of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab. And you have walked in their counsels, so that I am making you a desolation and your inhabitants an object of scorn. So you will bear the scorn of my people.

Woe is me! For I have become like the gatherings of summer, like the gleanings of the grape harvest, [when] there is no cluster of grapes to eat [or] early ripened fruit [that] my soul desires.

Their hands [are] upon evil, to do [it] well; the official and the judge ask for the bribe, and the great [man] utters the evil desire of his soul; and they weave [it] together.

For a son treats a father with contempt; a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; [the] enemies of a man [are] the men of his own house.

But [as for] me, I will look to Yahweh; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

You should not rejoice over me, O my enemy! When I fall I will stand up; when I sit in darkness Yahweh [will be] a light for me.

I will bear the rage of Yahweh, for I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes my justice. He will bring me out to the light; I will see his righteousness.

A day for building your walls; [on] that day he will extend [your] boundary.

But the earth will be a desolation because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their deeds.

They will lick the dust like the serpent, like the crawling things of the earth. They will come trembling from their strongholds to Yahweh our God. Let them fear and be afraid of you.

Who [is] a God like you, forgiving sin and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, for he delights in loyal love.

His indignation--who can stand before it? Who can endure {his fierce anger}? His wrath is poured out like fire; rocks are shattered before him.

For like entangled thorns, and like their drink which is drunk, they will be consumed like fully dry chaff.

Look! On the mountains! The feet of the one who brings good tidings, the one who proclaims peace! "Celebrate [a festival], O Judah, Fulfill your vows! For he will not invade you again; the wicked one is cut off completely!"

For Yahweh will restore the majesty of Jacob like the majesty of Israel; for ravagers have ravaged them and ruined [their] branches.

The shields of his warriors [are] dyed red; The powerful men [are] dressed in scarlet. The metal of the chariots [shines] like fire {on the day of battle}, and [their] spears quiver.

The lion tore apart enough [prey] for his cubs, he strangled [prey] for his lioness; he filled {his lair} [with] prey and his den [with] mangled carcass.

"Look! I am against you!" {declares} Yahweh of hosts. "I will burn her chariots {with fire}; the sword will devour fierce lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth; the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard."

"And it will be that everyone who sees you will flee from you, And {they} will say, 'Nineveh is destroyed!' Who will mourn for her? From whence shall I seek comforters for you?"

Yet she went into captivity as an exile; her children were dashed to pieces at the head of [the] streets; they cast lots for all of her nobles; all of her dignitaries were bound with chains.

Look! Your troops [are like] women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire will consume the bars [of your gates].

Draw water for a siege! Strengthen your fortifications! Go to the mud [pit]! Trample the clay! Grasp the brick mold!

There fire will consume you; the sword will cut you off. It will consume you like the locust.

There is no healing for your wound; your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you will clap [their] hands [for joy] concerning you, {For who has not suffered at the hands of your endless cruelty}?

O Yahweh, how long shall I cry for help and you will not listen? [How long] will I cry out to you, "Violence!" and you will not save?

Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice does not go forth perpetually. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.

"Look among the nations and see; be astonished and astounded. For a work [is about to] be done in your days that you will not believe if it is told.

For look! I am raising up the Chaldeans, the bitter and impetuous nation, the one who walks through the spacious places of earth to take possession of dwellings not belonging to it.

All of them come for violence, their faces pressing forward. They gather captives like the sand.

Are you not from of old, O Yahweh my God, my Holy One? You shall not die. O Yahweh, you have marked them for judgment; O Rock, you have established them for reproof.

Therefore he sacrifices to his fishnet and makes offerings to his dragnet, for by them {he makes a good living} and his food [is] rich.

For [there is] yet a vision for the appointed time; it will give witness to the end, and it will not lie. If it tarries, wait for it, for it will surely come and not delay.

{How much less} the defiant; [the] arrogant, treacherous man? He who broadens his throat like Sheol, and who, like death, is not satisfied, and who gathers to himself all the nations, and harvested for himself all the peoples, will not succeed.

Shall not all of these take up a taunt against him, with ridicule and riddles against him, saying, 'Woe to him who heaps up what is not his'? [For] how long? And, '[Woe to him] who makes himself heavy with pledges'?

Will not your creditors suddenly rise up and awaken those who make you tremble? Then you shall be as plunder for them.

Woe to [him who] obtains profit [from] evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be saved from the hand of misfortune!

You have plotted shame for your house, cutting off many peoples and sinning against your life.

For the stone will cry out from the wall, and [the] plaster from [the] wood will answer it.

Look! [Is it] not from Yahweh of hosts that people labor for mere fire, and nations exhaust themselves for mere vanity?

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, like the waters covering the sea.

For [the] violence of Lebanon will cover you, and [the] destruction of wild animals will shatter them on account of the blood of humanity, and [the] violence [against the] land, [against] a city and all the inhabitants in it.

What value [is] an idol when its carver has fashioned it, a molten idol, a teacher of lies? For [he who] fashioned his creation trusts in it, [though] making mute idols!

And his brightness was like [the] light; flashing rays [came] from his hand for him; And there [is] the covering of his strength.

You went forth for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of wickedness, laying bare [from the] foundation to the top.

I hear and my stomach shakes; my lips quiver at the sound; infection enters my bones; that which [is] beneath me trembles; I wait quietly for the day of trouble to come upon the people attacking us.

Be silent before the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh draws near, for Yahweh has provided a sacrifice and has consecrated his guests.

The inhabitants of the Mortar shall wail, for all the traders have perished; all who trade with silver have been cut off.

And I will bring distress to all humankind, and they shall walk about like the blind, for they sinned against Yahweh; their blood shall be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung.

Moreover, their silver and their gold will not be able to save them on the day of the wrath of Yahweh. And in the fire of his zeal, the whole land shall be consumed, for a terrifying end he shall make [for] all the inhabitants of the land.

For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon as a desolation. [As for] Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away, and Ekron shall be uprooted.

And you, O region of the sea, shall become pastures [and] meadows [for] shepherds and sheep pens [for the] flocks.

And it shall become a region for the remnant of the house of Judah; upon them they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down in the evening. For Yahweh their God shall be mindful of them, and he will restore their fortunes.

This [shall be] for them in place of their pride because they mocked and boasted against the people of Yahweh of hosts.

Yahweh [will be] awesome against them, for he will destroy all the gods of the earth and all the lands of the nations; each in its place will bow down to him.

Herds shall lie down in her midst, every wild animal of a nation; even the desert owl and the screech owl shall lodge on her capitals. A voice shall hoot in the window; rubble on the threshold; for the cedar [is] laid bare.

This [is] the city of rejoicing that lived securely; the one saying in her heart, "{I am, and there is none besides me}." How she has become a desolation, a lair for wild animals! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

I have said, 'Surely she will fear me; she will accept discipline. Then her dwelling place will not be cut down, [nor] all that I have brought upon her.' Surely they rise early; they make all their deeds corrupt.

"Therefore, wait for me"--a declaration of Yahweh-- "for the day of my rising as a witness. For my decision [is] to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out my wrath upon them, all my burning anger. For by the fire of my anger all the land shall be consumed.

On that day you shall not be humiliated on account of all your deeds [by] which you have rebelled against me. For then I shall remove from your midst those exulting in your pride, and you shall no longer be haughty in {my holy mountain}.

The remnant of Israel shall not do wickedness; they shall not speak deception, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall frighten [them]."

Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Cry aloud, O Israel! Rejoice and be jubilant with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Yahweh has annulled your judgments; he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, Yahweh, [is] in your midst; you shall no longer fear misfortune.

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, "Fear not, O Zion; your hands shall not hang limp.

At that time I will bring you [in]; at the time of my gathering you [together]. For I will make you {renowned} and praised among all the nations of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your eyes," says Yahweh.

"[Is it] a time for you yourselves to dwell in your houses that have been paneled [while] this house [is] desolate?"

'You have looked for much, and look! [It came] to little; and [when] you brought [it] home, I blew it [away]. Why?' {declares} Yahweh of hosts. 'Because my house [is] desolate and you [are] running each to your own house!

I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, on what the soil produces, on human beings and wild animals, and on {all their labor}.'"

For thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and dry land.

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Ask now the priests [for] a ruling:

'On that day,' {declares} Yahweh of hosts, 'I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and I will make you a signet ring, for I have chosen you,' {declares} Yahweh of hosts."

And the angel who was talking with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "{I am very jealous} for Jerusalem and for Zion!

And {I am extremely angry} with the nations that are at ease, for [while] I was a little angry, they {furthered disaster}."

And I {looked up} and I saw, and look, [there were] four horns!

Then Yahweh showed me four skilled craftsmen,

And I will be for it a wall of fire all around,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and I will be [the] glory in its midst.'"

"Woe! Woe! Flee from [the] land of [the] north," {declares} Yahweh, "for I have scattered you like [the] four winds of the heavens," {declares} Yahweh.

For thus said Yahweh of hosts, after glory he sent me against the nations plundering you: Truly, the one touching you [is] touching the apple of his eye.

"Yes, look! I [am] going to wave my hand against them, and they will become plunder for their servants, and you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me.

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for look, I [am] coming and I will dwell in your midst," {declares} Yahweh.

Be silent, {all people}, before Yahweh, for he is roused from {his holy dwelling}."

But Yahweh said to Satan, "Yahweh rebukes you, O Satan! Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! [Is] this not a stick snatched from the fire?"

Listen, please, O Joshua the high priest, you and your companions that are sitting {before} you. For [the] men [are] a sign that, look, I [am] going to bring my servant [the] Branch.

For consider, the stone that {I set before} Joshua, on one stone [are] seven eyes. Look, {I am going to engrave an inscription on it},' {declares} Yahweh of hosts, 'and I will remove the guilt of that land in a single day.

For whoever has despised the day of small [things] will rejoice and will see the {plumb line} in the hand of Zerubbabel." These seven [are] the eyes of Yahweh which [are] ranging {throughout the whole earth}.

And he said to me, "This [is] the curse going out over the surface of the whole earth. For everyone who steals has gone unpunished according to it, and [likewise] everyone who swears [falsely] has gone unpunished according to it.

And he said to me, "To build for it a house in the land of Shinar, and [when] it is put in place, it will be placed there on its site."

{I looked up again}, and I saw, and look!--four chariots coming out from between two mountains, and the mountains [were] mountains of bronze.

And the angel answered and said to me, "These [are] the four winds of the heavens going out after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

And the crown will be for Helem, for Tobijah, for Jedaiah, and for Hen son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of Yahweh.

And those who are far off will come and build the temple of Yahweh, and you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. And it will happen if you will listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God."

saying to the {priests of the house of Yahweh of hosts} and to the prophets, "Should I mourn in the fifth month and keep myself separate as I have done for these many years?"

"Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: 'When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?

And when you eat and drink, are you not eating and drinking [for yourselves]?

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: '{I am exceedingly jealous for Zion}; I am jealous for it [with] great wrath.'

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Let your hands be strong, you who are hearing in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who [were present] on [the] day {the foundation was laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of Yahweh of hosts}.