Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem -- for everything I brought on it.

therefore, take note: I am about to gather all your lovers whom you enjoyed, both all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness.

"'Observe -- everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: "Like mother, like daughter."

The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit. They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion. He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.

and say to the scrub land of the Negev, 'Hear the word of the Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, I am about to start a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The flaming fire will not be extinguished, and the whole surface of the ground from the Negev to the north will be scorched by it.

Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: 'Because all of you have become slag, look out! -- I am about to gather you in the middle of Jerusalem.

"Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side:

"For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, I am about to deliver you over to those whom you hate, to those with whom you were disgusted.

Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, 'Now they will commit immoral acts with her.'

"Son of man, realize that I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you with a jolt, but you must not mourn or weep or shed tears.

Say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Realize I am about to desecrate my sanctuary -- the source of your confident pride, the object in which your eyes delight, and your life's passion. Your very own sons and daughters whom you have left behind will die by the sword.

Say to the Ammonites, 'Hear the word of the sovereign Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: You said "Aha!" about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and about the house of Judah when they went into exile.

So take note, I am about to make you slaves of the tribes of the east. They will make camps among you and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk.

So look, I am about to open up Moab's flank, eliminating the cities, including its frontier cities, the beauty of the land -- Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim.

So this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note, I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines. I will kill the Cherethites and destroy those who remain on the seacoast.

"Son of man, because Tyre has said about Jerusalem, 'Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I will become rich, now that she has been destroyed,'

"For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note that I am about to bring King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, king of kings, against Tyre from the north, with horses, chariots, and horsemen, an army and hordes of people.

I am about to bring foreigners against you, the most terrifying of nations. They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom, and they will defile your splendor.

I placed you there with an anointed guardian cherub; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked about amidst fiery stones.

"'Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will kill every person and every animal.

Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He will carry off her wealth, capture her loot, and seize her plunder; it will be his army's wages.

"Son of man, sing a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: "'You were like a lion among the nations, but you are a monster in the seas; you thrash about in your streams, stir up the water with your feet, and muddy your streams.

I will disturb many peoples, when I bring about your destruction among the nations, among countries you do not know.

When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you must certainly die,' and you do not warn the wicked about his behavior, the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death.

"But as for you, son of man, your people (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, 'Come hear the word that comes from the Lord.'

"'As for you, my sheep, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.

therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the sovereign Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, and to the desolate ruins and the abandoned cities that have become prey and an object of derision to the rest of the nations round about --

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation which you profaned among the nations where you went.

Understand that it is not for your sake I am about to act, declares the sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and embarrassed by your behavior, O house of Israel.

This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath into you and you will live.

Therefore prophesy, and tell them, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel.

tell them, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah, and make them into one stick -- they will be one in my hand.'

Then tell them, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land.

Realize that it is coming and it will be done, declares the sovereign Lord. It is the day I have spoken about.

Of this area a square 875 feet by 875 feet will be designated for the sanctuary, with 87? feet set aside for its open space round about.

In every matter of wisdom and insight the king asked them about, he found them to be ten times better than any of the magicians and astrologers that were in his entire empire.

So a decree went out, and the wise men were about to be executed. They also sought Daniel and his friends so that they could be executed.

He inquired of Arioch the king's deputy, "Why is the decree from the king so urgent?" Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter.

Daniel replied to the king, "The mystery that the king is asking about is such that no wise men, astrologers, magicians, or diviners can possibly disclose it to the king.

In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever.

I am delighted to tell you about the signs and wonders that the most high God has done for me.

Now in that very moment this pronouncement about Nebuchadnezzar came true. He was driven from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle's feathers, and his nails like a bird's claws.

I have heard about you, how there is a spirit of the gods in you, and how you have insight, discernment, and extraordinary wisdom.

So Darius the Mede took control of the kingdom when he was about sixty-two years old.

When the king heard this, he was very upset and began thinking about how he might rescue Daniel. Until late afternoon he was struggling to find a way to rescue him.

I approached one of those standing nearby and asked him about the meaning of all this. So he spoke with me and revealed to me the interpretation of the vision:

It grew so big it reached the army of heaven, and it brought about the fall of some of the army and some of the stars to the ground, where it trampled them.

Then he said, "I am going to inform you about what will happen in the latter time of wrath, for the vision pertains to the appointed time of the end.

He said to me, "Daniel, you are of great value. Understand the words that I am about to speak to you. So stand up, for I have now been sent to you." When he said this to me, I stood up shaking.

He said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Now I am about to return to engage in battle with the prince of Persia. When I go, the prince of Greece is coming.

"But you, Daniel, close up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will dash about, and knowledge will increase."

I will destroy her vines and fig trees, about which she said, "These are my wages for prostitution that my lovers gave to me!" I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees into an uncultivated thicket, so that wild animals will devour them.

So I paid fifteen shekels of silver and about seven bushels of barley to purchase her.

Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen closely, O king! For judgment is about to overtake you! For you were like a trap to Mizpah, like a net spread out to catch Tabor.

Ephraim has surrounded me with lies; the house of Israel has surrounded me with deceit. But Judah still roams about with God; he remains faithful to the Holy One.

Even now they persist in sin! They make metal images for themselves, idols that they skillfully fashion from their own silver; all of them are nothing but the work of craftsmen! There is a saying about them: "Those who sacrifice to the calf idol are calf kissers!"

Tell your children about it, have your children tell their children, and their children the following generation.

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear, for the day of the Lord is about to come. Indeed, it is near!

The Lord responded to his people, "Look! I am about to restore your grain as well as fresh wine and olive oil. You will be fully satisfied. I will never again make you an object of mockery among the nations.

The following is a record of what Amos prophesied. He was one of the herdsmen from Tekoa. These prophecies about Israel were revealed to him during the time of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you, family of Israel:

"Look! I am about to bring a nation against you, family of Israel." The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking. "They will oppress you all the way from Lebo-Hamath to the Stream of the Arabah."

The Lord said to me, "What do you see, Amos?" I said, "Tin." The sovereign One then said, "Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel. I will no longer overlook their sin.

People will stagger from sea to sea, and from the north around to the east. They will wander about looking for a revelation from the Lord, but they will not find any.

As a result they will conquer those left in Edom and all the nations subject to my rule." The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!

The Lord God appointed a little plant and caused it to grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to rescue him from his misery. Now Jonah was very delighted about the little plant.

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!"

The Lord said, "You were upset about this little plant, something for which you have not worked nor did you do anything to make it grow. It grew up overnight and died the next day.

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!"

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.

Look, I am about to empower the Babylonians, that ruthless and greedy nation. They sweep across the surface of the earth, seizing dwelling places that do not belong to them.

For the message is a witness to what is decreed; it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. Even if the message is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; for it will certainly come to pass -- it will not arrive late.

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

"The Lord who rules over all says, 'Ask the priests about the law.

Think carefully about the past: from today, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, to the day work on the temple of the Lord was resumed, think about it.

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."

The riders then agreed with the angel of the Lord, who was standing among the myrtle trees, "We have been walking about on the earth, and now everything is at rest and quiet."

"I am about to punish them in such a way," he says, "that they will be looted by their own slaves." Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me.

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.

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 he cried out to me, "Look! The ones going to the northland have brought me peace about the northland."

"'It then came about that just as I cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,' the Lord Lord who rules over all had said.

"The Lord who rules over all asserts, 'I am about to save my people from the lands of the east and the west.

And it will come about that just as you (both Judah and Israel) were a curse to the nations, so I will save you and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid! Instead, be strong!'

Thus I will strengthen them by my power, and they will walk about in my name," says the Lord.

Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves.

"I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged.

A day of the Lord is about to come when your possessions will be divided as plunder in your midst.

I am about to discipline your children and will spread offal on your faces, the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it.

"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.

You have said, 'It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all?

But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication will rise with healing wings, and you will skip about like calves released from the stall.

For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: "The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

So a report about him spread throughout Syria. People brought to him all who suffered with various illnesses and afflictions, those who had seizures, paralytics, and those possessed by demons, and he healed them.

"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?

Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin.

So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.