Because you have taken their goods from great nations, all the rest of the peoples will take your goods from you; because of men's blood and violent acts against the land and the town and all who are living in it.

Woe to him who is gaining evil gain for his house, To set on high his nest, To be delivered from the hand of evil,

For a stone from the wall doth cry out, And a holdfast from the wood answereth it.

Lo, is it not from Jehovah of Hosts And peoples are fatigued for fire, And nations for vanity are weary?

Alas! for him who causeth his neighbour to drink, from the goblet of thy fury, and also, making him drunk, - to the end thou mayest gloat over their parts of shame.

For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of beasts shall terrify them from the bloods of man, and the violence of the earth, of the city, and all dwelling in it.

God from Teman doth come, The Holy One from mount Paran. Pause! Covered the heavens hath His majesty, And His praise hath filled the earth.

And [his] brightness was as the light. He had rays from his hand, and there was the hiding of his power.

Destruction goeth before him, and burning cressettes go from his feet.

From his high place he sent shaking on the earth; he saw and nations were suddenly moved: and the eternal mountains were broken, the unchanging hills were bent down; his ways are eternal.

You took the sheath from Your bow;
the arrows are ready to be used with an oath.Selah
You split the earth with rivers.

You went forth for the salvation of your people, even for salvation with your anointed; you wounded the head out of the house of the wicked, by laying bare from the foundation to the neck. Selah.

Though the fig-tree doth not flourish, And there is no produce among vines, Failed hath the work of the olive, And fields have not yielded food, Cut off from the fold hath been the flock, And there is no herd in the stalls.

This message from the Lord came to Cushi's son Zephaniah, the grandson of Gedaliah and great-grandson of Hezekiah's son Amariah, during the reign of Amon's son Josiah, king of Judah:

I utterly consume all from off the face of the ground, An affirmation of Jehovah.

I consume man and beast, I consume fowl of the heavens, and fishes of the sea, And the stumbling-blocks -- the wicked, And I have cut off man from the face of the ground, An affirmation of Jehovah,

And stretched out My hand against Judah, And against all inhabiting Jerusalem, And cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, The name of the idolatrous priests, with the priests,

I'll wipe out those who worship the stars that they view from their housetops, those who bow down and swear to the LORD and who also swear by Milcom,

And those removing from after Jehovah, And who have not sought Jehovah, nor besought Him.

Be silent from the face of the Lord Jehovah: for the day of Jehovah is near, for Jehovah prepared a swam he consecrated his called ones.

And it will come about in the day of the Lord's offering, that I will send punishment on the rulers and the king's sons and all who are clothed in robes from strange lands.

And there hath been in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah, The noise of a cry from the fish-gate, And of a howling from the Second, And of great destruction from the hills.

And it shall be [that] at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men {whose senses are dulled from drinking}, who say in their hearts, 'Yahweh will not do good, nor will he do evil.'

And their wealth will be violently taken away, and their houses will be made waste: they will go on building houses and never living in them, and planting vine-gardens but not drinking the wine from them.

Before the Lord sends you violently away in flight like the waste from the grain; before the burning wrath of the Lord comes on you, before the day of the Lord's wrath comes on you.

Woe to those who live along the coast, the people of Philistia! This message from the LORD is being spoken against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines: "I'll destroy you until no one 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.

"I've heard Moab's insults and the curses from those Ammonites by which they defame my people and boast about their territory.

Fearful is Jehovah against them, For He made bare all gods of the land, And bow themselves to Him, each from his place, Do all islanders of the nations.

Herds will lie down in the middle of it,
every kind of wild animal.
Both the desert owl and the screech owl
will roost in the capitals of its pillars.
Their calls will sound from the window,
but devastation will be on the threshold,
for He will expose the cedar work.

I have cut off nations, deserted are their towers, have made desolate their streets, that none passeth through; ruined are their cities, for want of men of note, from lack of any dweller!

“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).

From beyond the rivers of Cush, my supplicants, The daughter of My scattered ones, Do bring My present.

In that day thou art not ashamed because of any of thine actions, Wherewith thou hast transgressed against Me, For then do I turn aside from thy midst The exulting ones of thine excellency, And thou dost add no more to be haughty, In My holy mountain.

Give thanks, O daughter Zion! Be joyful, O Israel! Rejoice and be glad from thy whole heart, O daughter Jerusalem!

On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Don't be afraid, Zion! Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic!

Mine afflicted from the appointed place I have gathered, from thee they have been, Bearing for her sake reproach.

Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors; I will save the lame and gather the outcast. I will change them from shame to glory and {renown} throughout the whole world.

On the first day of the sixth month of the second year of the reign of King Darius, this message from the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and to Jehozadak's son Joshua, the high priest:

Then this message from the LORD came by Haggai the prophet:

Therefore, over you refrained have the heavens from dew, And the land hath refrained its increase.

Moreover, I have called for a drought that will affect the fields, the hill country, the grain, new wine, fresh olive oil, and everything that grows from the ground; it also will harm people, animals, and everything they produce.'"

And Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel will hear, and Joshua son of Josedeck the great priest, and all the remnant of the people, to the voice of Jehovah their God, and to the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God sent him, and the people will fear from the face of Jehovah.

Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with a special commission from the LORD: ""I am with you,' declares the LORD."

On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, this message from the LORD came by Haggai the prophet:

"Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? And what does it look like now? From what you can see, it seems like nothing, doesn't it?

The thing that I covenanted with you, In your coming forth from Egypt, And My Spirit is remaining in your midst, fear not.

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the second year of the reign of King Darius, this message from the LORD came to Haggai the prophet:

Then Haggai said, "If one who is unclean from contact with a corpse touches any of these, will it become unclean?" The priests answered, "Yes, it will be become unclean."

And now, lay it, I pray you, to your heart, From this day, and onwards, Before the laying of stone to stone in the temple of Jehovah.

From that time one hath come to a heap of twenty, And it hath been ten, He hath come unto the wine-fat to draw out fifty purahs, And it hath been twenty.

Set it, I pray you, to your heart, from this day and onwards, from the twenty and fourth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the temple of Jehovah hath been founded, set it to your heart.

Is the seed yet in the barn? And hitherto the vine and the fig, And the pomegranate, and the olive-tree, Have not borne -- from this day I bless.'

This message from the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month:

In the eighth month of the second year of the reign of Darius, this message from the LORD came to Berechiah's son Zechariah, the grandson of Iddo the prophet:

Ye shall not be as your fathers, To whom the former prophets called, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, Turn back I pray you, From your evil ways and from your evil doings, And they did not hearken, Nor attend to Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (the month Shebat) in the second year of the reign of Darius, this message from the LORD came to Berechiah's son Zechariah, the grandson of Iddo the prophet:

And the man that stood among the myrtle-trees answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

And they answered the angel of Jehovah that stood among the myrtle-trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold, all the earth sitteth still and is at rest.

Then the Angel of the Lord responded, “How long, Lord of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that You have been angry with these 70 years?”

Proclaim again, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "My cities shall again overflow from prosperity, and Yahweh will comfort Zion again, and he will choose Jerusalem again." '"

Then I said, What have these come to do? And he said, These are the horns which sent Judah in flight, and kept him from lifting up his head: but these men have come to send fear on them and to put down the nations who are lifting up their horns against the land of Judah to send it in flight.

and he saith unto him, 'Run, speak unto this young man, saying: Unwalled villages inhabit doth Jerusalem, From the abundance of man and beast in her 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.

Ho! Zion, go in flight from danger, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.

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?"

And he answered and said to the ones standing {before} him, saying, "Remove the filthy garments from him." And he said to him, "See, I have taken away your guilt from you, and will clothe you [with] rich garments."

And let them put a clean head-dress on his head. So they put a clean head-dress on his head, clothing him with clean robes: and to him he said, See, I have taken your sin away from you.

And the angel [who was] talking with me returned, and he wakened me as one who is wakened from his sleep.

And two olive trees upon it, one from the right of the bowl and one from its left.

Then he replied to me, "This is this message from the LORD to Zerubbabel: "Not by valor nor by strength, but only by my Spirit,' says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

‘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 this message from the LORD came to me again:

For who hath despised the day of small things? Yea, they shall rejoice even those seven and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel: these are the eyes of Jehovah, which run to and fro in the whole earth.

And I questioned him further, “What are the two olive branches beside the two gold conduits, from which golden oil pours out?”

And he said to me, This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth; for from now on everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it; and everyone who swears from now on shall be cut off according to it.

I asked, "What is it?" And he replied, "It is a basket for measuring grain that is moving away from here." Moreover, he said, "This is their 'eye' throughout all the earth."

{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 unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

and the strong go forth, and seek to go that they may walk to and fro through the earth. And he said, Go, walk to and fro through the earth. And they walked to and fro through the earth.

Then this message from the LORD came to me:

"Collect from the exiles--from Heldai, Tobijah, and from Jedaiah, [all of] whom came from Babylon--and go on that day, go [to the] house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.

Yea, take [from them] silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

And say to him, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Look, [here is] a man whose name [is] Branch, and from his place he will sprout, and he will build the temple of Yahweh.

During the fourth year of the reign of King Darius, a message from the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month Kislev.

Now they of Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech to make a request for grace from the Lord,

speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts and to the prophets, saying, “[Now that I am returned from exile] shall I weep in the fifth month [mourning the destruction of the temple], and fast as I have done these many years [in Babylon]?”

Then this message from the LORD of the Heavenly Armies came to me:

This message from the LORD came to Zechariah again:

Do not be hard on the widow, or the child without a father, on the man from a strange country, or on the poor; let there be no evil thought in your heart against your brother.

But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder and {stopped their ears from listening}.

{They made their hearts adamant} in order not to hear the law and the words that Yahweh of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets; [therefore] great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts.

but scattered them among all Gentiles, whom they knew not. Thus the land was made so desolate, that there traveled no man in it neither to nor fro, for that pleasant land was utterly laid waste."

This is this message from the LORD of the Heavenly Armies:

Thus said Jehovah of armies: Yet shall old men and old women sit in the broad places of Jerusalem, and a man his support in his hand from the multitude of days.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Look! I [am] going to save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the west,

"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}.

For before those days there was no wage for people or for animals, and there was no safety from the enemy for those who went out or those who came in, and I sent each person against {one another}.

But I will be different now to this remnant of my people from the way I was in those days,' says the Lord who rules over all,