# verses

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Jeremiah, tell the people of Judah, "The LORD God of Israel orders you to fill your wine jars with wine." They will answer, "Of course we fill our wine jars with wine! Why are you telling us something we already know?"


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Then say to them: I am the LORD, and what I'm going to do will make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem appear to be full of wine. And the worst ones will be the kings of David's family and the priests and the prophets.


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Then I will smash them against each other like jars. I will have no pity on the young or the old, and they will all be destroyed. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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You hope for light, but God is sending darkness. Evening shadows already deepen in the hills. So return to God and confess your sins to him before you trip and fall.


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If you are too proud to listen, I will weep alone. Tears will stream from my eyes when the LORD's people are taken away as prisoners.


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The LORD told me to tell you that your king and his mother must surrender their thrones and remove their crowns.


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The cities in the Southern Desert are surrounded; no one can get in or out. Everyone in Judah will be taken away.


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Jerusalem, you were so proud of ruling the people of Judah. But where are they now? Look north, and you will see your enemies approaching.


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You once trusted them to help, but now I'll let them rule you. What do you say about that? You will be in pain like a woman giving birth.


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Do you know why your clothes were torn off and you were abused? It was because of your terrible sins.


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Can you ever change and do what's right? Can people change the color of their skin, or can a leopard remove its spots? If so, then maybe you can change and learn to do right.


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You were married to me, but you were unfaithful. You even became a prostitute by worshiping disgusting gods on hilltops and in fields.


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So I'll rip off your clothes and leave you naked and ashamed for everyone to see. You are doomed! Will you ever be worthy to worship me again?


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Rulers send their servants to the storage pits for water. But there's none to be found; they return in despair with their jars still empty.


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Wild donkeys go blind from starvation. So they stand on barren hilltops and sniff the air, hoping to smell green grass.


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Our terrible sins may demand that we be punished. But if you rescue us, LORD, everyone will see how great you are.


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Did this disaster take you by surprise? Are you a warrior with your hands tied? You have chosen us, and your temple is here. Don't abandon us!


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My people, you love to wander away; you don't even try to stay close to me. So now I will reject you and punish you for your sins. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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They may even go without eating and offer sacrifices to please me and to give thanks. But when they cry out for my help, I won't listen, and I won't accept their sacrifices. Instead, I'll send war, starvation, and disease to wipe them out."


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I replied, "The other prophets keep telling everyone that you won't send starvation or war, and that you're going to give us peace."


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The LORD answered: They claim to speak for me, but they're lying! I didn't even speak to them, much less choose them to be my prophets. Their messages come from worthless dreams, useless fortunetelling, and their own imaginations.


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Those lying prophets say there will be peace and plenty of food. But I say that those same prophets will die from war and hunger.


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And everyone who listens to them will be killed, just as they deserve. Their dead bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, because their families will also be dead, and no one will be left to bury them.


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Jeremiah, go and tell the people how you feel about all this. So I told them: "Tears will flood my eyes both day and night, because my nation suffers from a deadly wound.


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In the fields I see the bodies of those killed in battle. And in the towns I see crowds dying of hunger. But the prophets and priests go about their business, without understanding what has happened."


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Have you rejected Judah, LORD? Do you hate Jerusalem? Why did you strike down Judah with a fatal wound? We had hoped for peace and a time of healing, but all we got was terror.


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If you save us, it will show how great you are. Don't let our enemies disgrace your temple, your beautiful throne. Don't forget that you promised to rescue us.


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Idols can't send rain, and showers don't fall by themselves. Only you control the rain, so we put our trust in you, the LORD our God.


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The LORD said to me: Even if Moses and Samuel were here, praying with you, I wouldn't change my mind. So send the people of Judah away.


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And when they ask where they are going, tell them that I, the LORD, have said: Some of you are going to die of horrible diseases. Others are going to die in war or from starvation. The rest will be led away to a foreign country.


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I will punish you in four different ways: You will be killed in war and your bodies dragged off by dogs, your flesh will be eaten by birds, and your bones will be chewed on by wild animals.


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This punishment will happen because of the horrible things your King Manasseh did. And you will be disgusting to all nations on earth.


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My people, you abandoned me and walked away. I am tired of showing mercy; that's why I'll destroy you


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by scattering you like straw blown by the wind. I will punish you with sorrow and death, because you refuse to change your ways.


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There will be more widows in Judah than grains of sand on a beach. A surprise attack at noon! And the mothers in Jerusalem mourn for their children.


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A mother is in deep despair and struggles for breath. Her daylight has turned to darkness-- she has suffered the loss of her seven sons. I will kill anyone who survives. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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I wish I had never been born! I'm always in trouble with everyone in Judah. I never lend or borrow money, but everyone curses me just the same.


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Then the LORD replied, "I promise to protect you, and when disaster comes, even your enemies will beg you for help."


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People of Judah, just as you can't break iron mixed with bronze, you can't defeat the enemies that will attack from the north.


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My anger is a fire that cannot be put out, so I will make you slaves of your enemies in a foreign land.


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You can see how I suffer insult after insult, all because of you, LORD. Don't be so patient with my enemies; take revenge on them before they kill me.


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I don't go to parties and have a good time. Instead, I keep to myself, because you have filled me with your anger.


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I am badly injured and in constant pain. Are you going to disappoint me, like a stream that goes dry in the heat of summer?


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Then the LORD told me: Stop talking like a fool! If you turn back to me and speak my message, I will let you be my prophet once again. I hope the people of Judah will accept what you say. But you can ignore their threats, *


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because I am making you strong, like a bronze wall. They are evil and violent, but when they attack,


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They will die of horrible diseases and of war and starvation. No one will give them a funeral or bury them, and their bodies will be food for the birds and wild animals. And what's left will lie on the ground like manure.


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When someone dies, don't visit the family or show any sorrow. I will no longer love or bless or have any pity on the people of Judah.


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Rich and poor alike will die and be left unburied. No one will mourn and show their sorrow by cutting themselves or shaving their heads.


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No one will bring food and wine to help comfort those who are mourning the death of their father or mother.


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Warn the people of Judah that I, the LORD All-Powerful, will put an end to all their parties and wedding celebrations.


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They will ask, "Why has the LORD our God threatened us with so many disasters? Have we done something wrong or sinned against him?"


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Then tell them I have said: People of Judah, your ancestors turned away from me; they rejected my laws and teachings and started worshiping other gods.


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And you have done even worse! You are stubborn, and instead of obeying me, you do whatever evil comes to your mind.


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So I will throw you into a land that you and your ancestors know nothing about, a place where you will have to worship other gods both day and night. And I won't feel the least bit sorry for you.


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A time will come when you will again worship me. But you will no longer call me the Living God who rescued Israel from Egypt.


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Instead, you will call me the Living God who rescued you from that country in the north and from the other countries where I had forced you to go. Someday I will bring you back to this land that I gave your ancestors.


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But for now, I am sending enemies who will catch you like fish and hunt you down like wild animals in the hills and the caves.


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I will punish you double for your sins, because you have made my own land disgusting. You have filled it with lifeless idols that remind me of dead bodies.


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Our LORD, you are the one who gives me strength and protects me like a fortress when I am in trouble. People will come to you from distant nations and say, "Our ancestors worshiped false and useless gods,


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Then the LORD replied, "That's why I will teach them about my power, and they will know that I am the true God."


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People of Judah, your sins cannot be erased. They are written on your hearts like words chiseled in stone or carved on the corners of your altars. *


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One generation after another has set up pagan altars and worshiped the goddess Asherah everywhere in your country-- on hills and mountains, and under large trees.


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You will lose the land that I gave you, and I will make you slaves in a foreign country, because you have made my anger blaze up like a fire that won't stop burning.


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They will be like trees growing beside a stream-- trees with roots that reach down to the water, and with leaves that are always green. They bear fruit every year and are never worried by a lack of rain.


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You cheated others, but everything you gained will fly away, like birds hatched from stolen eggs. Then you will discover what fools you are.


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You are a spring of water giving Israel life and hope. But if the people reject what you have told me, they will be swept away like words written in dust.


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You, LORD, are the one I praise. So heal me and rescue me! Then I will be completely well and perfectly safe.


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The people of Judah say to me, "Jeremiah, you claimed to tell us what the LORD has said. So why hasn't it come true?"


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Our LORD, you chose me to care for your people, and that's what I have done. You know everything I have said, and I have never once asked you to punish them.


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Keep me from failure and disgrace, but make my enemies fail and be disgraced. Send destruction to make their worst fears come true.


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The LORD said: Jeremiah, stand at each city gate in Jerusalem, including the one the king uses, and speak to him and everyone else. Tell them I have said: I am the LORD, so pay attention.


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If you value your lives, don't do any work on the Sabbath. Don't carry anything through the city gates or through the door of your house, or anywhere else. Keep the Sabbath day sacred! I gave this command to your ancestors, but they were stubborn and refused to obey or to be corrected. But if you obey,


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then Judah and Jerusalem will always be ruled by kings from David's family. The king and his officials will ride through these gates on horses or in chariots, and the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be with them. There will always be people living in Jerusalem,


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and others will come here from the nearby villages, from the towns of Judah and Benjamin, from the hill country and the foothills to the west, and from the Southern Desert. They will bring sacrifices to please me and to give me thanks, as well as offerings of grain and incense.


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But if you keep on carrying things through the city gates on the Sabbath and keep treating it as any other day, I will set fire to these gates and burn down the whole city, including the fortresses.


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And whenever the clay would not take the shape he wanted, he would change his mind and form it into some other shape.


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but its people start disobeying me and doing evil, then I will change my mind and not help them at all.


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So listen to me, people of Judah and Jerusalem! I have decided to strike you with disaster, and I won't change my mind unless you stop sinning and start living right.


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But I know you won't listen. You might as well answer, "We don't care what you say. We have made plans to sin, and we are going to be stubborn and do what we want!"


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So I, the LORD, command you to ask the nations, and find out if they have ever heard of such a horrible sin as what you have done.


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But you, my people, have turned from me to burn incense to worthless idols. You have left the ancient road to follow an unknown path where you stumble over idols.


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Your land will be ruined, and every passerby will look at it with horror and make insulting remarks.


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When your enemies attack, I will scatter you like dust blown by an eastern wind. Then, on that day of disaster, I will turn my back on you.


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Some of the people said, "Let's get rid of Jeremiah! We will always have priests to teach us God's laws, as well as wise people to give us advice, and prophets to speak the LORD's messages. So, instead of listening to Jeremiah any longer, let's accuse him of a crime."


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I tried to help them, but they are paying me back by digging a pit to trap me. I even begged you not to punish them.


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But now I am asking you to let their children starve or be killed in war. Let women lose their husbands and sons to disease and violence.


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These people have dug pits and set traps for me, LORD. Make them scream in fear when you send enemy troops to attack their homes.


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You know they plan to kill me. So get angry and punish them! Don't ever forgive their terrible crimes.


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The LORD said: Jeremiah, go to the pottery shop and buy a clay jar. Then take along some of the city officials and leading priests


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I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, and you kings of Judah and you people of Jerusalem had better pay attention. I am going to bring so much trouble on this valley that everyone who hears about it will be shocked.


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The people of Judah stopped worshiping me and made this valley into a place of worship for Baal and other gods that have never helped them or their ancestors or their kings. And they have committed murder here, burning their young, innocent children as sacrifices to Baal. I have never even thought of telling you to do that.


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So watch out! Someday this place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. It will be called Slaughter Valley!


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You people of Judah and Jerusalem may have big plans, but here in this valley I'll ruin those plans. I'll let your enemies kill you, and I'll tell the birds and wild animals to eat your dead bodies.


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I will turn Jerusalem into a pile of rubble, and every passerby will be shocked and horrified and will make insulting remarks.


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And while your enemies are trying to break through your city walls to kill you, the food supply will run out. You will become so hungry that you will eat the flesh of your friends and even of your own children.


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Then tell them that I have also said: I am the LORD All-Powerful, and I warn you that I will shatter Judah and Jerusalem just like this jar that is broken beyond repair. You will bury your dead here in Topheth, but so many of you will die that there won't be enough room.


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I will make Jerusalem as unclean as Topheth, by filling the city with your dead bodies. I will do this because you and your kings have gone up to the roofs of your houses and burned incense to the stars in the sky, as though they were gods. And you have given sacrifices of wine to foreign gods.


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I went to Topheth, where I told the people what the LORD had said. Then I went to the temple courtyard and shouted to the people,


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"Listen, everyone! Some time ago, the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, warned you that he would bring disaster on Jerusalem and all nearby villages. But you were stubborn and refused to listen. Now the LORD is going to bring the disaster he promised."


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and so he hit me. Then he had me arrested and put in chains at the Benjamin Gate in the LORD's temple.


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The next day, when Pashhur let me go free, I told him that the LORD had said: No longer will I call you Pashhur. Instead, I will call you Afraid-of-Everything.


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You will be afraid, and you will bring fear to your friends as well. You will see enemies kill them in battle. Then I will have the king of Babylonia take everyone in Judah prisoner, killing some and dragging the rest away to Babylonia.


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Pashhur, you are guilty of telling lies and claiming they were messages from me. That's why I will have the Babylonians take you, your family, and your friends as prisoners to Babylonia, where you will all die and be buried.


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You tricked me, LORD, and I was really fooled. You are stronger than I am, and you have defeated me. People never stop sneering and insulting me.


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You have let me announce only destruction and death. Your message has brought me nothing but insults and trouble.


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Sometimes I tell myself not to think about you, LORD, or even mention your name. But your message burns in my heart and bones, and I cannot keep silent.


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I heard the crowds whisper, "Everyone is afraid. Now's our chance to accuse Jeremiah!" All of my so-called friends are just waiting for me to make a mistake. They say, "Maybe Jeremiah can be tricked. Then we can overpower him and get even at last."


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But you, LORD, are a mighty soldier, standing at my side. Those troublemakers will fall down and fail-- terribly embarrassed, forever ashamed.


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LORD All-Powerful, you test those who do right, and you know every heart and mind. I have told you my complaints, so let me watch you take revenge on my enemies.


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May that man be like the towns you destroyed without pity. Let him hear shouts of alarm in the morning and battle cries at noon.


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He deserves to die for not killing me before I was born. Then my mother's body would have been my grave.


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King Zedekiah of Judah sent for Pashhur son of Malchiah and for a priest named Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. Then he told them,"Talk with Jeremiah for me." So they came to me and said,


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"King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia has attacked Judah. Please ask the LORD to work miracles for our people, as he has done in the past, so that Nebuchadnezzar will leave us alone."


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I told them that the LORD God of Israel had told me to say to King Zedekiah: The Babylonians have surrounded Jerusalem and want to kill you and your people. You are asking me to save you, but you have made me furious. So I will stretch out my mighty arm and fight against you myself. Your army is using spears and swords to fight the Babylonians, but I will make your own weapons turn and attack you. I will send a horrible disease to kill many of the people and animals in Jerusalem, and there will be nothing left to eat. Finally, I will let King Nebuchadnezzar and his army fight their way to the center of Jerusalem and capture everyone who is left alive, including you and your officials. But Nebuchadnezzar won't be kind or show any mercy--he will have you killed! I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Then I told them that the LORD had said: People of Jerusalem, I, the LORD, give you the choice of life or death.


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The Babylonian army has surrounded Jerusalem, so if you want to live, you must go out and surrender to them. But if you want to die because of hunger, disease, or war, then stay here in the city.


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I have decided not to rescue Jerusalem. Instead, I am going to let the king of Babylonia burn it to the ground. I, the LORD, have spoken. *


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Each new day, make sure that justice is done, and rescue those who are being robbed. Or else my anger will flame up like a fire that never goes out.


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Jerusalem, from your mountaintop you look out over the valleys and think you are safe. But I, the LORD, am angry,


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and I will punish you as you deserve. I'll set your palace on fire, and everything around you will go up in smoke.


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The LORD sent me to the palace of the king of Judah to speak to the king, his officials, and everyone else who was there. The LORD told me to say: I am the LORD, so pay attention! You have been allowing people to cheat, rob, and take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners who live here. Innocent people have become victims of violence, and some of them have even been killed. But now I command you to do what is right and see that justice is done. Rescue everyone who has suffered from injustice.


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If you obey me, the kings from David's family will continue to rule Judah from this palace. They and their officials will ride in and out on their horses or in their chariots.


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Listen to what I think about it: The palace of Judah's king is as glorious as Gilead or Lebanon's highest peaks. But it will be as empty as a ghost-town when I'm through with it.


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People from different nations will pass by and ask, "Why did the LORD do this to such a great city as Jerusalem?"


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Others will answer, "It's because the people worshiped foreign gods and broke the agreement that the LORD their God had made with them."


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King Josiah is dead, so don't cry for him. Instead, cry for his son King Jehoahaz, dragged off to another country, never to return.


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Jehoahaz became king of Judah after his father King Josiah died. But Jehoahaz was taken as a prisoner to a foreign country. Now I, the LORD, promise that he will die there without ever seeing his own land again. *


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You put in big windows and used cedar paneling and red paint. But you were unfair and forced the builders to work without pay. *


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More cedar in your palace doesn't make you a better king than your father Josiah. He always did right-- he gave justice to the poor and was honest.


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That's what it means to truly know me. So he lived a comfortable life and always had enough to eat and drink.


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Jehoiakim, no one will cry at your funeral. They won't turn to each other and ask, "Why did our great king have to die?"


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You will be given a burial fit for a donkey; your body will be dragged outside the city gates and tossed in the dirt. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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People of Jerusalem, the nations you trusted have been crushed. Go to Lebanon and weep; cry in the land of Bashan and in Moab.


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When times were good, I warned you. But you ignored me, just as you have done since Israel was young.


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Now you will be disgraced because of your sins. Your leaders will be swept away by the wind, and the nations you trusted will be captured and dragged to a foreign country.


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King Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, even if you were the ring I wear as the sign of my royal power, I would still pull you from my finger.


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I would hand you over to the enemy you fear, to King Nebuchadnezzar and his army, who want to kill you.


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You and your mother were born in Judah, but I will throw both of you into a foreign country, where you will die,


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Jehoiachin, you are unwanted like a broken clay pot. So you and your children will be thrown into a country you know nothing about.


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Erase the names of Jehoiachin's children from the royal records. He is a complete failure, and so none of them will ever be king. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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You were supposed to take care of my people, but instead you chased them away. So now I'll really take care of you, and believe me, you will pay for your crimes!


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I will bring the rest of my people home from the lands where I have scattered them, and they will grow into a mighty nation.


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I promise to choose leaders who will care for them like real shepherds. All of my people will be there, and they will never again be frightened.


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Someday I will appoint an honest king from the family of David, a king who will be wise and rule with justice.


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As long as he is king, Israel will have peace, and Judah will be safe. The name of this king will be "The LORD Gives Justice."


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Instead, you will call me the Living God who rescued you from the land in the north and from all the other countries where I had forced you to go. And you will once again live in your own land.


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When I think of the prophets, I am shocked, and I tremble like someone drunk, because of the LORD and his sacred words.


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Those unfaithful prophets misuse their power all over the country. So God turned the pasturelands into scorching deserts.


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The LORD told me to say: You prophets and priests think so little of me, the LORD, that you even sin in my own temple!


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Now I will punish you with disaster, and you will slip and fall in the darkness. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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The prophets in Samaria were disgusting to me, because they preached in the name of Baal and led my people astray.


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And you prophets in Jerusalem are even worse. You're unfaithful in marriage and never tell the truth. You even lead others to sin instead of helping them turn back to me. You and the people of Jerusalem are evil like Sodom and Gomorrah.


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You prophets in Jerusalem have spread evil everywhere. That's why I, the LORD, promise to give you bitter poison to eat and drink.


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Don't listen to the lies of these false prophets, you people of Judah! The message they preach is something they imagined; it did not come from me, the LORD All-Powerful.


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These prophets go to people who refuse to respect me and who are stubborn and do whatever they want. The prophets tell them, "The LORD has promised everything will be fine."


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But I, the LORD, tell you that these prophets have never attended a meeting of my council in heaven or heard me speak.


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I won't calm down, until I have finished what I have decided to do. Someday you will understand exactly what I mean.


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I did not send these prophets or speak to them, but they ran to find you and to preach their message.


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If they had been in a meeting of my council in heaven, they would have told you people of Judah to give up your sins and come back to me.


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These unfaithful prophets claim that I have given them a dream or a vision, and then they tell lies in my name.


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They tell each other their dreams and try to get my people to reject me, just as their ancestors left me and worshiped Baal.


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Their dreams and my truth are as different as straw and wheat. But when prophets speak for me, they must say only what I have told them.


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These unfaithful prophets claim I give them their dreams, but it isn't true. I didn't choose them to be my prophets, and yet they babble on and on, speaking in my name, while stealing words from each other. And when my people hear these liars, they are led astray instead of being helped. So I warn you that I am now the enemy of these prophets. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Jeremiah, when a prophet or a priest or anyone else comes to you and asks, "Does the LORD have news for us?" tell them, "You people are a nuisance to the LORD, and he will get rid of you."


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If any of you say, "Here is news from the LORD," I will punish you and your families, even if you are a prophet or a priest.


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Instead, you must ask your friends and relatives, "What answer did the LORD give?" or "What has the LORD said?"


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It seems that you each have your own news! So if you say, "Here is news from the LORD," you are twisting my words into a lie. Remember that I am your God, the LORD All-Powerful.


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If you go to a prophet, it's all right to ask, "What answer did the LORD give to my question?" or "What has the LORD said?"


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I will pick you up and throw you far away. And I will abandon this city of Jerusalem that I gave to your ancestors.


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The LORD spoke to me in a vision after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had come to Judah and taken King Jehoiachin, his officials, and all the skilled workers back to Babylonia. In this vision I saw two baskets of figs in front of the LORD's temple.


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One basket was full of very good figs that ripened early, and the other was full of rotten figs that were not fit to eat.


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"Jeremiah," the LORD asked, "what do you see?" "Figs," I said. "Some are very good, but the others are too rotten to eat."


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where I am watching over them. Then someday I will bring them back to this land. I will plant them, instead of uprooting them, and I will build them up, rather than tearing them down.


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I will give them a desire to know me and to be my people. They will want me to be their God, and they will turn back to me with all their heart.


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The rotten figs stand for King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and all the others who were not taken away to Babylonia, whether they stayed here in Judah or went to live in Egypt.


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I will punish them with a terrible disaster, and everyone on earth will tremble when they hear about it. I will force the people of Judah to go to foreign countries, where they will be cursed and insulted.


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War and hunger and disease will strike them, until they finally disappear from the land that I gave them and their ancestors.


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In the fourth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, which was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia, the LORD told me to speak to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. So I told them:


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For twenty-three years now, ever since the thirteenth year that Josiah was king, I have been telling you what the LORD has told me. But you have not listened.


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They told you that the LORD had said: Change your ways! If you stop doing evil, I will let you stay forever in this land that I gave your ancestors.


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But you refused to listen to my prophets. So I, the LORD, say that you have made me angry by worshiping idols, and you are the ones who were hurt by what you did.


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and now I will let you be attacked by nations from the north, and especially by my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. You and other nearby nations will be destroyed and left in ruins forever. Everyone who sees what has happened will be shocked, but they will still make fun of you.


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I will put an end to your parties and wedding celebrations; no one will grind grain or be here to light the lamps at night.


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This country will be as empty as a desert, because I will make all of you the slaves of the king of Babylonia for seventy years.


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When that time is up, I will punish the king of Babylonia and his people for everything they have done wrong, and I will turn that country into a wasteland forever.


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My servant Jeremiah has told you what I said I will do to Babylonia and to the other nations, and he wrote it all down in this book. I will do everything I threatened.


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I will pay back the Babylonians for every wrong they have done. Great kings from many other nations will conquer the Babylonians and force them to be slaves.


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The LORD God of Israel showed me a vision in which he said, "Jeremiah, here is a cup filled with the wine of my anger. Take it and make every nation drink some.


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I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and I went to the kings of the nations and made each of them drink some.


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I started with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and the king and his officials were removed from power in disgrace. Everyone still makes insulting jokes about them and uses their names as curse words.


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The second place I went was Egypt, where everyone had to drink from the cup, including the king and his officials, the other government workers, the rest of the Egyptians,


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and all the foreigners who lived in the country. Next I went to the king of Uz, and then to the four kings of Philistia, who ruled from Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what was left of Ashdod.


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and the countries in the north, both near and far. I went to all the countries on earth, one after another, and finally to Babylonia.


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The LORD had said to tell each king, "The LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, commands you to drink from this cup that is full of the wine of his anger. It will make you so drunk that you will vomit. And when the LORD sends war against the nations, you will be completely defeated."


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The LORD told me that if any of them refused to drink from the cup, I must tell them that he had said, "I, the LORD All-Powerful, command you to drink.


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Starting with my own city of Jerusalem, everyone on earth will suffer from war. So there is no way I will let you escape unharmed."


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The LORD told me to say: From my sacred temple I will roar like thunder, while I trample my people and everyone else as though they were grapes.


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My voice will be heard everywhere on earth, accusing nations of their crimes and sentencing the guilty to death.


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The LORD All-Powerful says: You can see disaster spreading from far across the earth, from nation to nation like a horrible storm.


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When it strikes, I will kill so many people that their bodies will cover the ground like manure. No one will be left to bury them or to mourn.


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The LORD's people are his flock, and you leaders were the shepherds. But now it's your turn to be butchered like sheep. You'll shatter like fine pottery dropped on the floor. So roll on the ground, crying and mourning.


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Jeremiah, I have a message for everyone who comes from the towns of Judah to worship in my temple. Go to the temple courtyard and speak every word that I tell you.


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Maybe the people will listen this time. And if they stop doing wrong, I will change my mind and not punish them for their sins.


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Again and again I have sent my servants the prophets to preach to you, but you ignored them as well. Now I am warning you that if you don't start obeying me right away,


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I will destroy this temple, just as I destroyed the town of Shiloh. Then everyone on earth will use the name "Jerusalem" as a curse word.


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and as soon as I finished, they all crowded around me and started shouting, "Why did you preach that the LORD will destroy this temple, just as he destroyed Shiloh? Why did you say that Jerusalem will be empty and lie in ruins? You ought to be put to death for saying such things in the LORD's name!" Then they had me arrested.


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The royal officers heard what had happened, and they came from the palace to the new gate of the temple to be the judges at my trial.


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While they listened, the priests and the prophets said to the crowd, "All of you have heard Jeremiah prophesy that Jerusalem will be destroyed. He deserves the death penalty."


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Then I told the judges and everyone else: The LORD himself sent me to tell you about the terrible things he will do to you, to Jerusalem, and to the temple. But if you change your ways and start obeying the LORD, he will change his mind.


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But if you put me to death, you and everyone else in Jerusalem will be guilty of murdering an innocent man, because everything I preached came from the LORD.


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The judges and the other people told the priests and prophets, "Since Jeremiah only told us what the LORD our God had said, we don't think he deserves to die."


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years ago when Hezekiah was king of Judah, a prophet named Micah from the town of Moresheth had said: "I, the LORD All-Powerful, say Jerusalem will be plowed under and left in ruins. Thorns will cover the mountain where the temple now stands."


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Then the leaders continued: No one put Micah to death for saying that. Instead, King Hezekiah prayed to the LORD with fear and trembling and asked him to have mercy. Then the LORD decided not to destroy Jerusalem, even though he had already said he would. People of Judah, if Jeremiah is killed, we will bring a terrible disaster on ourselves.


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After these leaders finished speaking, an important man named Ahikam son of Shaphan spoke up for me as well. And so, I wasn't handed over to the crowd to be killed. While Jehoiakim was still king of Judah, a man named Uriah son of Shemaiah left his hometown of Kiriath-Jearim and came to Jerusalem. Uriah was one of the LORD's prophets, and he was saying the same things about Judah and Jerusalem that I had been saying. And when Jehoiakim and his officials and military officers heard what Uriah said, they tried to arrest him, but he escaped to Egypt. So Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Achbor and some other men after Uriah, and they brought him back. Then Jehoiakim had Uriah killed and his body dumped in a common burial pit.


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Not long after Zedekiah became king of Judah, the LORD told me: Jeremiah, make a wooden yoke with leather straps, and place it on your neck.


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Then send a message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. Some officials from these countries are in Jerusalem, meeting with Zedekiah.


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and with my power I created the earth, its people, and all animals. I decide who will rule the earth,


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and I have chosen my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to rule all nations, including yours. I will even let him rule the wild animals. All nations will be slaves of Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and his grandson. Then many nations will join together, and their kings will be powerful enough to make slaves of the Babylonians.


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This yoke stands for the power of King Nebuchadnezzar, and I will destroy any nation that refuses to obey him. Nebuchadnezzar will attack, and many will die in battle or from hunger and disease.


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You might have people in your kingdom who claim they can tell the future by magic or by talking with the dead or by dreams or messages from a god. But don't pay attention if any of them tell you not to obey Nebuchadnezzar.


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But if you and your nation are willing to obey Nebuchadnezzar, I will let you stay in your country, and your people will continue to live and work on their farms.


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After I had spoken to the officials from the nearby kingdoms, I went to King Zedekiah and told him the same thing. Then I said: Zedekiah, if you and the people of Judah want to stay alive, you must obey Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.


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But if you refuse, then you and your people will die from war, hunger, and disease, just as the LORD has warned.


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Your prophets have told you that you don't need to obey Nebuchadnezzar, but don't listen to their lies.


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Those prophets claim to be speaking for the LORD, but he didn't send them. They are lying! If you do what they say, he will have both you and them dragged off to another country and killed. The LORD has spoken.


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When I finished talking to the king, I went to the priests and told them that the LORD had said: Don't listen to the prophets when they say that very soon the Babylonians will return the things they took from my temple. Those prophets are lying!


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If you choose to obey the king of Babylonia, you will live. But if you listen to those prophets, this whole city will be nothing but a pile of rubble.


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If I really had spoken to those prophets, they would know what I am going to do. Then they would be begging me not to let everything else be taken from the temple and the king's palace and the rest of Jerusalem.


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After all, when Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin to Babylonia as a prisoner, he didn't take everything of value from Jerusalem. He left the bronze pillars, the huge bronze bowl called the Sea, and the movable bronze stands in the temple, and he left a lot of other valuable things in the palace and in the rest of Jerusalem. But now I, the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, say that all these things


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will be taken to Babylonia, where they will remain until I decide to bring them back to Jerusalem. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Later that same year, in the fifth month of the fourth year that Zedekiah was king, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon came up to me in the temple. And while the priests and others in the temple were listening,


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he told me that the LORD had said: I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, and I will smash the yoke that Nebuchadnezzar put on the necks of the nations to make them his slaves.


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And within two years, I will bring back to Jerusalem everything that he took from my temple and carried off to Babylonia.


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King Jehoiachin and the other people who were taken from Judah to Babylonia will be allowed to come back here as well. All this will happen because I will smash the power of the king of Babylonia!


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Hananiah, I hope the LORD will do exactly what you said. I hope he does bring back everything the Babylonians took from the temple, and that our people who were taken to Babylonia will be allowed to return home.


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that long before we were born, prophets were saying powerful kingdoms would be struck by war, disaster, and disease.


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Now you are saying we will have peace. We will just have to wait and see if that is really what the LORD has said.


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Then he said, "The LORD says this is the way he will smash the power Nebuchadnezzar has over the nations, and it will happen in less than two years." I left the temple,


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to go back and say to Hananiah: I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel. You smashed a wooden yoke, but I will replace it with one made of iron. I will put iron yokes on all the nations, and they will have to do what King Nebuchadnezzar commands. I will even let him rule the wild animals.


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Hananiah, I have never sent you to speak for me. And yet you have talked my people into believing your lies and rebelling against me. So now I will send you--I'll send you right off the face of the earth! You will die before this year is over.


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I had been left in Jerusalem when King Nebuchadnezzar took many of the people of Jerusalem and Judah to Babylonia as prisoners, including King Jehoiachin, his mother, his officials, and the metal workers and others in Jerusalem who were skilled in making things. So I wrote a letter to the prophets, the priests, the leaders, and the rest of our people in Babylonia.


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I gave the letter to Elasah and Gemariah, two men that King Zedekiah of Judah was sending to Babylon to talk with Nebuchadnezzar. In the letter, I wrote


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that the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said: I had you taken from Jerusalem to Babylonia. Now I tell you


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Get married and have children, then help your sons find wives and help your daughters find husbands, so they can have children as well. I want your numbers to grow, not to get smaller.


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Pray for peace in Babylonia and work hard to make it prosperous. The more successful that nation is, the better off you will be.


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Some of your people there in Babylonia are fortunetellers, and you have asked them to tell you what will happen in the future. But they will only lead you astray. And don't let the prophets fool you, either. They speak in my name, but they are liars. I have not spoken to them.


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After Babylonia has been the strongest nation for seventy years, I will be kind and bring you back to Jerusalem, just as I have promised.


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and accept your worship. Then I will gather you from all the nations where I scattered you, and you will return to Jerusalem.


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But I have been sending prophets to the people of Judah for a long time, and the king from David's family and the people who are left in Jerusalem and Judah still don't obey me. So I, the LORD All-Powerful, will keep attacking them with war and hunger and disease, until they are as useless as rotten figs. I will force them to leave the land, and all nations will be disgusted and shocked at what happens to them. The nations will sneer and make fun of them and use the names "Judah" and "Jerusalem" as curse words. And you have not obeyed me, even though


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You think Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah are prophets because they claim to speak for me. But they are lying! I haven't told them anything. They are also committing other horrible sins in your community, such as sleeping with the wives of their friends. So I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar, who will put them to death while the rest of you watch. And in the future, when you want to put a curse on someone, you will say, "I pray that the LORD will kill you in the same way the king of Babylonia burned Zedekiah and Ahab to death!"


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The LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, told me what would happen to Shemaiah, who was one of our people in Babylonia. After my letter reached Babylonia, Shemaiah wrote letters to the people of Jerusalem, including the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and the other priests. The letter to Zephaniah said:


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After the death of Jehoiada the priest, the LORD chose you to be the priest in charge of the temple security force. You know that anyone who acts crazy and pretends to be a prophet should be arrested and put in chains and iron collars.


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Jeremiah from the town of Anathoth is pretending to be a prophet there in Jerusalem, so why haven't you punished him?


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He even wrote a letter to the people here in Babylonia, saying we would be here a long time. He told us to build homes and to plant gardens and grow our own food.


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to the people of Judah who had been taken to Babylonia. In this letter, I wrote that the LORD had said: I, the LORD, have not chosen Shemaiah to be one of my prophets, and he has misled you by telling lies in my name.


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He has even talked you into disobeying me. So I will punish Shemaiah. He and his descendants won't live to see the good things I will do for my people. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Then the LORD told me to say to Israel and Judah: I, the LORD, hear screams of terror, and there is no peace.


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Can men give birth? Then why do I see them looking so pale and clutching their stomachs like women in labor?


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Now you are slaves of other nations, but I will break the chains and smash the yokes that keep you in slavery.


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Israel, you belong to me, so don't be afraid. You deserved to be punished; that's why I scattered you in distant nations. But I am with you, and someday I will destroy those nations.


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Then I will bring you and your descendants back to your land, where I will protect you and give you peace. Then your fears will be gone. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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You are accused of a crime with no one to defend you, and you are covered with sores that no medicine can cure. *


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Your friends have forgotten you; they don't care anymore. Even I have acted like an enemy. And because your sins are horrible and countless, I will be cruel as I punish you.


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But if your enemies try to rob or destroy you, I will rob and destroy them, and they will be led as captives to foreign lands.


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No one wants you as a friend or cares what happens to you. But I will heal your injuries, and you will get well.


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The LORD said: Israel, I will be kind to you and let you come home. Jerusalem now lies in ruins, but you will rebuild it, complete with a new palace.


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Other nations will respect and honor you. Your homes will be filled with children, and you will celebrate, singing praises to me.


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It will be just like old times. Your nation will worship me, and I will punish anyone who abuses you.


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One of your own people will become your ruler. And when I invite him to come near me at the place of worship, he will do so. No one would dare to come near without being invited.


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I won't calm down until I have finished what I have decided to do. Someday, you will understand what I mean.


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The LORD said: Israel, I promise that someday all your tribes will again be my people, and I will be your God.


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In the desert I was kind to those who escaped death. I gave them peace, and when the time is right, I'll do the same for you. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Some time ago, the LORD appeared to me and told me to say: Israel, I will always love you; that's why I've been so patient and kind.


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You are precious to me, and so I will rebuild your nation. Once again you will dance for joy and play your tambourines.


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Someday those who guard the hill country of Ephraim will shout, "Let's go to Zion and worship the LORD our God."


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The LORD says: Celebrate and sing for Israel, the greatest of nations. Offer praises and shout, "Come and rescue your people, LORD! Save what's left of Israel."


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I, the LORD, will bring my people back from Babylonia and everywhere else on earth. The blind and the lame will be there. Expectant mothers and women about to give birth will come and be part of that great crowd.


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They will weep and pray as I bring them home. I will lead them to streams of water. They will walk on a level road and not stumble. I am a father to Israel, my favorite children.


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Listen to me, you nations nearby or across the sea. I scattered the people of Israel, but I will gather them again. I will protect them like a shepherd guarding a flock;


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My people will come to Mount Zion and celebrate; their faces will glow because of my blessings. I'll give them grain, grapes, and olive oil, as well as sheep and cattle. Israel will be prosperous and grow like a garden with plenty of water.


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Young women and young men, together with the elderly, will celebrate and dance, because I will comfort them and turn their sorrow into happiness.


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I will bless my people with more food than they need, and the priests will enjoy the choice cuts of meat. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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In Ramah a voice is heard, crying and weeping loudly. Rachel mourns for her children and refuses to be comforted, because they are dead. *


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But I, the LORD, say to dry your tears. Someday your children will come home from the enemy's land. Then all you have done for them will be greatly rewarded.


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The people of Israel moan and say to me, "We were like wild bulls, but you, LORD, broke us, and we learned to obey. You are our God-- please let us come home.


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When we were young, we strayed and sinned, but then we realized what we had done. We are ashamed and disgraced and want to return to you."


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People of Israel, you are my own dear children. Don't I love you best of all? Though I often make threats, I want you to be near me, so I will have mercy on you. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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With rock piles and signposts, mark the way home, my dear people. It is the same road by which you left.


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Will you ever decide to be faithful? I will make sure that someday things will be different, as different as a woman protecting a man.


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The LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, said: I promise to set the people of Judah free and to lead them back to their hometowns. And when I do, they will once again say, "We pray that the LORD will bless his home, the sacred hill in Jerusalem where his temple stands."


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The people will live in Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah. Some will be farmers, and others will be shepherds.


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In the past, I took care to uproot them, to tear them down, and to destroy them. But when that day comes, I will take care to plant them and help them grow.


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No longer will anyone go around saying, "Sour grapes eaten by parents leave a sour taste in the mouths of their children."


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When that day comes, only those who eat sour grapes will get the sour taste, and only those who sin will be put to death.


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The LORD said: The time will surely come when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah.


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It will be different from the agreement I made with their ancestors when I led them out of Egypt. Although I was their God, they broke that agreement.


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Here is the new agreement that I, the LORD, will make with the people of Israel: "I will write my laws on their hearts and minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people.


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"No longer will they have to teach one another to obey me. I, the LORD, promise that all of them will obey me, ordinary people and rulers alike. I will forgive their sins and forget the evil things they have done."


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I am the LORD All-Powerful. I command the sun to give light each day, the moon and stars to shine at night, and ocean waves to roar.


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I will never forget to give those commands, and I will never let Israel stop being a nation. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Can you measure the heavens? Can you explore the depths of the earth? That's how hard it would be for me to reject Israel forever, even though they have sinned. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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The LORD said: Someday, Jerusalem will truly belong to me. It will be rebuilt with a boundary line running from Hananel Tower to Corner Gate.


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Even that disgusting Hinnom Valley will be sacred to me, and so will the eastern slopes that go down from Horse Gate into Kidron Valley. Jerusalem will never again be destroyed.


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The LORD spoke to me in the tenth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia.


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At that time, the Babylonian army had surrounded Jerusalem, and I was in the prison at the courtyard of the palace guards.


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Zedekiah had ordered me to be held there because I told everyone that the LORD had said: I am the LORD, and I am about to let the king of Babylonia conquer Jerusalem.


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King Zedekiah will be captured and taken to King Nebuchadnezzar, who will speak with him face to face.


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Then Zedekiah will be led away to Babylonia, where he will stay until I am finished with him. So, if you people of Judah fight against the Babylonians, you will lose. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Jeremiah, your cousin Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will visit you. He must sell his field near the town of Anathoth, and because you are his nearest relative, you have the right and the responsibility to buy it and keep it in the family.


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Hanamel came, just as the LORD had promised. And he said, "Please buy my field near Anathoth in the territory of the Benjamin tribe. You have the right to buy it, and if you do, it will stay in our family." The LORD had told me to buy it


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from Hanamel, and so I did. The price was seventeen pieces of silver, and I weighed out the full amount on a scale.


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I had two copies of the bill of sale written out, each containing all the details of our agreement. Some witnesses and I signed the official copy, which was folded and tied, before being sealed shut with hot wax. Then I gave Hanamel the silver.


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And while he, the witnesses, and all the other Jews sitting in the courtyard were still watching, I gave both copies to Baruch son of Neriah.


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I told Baruch that the LORD had said: Take both copies of this bill of sale, one sealed shut and the other open, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time.


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I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, and I promise you that people will once again buy and sell houses, farms, and vineyards in this country.


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You show kindness for a thousand generations, but you also punish people for the sins of their parents. You are the LORD All-Powerful.


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With great wisdom you make plans, and with your great power you do all the mighty things you planned. Nothing we do is hidden from your eyes, and you reward or punish us as we deserve.


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You are famous because you worked miracles in Egypt, and you are still working them in Israel and in the rest of the world as well.


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You terrified the Egyptians with your miracles, and you reached out your mighty arm and rescued your people Israel from Egypt.


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But when our ancestors took over the land, they did not obey you. And now you have punished Israel with disaster.


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Jerusalem is under attack, and we suffer from hunger and disease. The Babylonians have already built dirt ramps up to the city walls, and you can see that Jerusalem will be captured just as you said.


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So why did you tell me to get some witnesses and buy a field with my silver, when Jerusalem is about to be captured by the Babylonians?


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The Babylonian army is already attacking, and they will capture the city and set it on fire. The people of Jerusalem have made me angry by going up to the flat roofs of their houses and burning incense to Baal and offering wine sacrifices to other gods. Now these houses will be burned to the ground!


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The kings and the officials, the priests and the prophets, and everyone else in Israel and Judah have turned from me and made me angry by worshiping idols. Again and again I have tried to teach my people to obey me, but they refuse to be corrected. I am going to get rid of Jerusalem, because its people have done nothing but evil.


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And they led Judah into sin by building places to worship Baal in Hinnom Valley, where they also sacrificed their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I have never even thought of telling them to commit such disgusting sins.


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Jeremiah, what you said is true. The people of Jerusalem are suffering from hunger and disease, and so the king of Babylonia will be able to capture Jerusalem.


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I am angry at the people of Jerusalem, and I will scatter them in foreign countries. But someday I will bring them back here and let them live in safety.


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I will make their thoughts and desires pure. Then they will realize that, for their own good and the good of their children, they must worship only me. They will even be afraid to turn away from me. I will make an agreement with them that will never end, and I won't ever stop doing good things for them. With all my heart I promise that they will be planted in this land once again.


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Even though I have brought disaster on the people, I will someday do all these good things for them.


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Jeremiah, when you bought the field, you showed that fields will someday be bought and sold again. You say that this land has been conquered by the Babylonians and has become a desert, emptied of people and animals.


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But someday, people will again spend their silver to buy fields everywhere--in the territory of Benjamin, the region around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and in the hill country, the foothills to the west, and the Southern Desert. Buyers and sellers and witnesses will sign and seal the bills of sale for the fields. It will happen, because I will give this land back to my people. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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I was still being held prisoner in the courtyard of the palace guards when the LORD told me: I am the LORD, and I created the whole world.


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Many of the houses in Jerusalem and some of the buildings at the royal palace have been torn down to be used in repairing the walls to keep out the Babylonian attackers. Now there are empty spaces where the buildings once stood. But I am furious, and these spaces will be filled with the bodies of the people I kill. The people of Jerusalem will cry out to me for help, but they are evil, and I will ignore their prayers.


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I will give this land to Israel and Judah once again, and I will make them as strong as they were before.


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When that happens, all nations on earth will see the good things I have done for Jerusalem, and how I have given it complete peace. The nations will celebrate and praise and honor me, but they will also tremble with fear.


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Jeremiah, you say that this land is a desert without people or animals, and for now, you are right. The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem are deserted, and people and animals are nowhere to be seen. But someday you will hear


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happy voices and the sounds of parties and wedding celebrations. And when people come to my temple to offer sacrifices to thank me, you will hear them say: "We praise you, LORD All-Powerful! You are good to us, and your love never fails." The land will once again be productive.


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Now it is empty, without people or animals. But when that time comes, shepherds will take care of their flocks in pastures near every town in the hill country, in the foothills to the west, in the Southern Desert, in the land of the Benjamin tribe, and around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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The LORD said: I made a wonderful promise to Israel and Judah, and the days are coming when I will keep it.


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I promise that the time will come when I will appoint a king from the family of David, a king who will be honest and rule with justice.


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In those days, Judah will be safe; Jerusalem will have peace and will be named, "The LORD Gives Justice."


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and there will always be priests from the Levi tribe serving at my altar and offering sacrifices to please me and to give thanks.


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I, the LORD, have an agreement with day and night, so they always come at the right time. You can't break the agreement I made with them,


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and you can't break the agreements I have made with David's family and with the priests from the Levi tribe who serve at my altar. A descendant of David will always rule as king of Israel,


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and there will be more descendants of David and of the priests from the Levi tribe than stars in the sky or grains of sand on the beach.


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You've heard foreigners insult my people by saying, "The LORD chose Israel and Judah, but now he has rejected them, and they are no longer a nation."


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Jeremiah, I will never break my agreement with the day and the night or let the sky and the earth stop obeying my commands.


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In the same way, I will never reject the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or break my promise that they will always have a descendant of David as their king. I will be kind to my people Israel, and they will be successful again.


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King Nebuchadnezzar had a large army made up of people from every kingdom in his empire. He and his army were attacking Jerusalem and all the nearby towns, when the LORD told me


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to say to King Zedekiah: I am the LORD, and I am going to let Nebuchadnezzar capture this city and burn it down.


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You will be taken prisoner and brought to Nebuchadnezzar, and he will speak with you face to face. Then you will be led away to Babylonia.


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You will die a peaceful death. People will mourn when you die, and they will light bonfires in your honor, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you.


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Meanwhile, the king of Babylonia was trying to break through the walls of Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem, the only three towns of Judah that had not been captured.


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King Zedekiah, his officials, and everyone else in Jerusalem made an agreement to free all Hebrew men and women who were slaves. No Jew would keep another as a slave. And so, all the Jewish slaves were given their freedom.


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I am the LORD God of Israel, and I made an agreement with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, where they had been slaves.


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As part of this agreement, you must let a Hebrew slave go free after six years of service. Your ancestors did not obey me,


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but you decided to obey me and do the right thing by setting your Hebrew slaves completely free. You even went to my temple, and in my name you made an agreement to set them free. But you have abused my name, because you broke your agreement and forced your former slaves back into slavery.


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You have disobeyed me by not giving your slaves their freedom. So I will give you freedom--the freedom to die in battle or from disease or hunger. I will make you disgusting to all other nations on earth.


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You asked me to be a witness when you made the agreement to set your slaves free. And as part of the ceremony you cut a calf into two parts, then walked between the parts. But you people of Jerusalem have broken that agreement as well as my agreement with Israel. So I will do to you what you did to that calf.


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I will let your enemies take all of you prisoner, including the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the royal officials, the priests, and everyone else who walked between the two parts of the calf. These enemies will kill you and leave your bodies lying on the ground as food for birds and wild animals.


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These enemies are King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army. They have stopped attacking Jerusalem, but they want to kill King Zedekiah and his high officials. So I will command them to return and attack again. This time they will conquer the city and burn it down, and they will capture Zedekiah and his officials. I will also let them destroy the towns of Judah, so that no one can live there any longer.


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"Go to the Rechabite clan and invite them to meet you in one of the side rooms of the temple. When they arrive, offer them a drink of wine."


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I brought them into the temple courtyard and took them upstairs to a room belonging to the prophets who were followers of Hanan son of Igdaliah. It was next to a room belonging to some of the officials, and that room was over the one belonging to Maaseiah, a priest who was one of the high officials in the temple.


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I set out some large bowls full of wine together with some cups, and then I said to the Rechabites, "Have some wine!"


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But they answered: No! The ancestor of our clan, Jonadab son of Rechab, made a rule that we must obey. He said, "Don't ever drink wine


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or build houses or plant crops and vineyards. Instead, you must always live in tents and move from place to place. If you obey this command, you will live a long time."


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Our clan has always obeyed Jonadab's command. To this very day, we and our wives and sons and daughters don't drink wine or build houses or plant vineyards or crops. And we have lived in tents,


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except now we have to live inside Jerusalem because Nebuchadnezzar has taken over the countryside with his army from Babylonia and Syria.


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Then the LORD told me to say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: I, the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, want you to learn a lesson


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from the Rechabite clan. Their ancestor Jonadab told his descendants never to drink wine, and to this very day they have obeyed him. But I have spoken to you over and over, and you haven't obeyed me!


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You refused to listen to my prophets, who kept telling you, "Stop doing evil and worshiping other gods! Start obeying the LORD, and he will let you live in this land he gave your ancestors."


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your God. I am the LORD All-Powerful, and I warned you about the terrible things that would happen to you if you did not listen to me. You have ignored me, so now disaster will strike you. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Then the LORD told me to say to the Rechabite clan: I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel. You have obeyed your ancestor Jonadab,


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During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the LORD said to me, "Jeremiah,


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since the time Josiah was king, I have been speaking to you about Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Now, get a scroll and write down everything I have told you,


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then read it to the people of Judah. Maybe they will stop sinning when they hear what terrible things I plan for them. And if they turn to me, I will forgive them."


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I sent for Baruch son of Neriah and asked him to help me. I repeated everything the LORD had told me, and Baruch wrote it all down on a scroll.


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so you must go instead. Wait for the next holy day when the people of Judah come to the temple to pray and to go without eating. Then take this scroll to the temple and read it aloud.


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The LORD is furious, and if the people hear how he is going to punish them, maybe they will ask to be forgiven.


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In the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim was king, the leaders set a day when everyone who lived in Jerusalem or who was visiting here had to pray and go without eating. So Baruch took the scroll to the upper courtyard of the temple. He went over to the side of the courtyard and stood in a covered area near New Gate, where he read the scroll aloud. This covered area belonged to Gemariah, one of the king's highest officials.


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When Baruch finished reading, Micaiah went down to the palace. His father Gemariah was in the officials' room, meeting with the rest of the king's officials, including Elishama, Delaiah, Elnathan, and Zedekiah.


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Then the officials sent Jehudi and Shelemiah to tell Baruch, "Bring us that scroll." When Baruch arrived with the scroll,


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After they heard what was written on the scroll, they were worried and said to each other, "The king needs to hear this!" Turning to Baruch, they asked,


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The officials put the scroll in Elishama's room and went to see the king, who was in one of the rooms where he lived and worked during the winter. It was the ninth month of the year, so there was a fire burning in the fireplace, and the king was sitting nearby. After the officials told the king about the scroll, he sent Jehudi to get it. Then Jehudi started reading the scroll to the king and his officials.


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But every time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king would tell him to cut them off with his penknife and throw them in the fire. Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, but he ignored them, and soon there was nothing left of it. The king and his servants listened to what was written on the scroll, but they were not afraid, and they did not tear their clothes in sorrow.


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The king told his son Jerahmeel to take Seraiah and Shelemiah and to go arrest Baruch and me. But the LORD kept them from finding us.


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I had told Baruch what to write on that first scroll, but King Jehoiakim had burned it. So the LORD told me


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Then he told me to say to King Jehoiakim: Not only did you burn Jeremiah's scroll, you had the nerve to ask why he had written that the king of Babylonia would attack and ruin the land, killing all the people and even the animals.


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So I, the LORD, promise that you will be killed and your body thrown out on the ground. The sun will beat down on it during the day, and the frost will settle on it at night. And none of your descendants will ever be king of Judah.


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You, your children, and your servants are evil, and I will punish all of you. I warned you and the people of Judah and Jerusalem that I would bring disaster, but none of you have listened. So now you are doomed!


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After the LORD finished speaking to me, I got another scroll and gave it to Baruch. Then I told him what to write, so this second scroll would contain even more than was on the scroll Jehoiakim had burned.


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King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had removed Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim from being the king of Judah and had made Josiah's son Zedekiah king instead.


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Later, the Babylonian army attacked Jerusalem, but they left after learning that the Egyptian army was headed in this direction. One day, Zedekiah sent Jehucal and the priest Zephaniah to talk with me. At that time, I was free to go wherever I wanted, because I had not yet been put in prison. Jehucal and Zephaniah said, "Jeremiah, please pray to the LORD our God for us."


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Then the LORD told me to send them back to Zedekiah with this message: Zedekiah, you wanted Jeremiah to ask me, the L(ORD )God of Israel, what is going to happen. So I will tell you. The king of Egypt and his army came to your rescue, but soon they will go back to Egypt.


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Then the Babylonians will return and attack Jerusalem, and this time they will capture the city and set it on fire.


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Even if you could defeat their entire army, their wounded survivors would still be able to leave their tents and set Jerusalem on fire.


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So I decided to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of the Benjamin tribe to claim my share of my family's land.


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I was leaving Jerusalem through Benjamin Gate, when I was stopped by Irijah, the officer in charge of the soldiers at the gate. He said, "Jeremiah, you're under arrest for trying to join the Babylonians."


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"I'm not trying to join them!" I answered. But Irijah wouldn't listen, and he took me to the king's officials.


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They were angry and ordered the soldiers to beat me. Then I was taken to the house that belonged to Jonathan, one of the king's officials. It had been turned into a prison, and I was kept in a basement room. After I had spent a long time there,


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King Zedekiah secretly had me brought to his palace, where he asked, "Is there any message for us from the LORD?" "Yes, there is, Your Majesty," I replied. "The LORD is going to let the king of Babylonia capture you."


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Then I continued, "Your Majesty, why have you put me in prison? Have I committed a crime against you or your officials or the nation?


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Have you locked up the prophets who lied to you and said that the king of Babylonia would never attack Jerusalem?


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King Zedekiah had me taken to the prison cells in the courtyard of the palace guards. He told the soldiers to give me a loaf of bread from one of the bakeries every day until the city ran out of grain.


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that the LORD had said, "If you stay here in Jerusalem, you will die in battle or from disease or hunger, and the Babylonian army will capture the city anyway. But if you surrender to the Babylonians, they will let you live."


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So the four of them went to the king and said, "You should put Jeremiah to death, because he is making the soldiers and everyone else lose hope. He isn't trying to help our people; he's trying to harm them."


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Then they took me back to the courtyard of the palace guards and let me down with ropes into the well that belonged to Malchiah, the king's son. There was no water in the well, and I sank down in the mud.


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Ebedmelech from Ethiopia was an official at the palace, and he heard what they had done to me. So he went to speak with King Zedekiah, who was holding court at Benjamin Gate.


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Ebedmelech said, "Your Majesty, Jeremiah is a prophet, and those men were wrong to throw him into a well. And when Jerusalem runs out of food, Jeremiah will starve to death down there."


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Ebedmelech and the soldiers went to the palace and got some rags from the room under the treasury. He used ropes to lower them into the well.


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King Zedekiah had me brought to his private entrance to the temple, and he said, "I'm going to ask you something, and I want to know the truth."


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He said, "I swear in the name of the living LORD our Creator that I won't have you killed. No one else can hear what we say, and I won't let anyone kill you."


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Then I told him that the LORD had said: "Zedekiah, I am the LORD God All-Powerful, the God of Israel. I promise that if you surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar's officers, you and your family won't be killed, and Jerusalem won't be burned down.


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But if you don't surrender, I will let the Babylonian army capture Jerusalem and burn it down, and you will be taken prisoner."


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Zedekiah answered, "I can't surrender to the Babylonians. I'm too afraid of the Jews that have already joined them. The Babylonians might hand me over to those Jews, and they would torture me."


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I said, "If you will just obey the LORD, the Babylonians won't hand you over to those Jews. You will be allowed to live, and all will go well for you.


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then the women of your palace will be taken prisoner by Nebuchadnezzar's officials. And those women will say to you: Friends you trusted led you astray. Now you're trapped in mud, and those friends you trusted have all turned away.


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The Babylonian army will take your wives and children captive, you will be taken as a prisoner to the King of Babylonia, and Jerusalem will be burned down."


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And I'm sure that if my officials hear about our meeting, they will ask you what we said to each other. They might even threaten to kill you if you don't tell them.


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So if they question you, tell them you were begging me not to send you back to the prison at Jonathan's house, because going back there would kill you."


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The officials did come and question me about my meeting with the king, and I told them exactly what he had ordered me to say. They never spoke to me about the meeting again, since no one had heard us talking.


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In the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army began their attack on Jerusalem. They kept the city surrounded for a year and a half. Then, on the ninth day of the fourth month of the eleventh year that Zedekiah was king, they broke through the city walls. After Jerusalem was captured, Nebuchadnezzar's highest officials, including Nebo Sarsechim and Nergal Sharezer from Simmagir, took their places at Middle Gate to show they were in control of the city.


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When King Zedekiah and his troops saw that Jerusalem had been captured, they tried to escape from the city that same night. They went to the king's garden, where they slipped through the gate between the two city walls and headed toward the Jordan River valley.


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But the Babylonian troops caught up with them near Jericho. They arrested Zedekiah and took him to the town of Riblah in the land of Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar put him on trial, then found him guilty


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and gave orders for him to be punished. Zedekiah's sons were killed there in front of him, and so were the leaders of Judah's ruling families.


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Meanwhile, the Babylonian army had burned the houses in Jerusalem, including the royal palace, and they had broken down the city walls.


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Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian officer in charge of the guards, led away everyone from the city as prisoners, even those who had deserted to Nebuchadnezzar.


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Only the poorest people who owned no land were left behind in Judah, and Nebuzaradan gave them fields and vineyards.


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sent some of their troops to bring me from the courtyard of the royal palace guards. They put me in the care of Gedaliah son of Ahikam and told him to take me to my home. And so I was allowed to stay with the people who remained in Judah.


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to Ebedmelech from Ethiopia: I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel. I warned everyone that I would bring disaster, not prosperity, to this city. Now very soon I will do what I said, and you will see it happen.


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But because you trusted me, I will protect you from the officials of Judah, and when Judah is struck by disaster, I will rescue you and keep you alive. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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I was led away in chains along with the people of Judah and Jerusalem who were being taken to Babylonia. Nebuzaradan was the officer in charge of the guard, and while we were stopped at Ramah, the LORD had him set me free.


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Nebuzaradan said: Jeremiah, the LORD your God warned your people that he would bring disaster on this land.


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Today I am taking the chains off your wrists and setting you free! If you want to, you can come with me to Babylonia, and I will see that you are taken care of. Or if you decide to stay here, you can go wherever you wish.


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King Nebuchadnezzar has chosen Gedaliah to rule Judah. You can live near Gedaliah, and he will provide for you, or you can live anywhere else you want. Nebuzaradan gave me a supply of food, then let me leave.


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Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, together with Johanan and Jonathan, the two sons of Kareah, had been officers in Judah's army. And so had Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah from Maacah. They and their troops had been stationed outside Jerusalem and had not been captured. They heard that Gedaliah had been chosen to rule Judah, and that the poorest men, women, and children had not been taken away to Babylonia. So they went to Mizpah and met with their new ruler.


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Gedaliah told them, "There's no need to be afraid of the Babylonians. Everything will be fine, if we live peacefully and obey King Nebuchadnezzar.


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I will stay here at Mizpah and meet with the Babylonian officials on each of their visits. But you must go back to your towns and bring in the harvest, then store the wine, olive oil, and dried fruit."


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Earlier, when the Babylonians had invaded Judah, many of the Jews escaped to Moab, Ammon, Edom, and several other countries. But these Jews heard that the king of Babylonia had appointed Gedaliah as ruler of Judah, and that only a few people were left there. So the Jews in these other countries came back to Judah and helped with the grape and fruit harvest, which was especially large that year.


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One day, Johanan got together with some of the other men who had been army officers, and they came to Mizpah and met with Gedaliah.


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They said, "Gedaliah, we came to warn you that King Baalis of Ammon hired Ishmael to murder you!" Gedaliah refused to believe them,


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so Johanan went to Gedaliah privately and said, "Let me kill Ishmael. No one will find out who did it. There are only a few people left in Judah, but they are depending on you. And if you are murdered, they will be scattered or killed."


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But in the seventh month, Ishmael came to Mizpah with ten of his soldiers. He had been one of the king's officials and was a member of the royal family. Ishmael and his men were invited to eat with Gedaliah.


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During the meal, Ishmael and his soldiers killed Gedaliah, the man chosen as ruler of Judah by the king of Babylonia.


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Then they killed the Jews who were with Gedaliah, and they also killed the Babylonian soldiers who were there.


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when eighty men came down the road toward Mizpah from the towns of Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They were on their way to the temple to offer gifts of grain and incense to the LORD. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves, because they were mourning.


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Ishmael went out the town gate to meet them. He pretended to be weeping, and he asked them to come into Mizpah to meet with Gedaliah, the ruler of Judah.


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But after they were inside the town, Ishmael had his soldiers kill them and throw their bodies into a well.


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He let ten of the men live, because they offered to give him supplies of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey they had hidden in a field.


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The well that he filled with bodies had been dug by King Asa of Judah to store rainwater, because he was afraid that King Baasha of Israel might surround Mizpah and keep the people from getting to their water supply.


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Nebuzaradan, King Nebuchadnezzar's officer in charge of the guard, had left King Zedekiah's daughters and many other people at Mizpah, and he had put Gedaliah in charge of them. But now Ishmael took them all prisoner and led them toward Ammon, on the other side of the Jordan River.


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Johanan and the officers had rescued the women, children, and royal officials that Ishmael had taken prisoner after killing Gedaliah. Johanan led the people from Gibeon


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toward Egypt. They wanted to go there, because they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do when they found out that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, the ruler appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar. On the way to Egypt, we stopped at the town of Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem.


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and said, "Please pray to the LORD your God for us. Judah used to have many people, but as you can see, only a few of us are left.


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"All right," I answered, "I will pray to the LORD your God, and I will tell you everything he says."


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and told them that the LORD God of Israel had said: You asked Jeremiah to pray and find out what you should do.


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I am sorry that I had to punish you, and so I now tell you to stay here in Judah, where I will plant you and build you up, instead of tearing you down and uprooting you.


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People of Judah, you survived when the Babylonian army attacked. Now you are planning to move to Egypt, and if you do go, this is what will happen.


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You are afraid of war, starvation, and disease here in Judah, but they will follow you to Egypt and kill you there. None of you will survive the disasters I will send.


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I, the LORD, was angry with the people of Jerusalem and punished them. And if you go to Egypt, I will be angry and punish you the same way. You will never again see your homeland. People will be horrified at what I do to you, and they will use the name of your city as a curse word.


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I told the people: You escaped the disaster that struck Judah, but now the LORD warns you to stay away from Egypt.


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You asked me to pray and find out what the LORD our God wants you to do, and you promised to obey him. But that was a terrible mistake,


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But Azariah, Johanan and some other arrogant men said to me, "You're lying! The LORD didn't tell you to say that we shouldn't go to Egypt.


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Baruch son of Neriah must have told you to say that. He wants the Babylonians to capture us, so they can take us away to Babylonia or even kill us."


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Johanan, the other army officers, and everyone else refused to stay in Judah in spite of the LORD's command.


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So Johanan and the officers led us away toward Egypt. The group that left Judah included those who had been scattered in other countries and who had then come back to live in Judah.


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Baruch and I and others in the group had been staying with Gedaliah, because Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian officer in charge of the guard, had ordered him to take care of the king's daughters and quite a few men, women, and children.


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Jeremiah, carry some large stones to the entrance of the government building in Tahpanhes. Bury the stones underneath the brick pavement and be sure the Jews are watching.


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Then tell them that I, the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, have sent for my servant, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I will bring him here and have him set up his throne and his royal tent over these stones that I told you to bury.


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He will attack Egypt and kill many of its people; others will die of disease or be dragged away as prisoners.


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I will have him set Egypt's temples on fire, and he will either burn or carry off their idols. He will destroy the sacred monuments at the temple of the sun-god. Then Nebuchadnezzar will pick the land clean, just like a shepherd picking the lice off his clothes. And he will return safely home.


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The LORD told me to speak with the Jews who were living in the towns of Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis in northern Egypt, and also to those living in southern Egypt. He told me to tell them:


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I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel. You saw how I destroyed Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. They lie empty and in ruins today,


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because the people of Judah made me angry by worshiping gods that had never helped them or their ancestors.


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Time after time I sent my servants the prophets to tell the people of Judah how much I hated their disgusting sins. The prophets warned them to stop sinning,


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Finally, my anger struck like a raging flood, and today Jerusalem and the towns of Judah are nothing but empty ruins.


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Why do you now insist on heading for another disaster? A disaster that will destroy not only you, but also your children and babies.


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You have made me angry by worshiping idols and burning incense to other gods after you came here to Egypt. You will die such a disgusting death, that other nations will use the name of Judah as a curse word.


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When you were living in Jerusalem and Judah, you followed the example of your ancestors in doing evil things, just like your kings and queens.


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Even now, your pride keeps you from respecting me and obeying the laws and teachings I gave you and your ancestors.


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There were only a few of you left in Judah, and you decided to go to Egypt. But you will die such horrible deaths in war or from starvation, that people of other countries will use the name of Judah as a curse word.


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None of you will survive. You may hope to return to Judah someday, but only a very few of you will escape death and be able to go back.


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A large number of Jews from both northern and southern Egypt listened to me as I told them what the LORD had said. Most of the men in the crowd knew that their wives often burned incense to other gods. So they and their wives shouted:


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We have promised to worship the goddess Astarte, the Queen of Heaven, and that is exactly what we are going to do. We will burn incense and offer sacrifices of wine to her, just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did when we lived in Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah. We had plenty of food back then. We were well off, and nothing bad ever happened to us.


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But since the time we stopped burning incense and offering wine sacrifices to her, we have been dying from war and hunger.


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Then the women said, "When we lived in Judah, we worshiped the Queen of Heaven and offered sacrifices of wine and special loaves of bread shaped like her. Our husbands knew what we were doing, and they approved of it."


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Don't you think the LORD knew that you and your ancestors, your leaders and kings, and the rest of the people were burning incense to other gods in Jerusalem and everywhere else in Judah?


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And when he could no longer put up with your disgusting sins, he placed a curse on your land and turned it into a desert, as it is today.


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This disaster happened because you worshiped other gods and rebelled against the LORD by refusing to obey him or follow his laws and teachings.


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Then I told the men and their wives, that the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said: Here in Egypt you still keep your promises to burn incense and offer sacrifices of wine to the so-called Queen of Heaven.


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Keep these promises! But let me tell you what will happen. As surely as I am the LORD God, I swear that I will never again accept any promises you make in my name.


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Instead of watching over you, I will watch for chances to harm you. Some of you will die in war, and others will starve to death.


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Only a few will escape and return to Judah. Then everyone who went to live in Egypt will know that when I say something will happen, it will--no matter what you say.


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I will hand over King Hophra of Egypt to those who want to kill him, just as I handed Zedekiah over to Nebuchadnezzar, who wanted to kill him.


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You are moaning and blaming me, the LORD, for your troubles and sorrow, and for being so tired that you can't even rest.


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I am bringing disaster everywhere, so don't even think about making any big plans for yourself. However, I promise that wherever you go, I will at least protect you from death. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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In the fourth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia defeated King Neco of Egypt in a battle at the city of Carchemish near the Euphrates River. And here is what the LORD told me to say about the Egyptian army:


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saddle your horses, and polish your spears. Put on your helmets and armor, then take your positions.


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I can see the battle now-- you are defeated and running away, never once looking back. Terror is all around.


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It is Egypt, rising with a roar like a raging river and saying, "I'll flood the earth, destroying cities, and killing everyone in them."


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Go ahead, Egypt. Tell your chariots and cavalry to attack and fight hard. Order your troops to march out, with Ethiopians and Libyans carrying shields, and the Lydians armed with bows and arrows.


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But the LORD All-Powerful will win this battle and take revenge on his enemies. His sword will eat them and drink their blood until it is full. They will be killed in the north near the Euphrates River, as a sacrifice to the LORD.


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All nations have heard you weep; you are disgraced, and they know it. Your troops fall to the ground, stumbling over each other.


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When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia was on his way to attack Egypt, the LORD sent me with a warning for every Egyptian town, but especially for Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. He said to tell them: Prepare to defend yourselves! Everywhere in your nation, people are dying in war.


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Your soldiers stumble over each other and say, "Get up! The enemy will kill us, unless we can escape to our own land."


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Egypt, I am the true king, the LORD All-Powerful, and as surely as I live, those enemies who attack will tower over you like Mount Tabor among the hills or Mount Carmel by the sea.


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You will be led away captive, so pack a few things to bring with you. Your capital, Memphis, will lie empty and in ruins.


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The foreign soldiers you hired will turn and run. But they are doomed, like well-fed calves being led to the butcher. *


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The enemy army will go forward like a swarm of locusts. Your troops will feel helpless, like a snake in a forest


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I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel. Soon I will punish the god Amon of Thebes and the other Egyptian gods, the Egyptian kings, the people of Egypt, and everyone who trusts in the Egyptian power.


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I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar and his army. But I also promise that Egypt will someday have people living here again, just as it had before. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Israel, don't be afraid. Someday I will bring you home from foreign lands. You and your descendants will live in peace and safety, with nothing to fear.


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So don't be afraid, even though now you deserve to be punished and have been scattered among other nations. But when I destroy them, I will protect you. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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I, the LORD, tell you that your land will be flooded with an army from the north. It will destroy your towns and sweep you away, moaning and screaming.


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When you hear the thunder of horses and chariots, your courage will vanish, and parents will abandon their own children.


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You refugees from Crete, your time has now come, and I will destroy you. None of you will be left to help the cities of Tyre and Sidon. *


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The Anakim who survive in Gaza and Ashkelon will mourn for you by shaving their heads and sitting in silence.


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You ask how long will I continue to attack you with my sword, then you tell me to put it away and leave you alone.


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The LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, told me to say to the nation of Moab: The town of Nebo is doomed; Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced, and even its fortress will be left in ruins.


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No one honors you, Moab. In Heshbon, enemies make plans to end your life. My sword will leave only silence in your town named "Quiet."


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You thought you could be saved by your power and wealth, but you will be captured along with your god Chemosh, his priests, and officials.


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Not one of your towns will escape destruction. I have told your enemies, "Wipe out the valley and the flatlands of Moab.


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Moab, you are like wine left to settle undisturbed, never poured from jar to jar. And so, your nation continues to prosper and improve.


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Then you will be ashamed, because your god Chemosh cannot save you, just as Bethel could not help the Israelites.


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But I am the LORD, the all-powerful King, and I promise that enemies will overpower your towns. Even your best warriors will die in the battle.


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I will order the nearby nations to mourn for you and say, "Isn't it sad? Moab ruled others, but now its glorious power has been shattered."


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People in the town of Dibon, you will be honored no more, so have a seat in the dust. Your walls will be torn down when the enemies attack.


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They will answer, "Moab has been defeated! Weep with us in shame. Tell everyone at the Arnon River that Moab is destroyed." *


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People of Moab, you claim to be stronger than I am. Now I will tell other nations to make you drunk and to laugh while you collapse in your own vomit.


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People of Sibmah, you were like a vineyard heavy with grapes, and with branches reaching north to the town of Jazer and west to the Dead Sea. But you have been destroyed, and so I will weep for you, as the people of Jazer weep for the vineyards.


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Harvest celebrations are gone from the orchards and farms of Moab. There are no happy shouts from people making wine.


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Weeping from Heshbon can be heard as far as Elealeh and Jahaz; cries from Zoar are heard in Horonaim and Eglath-Shelishiyah. And Nimrim Creek has run dry.


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I will get rid of anyone who burns incense to the gods of Moab or offers sacrifices at their shrines. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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In my heart I moan for Moab, like a funeral song played on a flute. I mourn for the people of the town of Kir-Heres, because their wealth is gone. *


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The people of Moab mourn on the rooftops and in the streets. Men cut off their beards, people shave their heads; they make cuts on their hands and wear sackcloth.


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Moab lies broken! Listen to its people cry as they turn away in shame. Other nations are horrified at what happened, but still they laugh.


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If you are terrified and run, you will fall into a pit; and if you crawl out of the pit, you'll get caught in a trap. The time has come for you to be punished.


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Near the city of Heshbon, where Sihon once ruled, tired refugees stand in shadows cast by the flames of their burning city. Soon, the towns on other hilltops, where those warlike people live, will also go up in smoke.


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People of Moab, you worshiped Chemosh, your god, but now you are done for, and your children are prisoners in a foreign country.


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The LORD has this to say about the nation of Ammon: The people of Israel have plenty of children to inherit their lands. So why have you worshipers of the god Milcom taken over towns and land belonging to the Gad tribe?


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Someday I will send an army to attack you in Rabbah, your capital city. It will be left in ruins, and the surrounding villages will lie in ashes. You took some of Israel's land, but on that day Israel will take yours!


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Cry, people of Heshbon; your town will become a pile of rubble. You will turn here and there, but your path will be blocked. Put on sackcloth and mourn, you citizens of Rabbah, because the idol you worship will be taken to a foreign country, along with its priests and temple officials.


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You rebellious Ammonites trust your wealth and ask, "Who could attack us?" But I warn you not to boast when your strength is fading.


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I, the LORD All-Powerful, will send neighboring nations to strike you with terror. You will be scattered, with no one to care for your refugees.


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The LORD All-Powerful says about Edom: Wisdom and common sense have vanished from Teman. I will send disaster to punish you descendants of Esau, so anyone from Dedan had better turn around and run back home.


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People who harvest grapes leave some for the poor. Thieves who break in at night take only what they want.


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But I will take everything that belongs to you, people of Edom, and I will uncover every place where you try to hide. Then you will die, and so will your children, relatives, and neighbors.


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Even those nations that don't deserve to be punished will have to drink from the cup of my anger. So how can you possibly hope to escape?


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I, the LORD, swear in my own name that your city of Bozrah and all your towns will suffer a horrible fate. They will lie in ruins forever, and people will use the name "Bozrah" as a curse word.


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Pride tricks you into thinking that other nations look at you with fear. You live along the cliffs and high in the mountains like the eagles, but I am the LORD, and I will bring you down.


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I will attack you like a lion from the forest, attacking sheep in a meadow along the Jordan. In a moment the flock runs, and the land is empty. Who will I choose to attack you? I will do it myself! No one can force me to fight or chase me away.


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Listen to my plans for you, people of Edom. Your children will be dragged off and your country destroyed.


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An enemy will swoop down to attack you, like an eagle spreading its wings and circling over Bozrah. Your warriors will be gripped by fear.


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The LORD says about Damascus: The towns of Hamath and Arpad have heard your bad news. They have lost hope, and worries roll over them like ocean waves.


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You people of Damascus have lost your courage, and in panic you turn to run, gripped by fear and pain.


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Here is what the LORD says about the Kedar tribe and the desert villages that were conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia: Listen, you people of Kedar and the other tribes of the eastern desert. I have told Nebuchadnezzar to attack and destroy you.


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You have no city walls and no neighbors to help, yet you think you're safe-- so I told him to attack.


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Then your camels and large herds will be yours no longer. People of the Arabian Desert, disaster will strike you from every side, and you will be scattered everywhere on earth.


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Not long after Zedekiah became king of Judah, the LORD told me to say: People of Elam, I, the LORD All-Powerful, will kill the archers who make your army strong.


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Raise the signal flags; shout so all nations can hear-- Babylon will be captured! Marduk, Babylon's god, will be ashamed and terrified, and his idols broken.


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The attack on the Babylonians will come from the north; they and their animals will run, leaving the land empty.


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The LORD said: People of Israel and Judah, when these things happen you will weep, and together you will return to your land and worship me, the LORD your God.


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You will ask the way to Zion and then come and join with me in making an agreement you won't break or forget.


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My people, you are lost sheep abandoned by their shepherds in the mountains. You don't even remember your resting place.


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I am your true pastureland, the one who gave hope to your ancestors. But you abandoned me, so when your enemies found you, they felt no guilt as they gobbled you down.


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In the north I am bringing great nations together. They will attack Babylon and capture it. The arrows they shoot are like the best soldiers, always finding their target.


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People of Babylonia, you were glad to rob my people. You had a good time, making more noise than horses and jumping around like calves threshing grain.


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The city of Babylon was like a mother to you. But it will be disgraced and become nothing but a barren desert.


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My anger will destroy Babylon, and no one will live there. Everyone who passes by will be shocked to see what has happened.


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Attack from every side! Babylon surrenders! The enemy tears down its walls and towers. I am taking my revenge by doing to Babylon what it did to other cities.


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There is no one in Babylonia to plant or harvest crops. Even foreigners who lived there have left for their homelands, afraid of the enemy armies.


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Israel is a flock of sheep scattered by hungry lions. The king of Assyria first gobbled Israel down. Then Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, crunched on Israel's bones.


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I, the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, punished the king of Assyria, and I will also punish the king of Babylonia.


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But I will bring Israel back to its own land. The people will be like sheep eating their fill on Mount Carmel and in Bashan, in the hill country of Ephraim and in Gilead.


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I will rescue a few people from Israel and Judah. I will forgive them so completely that their sin and guilt will disappear, never to be found.


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The LORD said: I have told the enemies of Babylonia, "Attack the people of Merathaim and Pekod. Kill them all! Destroy their possessions!"


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Babylonia was a hammer pounding every country, but now it lies broken. What a shock to the nations of the world!


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Babylonia challenged me, the LORD God All-Powerful, but that nation doesn't know it is caught in a trap that I set.


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Come from far away, you enemies of Babylon! Pile up the grain from its storehouses, and destroy it completely, along with everything else.


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The Babylonian army destroyed my temple, but soon I will take revenge. Then refugees from Babylon will tell about it in Zion.


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Attack Babylon, enemy archers; set up camp around the city, and don't let anyone escape. It challenged me, the holy God, so do to it what it did to other cities.


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Babylon, you should be named, "The Proud One." But the time has come when I, the LORD All-Powerful, will punish you.


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You are proud, but you will stumble and fall, and no one will help you up. I will set your villages on fire, and everything around you will go up in flames.


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You Babylonians were cruel to Israel and Judah. You took them captive, and now you refuse to let them go.


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But I, the LORD All-Powerful, will rescue and protect them. I will bring peace to their land and trouble to yours.


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Then your chariot horses and the foreigners in your army will refuse to go into battle, and the enemy will carry away everything you treasure.


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Your rivers and canals will dry up. All of this will happen, because your land is full of idols, and they have made fools of you.


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I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns, and I will destroy Babylon just as completely. No one will live there again.


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Bows and arrows and swords are in their hands. The soldiers are cruel and show no pity. The hoofbeats of their horses echo like ocean waves crashing against the shore. The army has lined up for battle and is coming to attack you, people of Babylonia!


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Ever since your king heard about this army, he has been weak with fear; he twists and turns in pain like a woman giving birth.


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Babylonia, I will attack you like a lion from the forest, attacking sheep in a meadow along the Jordan. In a moment the flock runs, and the land is empty. Who will I choose to attack you? I will do it myself! No one can force me to fight or chase me away.


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Listen to my plans for you, people of Babylonia. Your children will be dragged off, and your country destroyed.


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Foreign soldiers will come from every direction, and when the disaster is over, Babylonia will be empty and worthless.


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I will tell these soldiers, "Attack quickly, before the Babylonians can string their bows or put on their armor. Kill their best soldiers and destroy their army!"


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Everyone in Israel and Judah is guilty. But I, the LORD All-Powerful, their holy God, have not abandoned them.


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Get out of Babylon! Run for your lives! If you stay, you will be killed when I take revenge on the city and punish it for its sins.


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Babylon was my golden cup, filled with the wine of my anger. The nations of the world got drunk on this wine and went insane.


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But suddenly, Babylon will fall and be destroyed. I, the LORD, told the foreigners who lived there, "Weep for the city! Get medicine for its wounds; maybe they will heal."


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The foreigners answered, "We have already tried to treat Babylon's wounds, but they would not heal. Come on, let's all go home to our own countries. Nothing is left in Babylonia; everything is destroyed."


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The people of Israel said, "Tell everyone in Zion! The LORD has taken revenge for what Babylon did to us."


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I, the LORD, want Babylon destroyed, because its army destroyed my temple. So, you kings of Media, sharpen your arrows and pick up your shields.


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Raise the signal flag and attack the city walls. Post more guards. Have soldiers watch the city and set up ambushes. I have made plans to destroy Babylon, and nothing will stop me.


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People of Babylon, you live along the Euphrates River and are surrounded by canals. You are rich, but now the time has come for you to die.


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I, the LORD All-Powerful, swear by my own life that enemy soldiers will fill your streets like a swarm of locusts. They will shout and celebrate their victory.


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The waters in the heavens roar at his command. He makes clouds appear; he sends the wind from his storehouse and makes lightning flash in the rain.


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People who make idols are stupid! They will be disappointed, because their false gods cannot breathe.


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But the LORD, Israel's God, is all-powerful. He created everything, and he chose Israel to be his very own.


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You destroyed the nations and seem strong as a mountain, but I am your enemy. I might even grab you and roll you off a cliff. When I am finished, you'll only be a pile of scorched bricks.


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Your stone blocks won't be reused for cornerstones or foundations, and I promise that forever you will be a desert. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Signal the nations to get ready to attack. Raise a flag and blow a trumpet. Send for the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Choose a commander; let the cavalry attack like a swarm of locusts.


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Tell the kings and governors, the leaders and the people of the kingdoms of the Medes to prepare for war!


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The earth twists and turns in torment, because I have decided to make Babylonia a desert where no one can live, and I won't change my mind.


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The Babylonian soldiers have lost their strength and courage. They stay in their fortresses, unable to fight, while the enemy breaks through the city gates, then sets their homes on fire.


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I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, and I make this promise-- "Soon Babylon will be leveled and packed down like a threshing place at harvest time."


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The people of Jerusalem say, "King Nebuchadnezzar made us panic. That monster stuffed himself with us and our treasures, leaving us empty-- he gobbled down what he wanted and spit out the rest.


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My people, I am on your side, and I will take revenge on Babylon. I will cut off its water supply, and its stream will dry up.


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Babylon will be a pile of rubble where only jackals live. People will laugh, but they will be afraid to walk among the ruins.


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And since they are hungry, I will give them a banquet. They will celebrate, get drunk, then fall asleep, never to wake up!


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Horrible destruction will strike the nearby towns. The land will become a barren desert, where no one can live or even travel.


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I will punish Marduk, the god of Babylon, and make him vomit up everything he gobbled down. Then nations will no longer bring him gifts, and Babylon's walls will crumble.


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Don't be afraid or lose hope, though year after year there are rumors of leaders fighting for control in the city of Babylon.


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The time will come when I will punish Babylon's false gods. Everyone there will die, and the whole nation will be disgraced,


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when an army attacks from the north and brings destruction. Then the earth and the heavens and everything in them will celebrate.


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My people, you escaped death when Jerusalem fell. Now you live far from home, but you should trust me and think about Jerusalem. Leave Babylon! Don't stay!


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Although Babylon's walls reach to the sky, the army I send will destroy that city. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Listen to the cries for help coming from Babylon. Everywhere in the country the sounds of destruction can be heard.


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The shouts of the enemy, like crashing ocean waves, will drown out Babylon's cries as I level the city.


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An enemy will attack and destroy Babylon. Its soldiers will be captured and their weapons broken, because I am a God who takes revenge against nations for what they do.


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I, the LORD All-Powerful, the true King, promise that the officials and advisors, the governors and leaders and the soldiers of Babylon will get drunk, fall asleep, and never wake up.


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The thick walls of that city will be torn down, and its huge gates burned. Everything that nation worked so hard to gain will go up in smoke.


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During Zedekiah's fourth year as king of Judah, he went to Babylon. And Baruch's brother Seraiah went along as the officer in charge of arranging for places to stay overnight.


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then pray, "Our LORD, you promised to destroy this place and make it into a desert where no people or animals will ever live."


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"This is how Babylon will sink when the LORD destroys it. Everyone in the city will die, and it won't have the strength to rise again." Jeremiah's writing ends here.


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Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he was appointed king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah from the town of Libnah.


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and it was Zedekiah who finally rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. The people of Judah and Jerusalem had made the LORD so angry that he finally turned his back on them. That's why horrible things were happening.


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the Babylonian troops broke through the city wall. That same night, Zedekiah and his soldiers tried to escape through the gate near the royal garden, even though they knew the enemy had the city surrounded. They headed toward the Jordan River valley,


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but the Babylonian troops caught up with them near Jericho. The Babylonians arrested Zedekiah, but his soldiers scattered in every direction.


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Zedekiah was taken to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar put him on trial and found him guilty.


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then his eyes were poked out. He was put in chains, then dragged off to Babylon and kept in prison until he died.


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Jerusalem was captured during Nebuchadnezzar's nineteenth year as king of Babylonia. About a month later, Nebuchadnezzar's officer in charge of the guards arrived in Jerusalem. His name was Nebuzaradan,


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and he burned down the LORD's temple, the king's palace, and every important building in the city, as well as all the houses.


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He led away the people left in the city, including everyone who had become loyal to Nebuchadnezzar, the rest of the skilled workers, and even some of the poor people of Judah.


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Nebuzaradan ordered his soldiers to go to the temple and take everything made of gold or silver, including bowls, fire pans, sprinkling bowls, pans, lampstands, dishes for incense, and the cups for wine offerings. The Babylonian soldiers took all the bronze things used for worship at the temple, including the pans for hot ashes, and the shovels, lamp snuffers, sprinkling bowls, and dishes for incense. The soldiers also took everything else made of bronze, including the two columns that stood in front of the temple, the large bowl called the Sea, the twelve bulls that held it up, and the movable stands. The soldiers broke these things into pieces so they could take them to Babylonia. There was so much bronze that it could not be weighed.


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For example, the columns were about twenty-seven feet high and eighteen feet around. They were hollow, but the bronze was about three inches thick.


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Each column had a bronze cap over seven feet high that was decorated with bronze designs. Some of these designs were like chains and others were like pomegranates.


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There were ninety-six pomegranates evenly spaced around each column, and a total of one hundred pomegranates were located above the chains.


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Then he arrested one of the army commanders, seven of King Zedekiah's personal advisors, and the officer in charge of gathering the troops for battle. He also found sixty more soldiers who were still in Jerusalem.


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Nebuzaradan led them to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar had them killed. The people of Judah no longer lived in their own country.


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Here is a list of the number of the people of Judah that Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylonia as prisoners: In his seventh year as king, he took 3,023 people. In his eighteenth year as king, he took 832 from Jerusalem. In his twenty-third year as king, his officer Nebuzaradan took 745 people. So, Nebuchadnezzar took a total of 4,600 people from Judah to Babylonia.


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Jehoiachin was a prisoner in Babylon for thirty-seven years. Then Evil Merodach became king of Babylonia, and in the first year of his rule, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he let Jehoiachin out of prison.


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Evil Merodach was kind to Jehoiachin and honored him more than any of the other kings held prisoner there.


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Jehoiachin was allowed to wear regular clothes instead of a prison uniform, and he even ate at the king's table every day.


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Jerusalem, once so crowded, lies deserted and lonely. This city that was known all over the world is now like a widow. This queen of the nations has been made a slave.


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Each night, bitter tears flood her cheeks. None of her former lovers are there to offer comfort; her friends have betrayed her and are now her enemies.


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The people of Judah are slaves, suffering in a foreign land, with no rest from sorrow. Their enemies captured them and were terribly cruel.


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The roads to Zion mourn because no one travels there to celebrate the festivals. The city gates are deserted; priests are weeping. Young women are raped; Zion is in sorrow!


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Enemies now rule the city and live as they please. The LORD has punished Jerusalem because of her awful sins; he has let her people be dragged away.


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Zion's glory has disappeared. Her leaders are like deer that cannot find pasture; they are hunted down till their strength is gone.


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Her people recall the good life that once was theirs; now they suffer and are scattered. No one was there to protect them from their enemies who sneered when their city was taken.


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Jerusalem's horrible sins have made the city a joke. Those who once admired her now hate her instead-- she has been disgraced; she groans and turns away.


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Her sins had made her filthy, but she wasn't worried about what could happen. And when Jerusalem fell, it was so tragic. No one gave her comfort when she cried out, "Help! I'm in trouble, LORD! The enemy has won."


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Zion's treasures were stolen. Jerusalem saw foreigners enter her place of worship, though the LORD had forbidden them to belong to his people.


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Everyone in the city groans while searching for food; they trade their valuables for barely enough scraps to stay alive. Jerusalem shouts to the LORD, "Please look and see how miserable I am!"


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No passerby even cares. Why doesn't someone notice my terrible sufferings? You were fiercely angry, LORD, and you punished me worst of all.


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From heaven you sent a fire that burned in my bones; you set a trap for my feet and made me turn back. All day long you leave me in shock from constant pain.


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You have tied my sins around my neck, and they weigh so heavily that my strength is gone. You have put me in the power of enemies too strong for me.


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You, LORD, have turned back my warriors and crushed my young heroes. Judah was a woman untouched, but you let her be trampled like grapes in a wine pit.


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Because of this, I mourn, and tears flood my eyes. No one is here to comfort or to encourage me; we have lost the war-- my people are suffering.


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Zion reaches out her hands, but no one offers comfort. The LORD has turned the neighboring nations against Jacob's descendants. Jerusalem is merely a filthy rag to her neighbors.


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The LORD was right, but I refused to obey him. Now I ask all of you to look at my sufferings-- even my young people have been dragged away.


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I called out to my lovers, but they betrayed me. My priests and my leaders died while searching the city for scraps of food.


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Won't you look and see how upset I am, our LORD? My stomach is in knots, and my heart is broken because I betrayed you. In the streets and at home, my people are slaughtered.


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Everyone heard my groaning, but no one offered comfort. My enemies know of the trouble that you have brought on me, and it makes them glad. Hurry and punish them, as you have promised.


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Don't let their evil deeds escape your sight. Punish them as much as you have punished me because of my sins. I never stop groaning-- I've lost all hope!


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The Lord was angry! So he disgraced Zion though it was Israel's pride and his own place of rest. In his anger he threw Zion down from heaven to earth.


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The LORD had no mercy! He destroyed the homes of Jacob's descendants. In his anger he tore down every walled city in Judah; he toppled the nation together with its leaders, leaving them in shame.


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The Lord was so furiously angry that he wiped out the whole army of Israel by not supporting them when the enemy attacked. He was like a raging fire that swallowed up the descendants of Jacob.


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He attacked like an enemy with a bow and arrows, killing our loved ones. He has burned to the ground the homes on Mount Zion.


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The Lord was like an enemy! He left Israel in ruins with its palaces and fortresses destroyed, and with everyone in Judah moaning and weeping.


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He shattered his temple like a hut in a garden; he completely wiped out his meeting place, and did away with festivals and Sabbaths in the city of Zion. In his fierce anger he rejected our king and priests.


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The Lord abandoned his altar and his temple; he let Zion's enemies capture her fortresses. Noisy shouts were heard from the temple, as if it were a time of celebration.


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The LORD had decided to tear down the walls of Zion stone by stone. So he started destroying and did not stop until walls and fortresses mourned and trembled.


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Zion's gates have fallen facedown on the ground; the bars that locked the gates are smashed to pieces. Her king and royal family are prisoners in foreign lands. Her priests don't teach, and her prophets don't have a message from the LORD.


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Zion's leaders are silent. They just sit on the ground, tossing dirt on their heads and wearing sackcloth. Her young women can do nothing but stare at the ground.


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My eyes are red from crying, my stomach is in knots, and I feel sick all over. My people are being wiped out, and children lie helpless in the streets of the city.


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A child begs its mother for food and drink, then blacks out like a wounded soldier lying in the street. The child slowly dies in its mother's arms.


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Zion, how can I comfort you? How great is your pain? Lovely city of Jerusalem, how can I heal your wounds, gaping as wide as the sea?


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Your prophets deceived you with false visions and lying messages-- they should have warned you to leave your sins and be saved from disaster.


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Those who pass by shake their heads and sneer as they make fun and shout, "What a lovely city you were, the happiest on earth, but look at you now!"


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Zion, your enemies curse you and snarl like wild animals, while shouting, "This is the day we've waited for! At last, we've got you!"


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The LORD has done everything that he had planned and threatened long ago. He destroyed you without mercy and let your enemies boast about their powerful forces.


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Zion, deep in your heart you cried out to the Lord. Now let your tears overflow your walls day and night. Don't ever lose hope or let your tears stop.


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Get up and pray for help all through the night. Pour out your feelings to the Lord, as you would pour water out of a jug. Beg him to save your people, who are starving to death at every street crossing.


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Think about it, LORD! Have you ever been this cruel to anyone before? Is it right for mothers to eat their children, or for priests and prophets to be killed in your temple?


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My people, both young and old, lie dead in the streets. Because you were angry, my young men and women were brutally slaughtered.


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When you were angry, LORD, you invited my enemies like guests for a party. No one survived that day; enemies killed my children, my own little ones.


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The purest gold is ruined and has lost its shine; jewels from the temple lie scattered in the streets.


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These are Zion's people, worth more than purest gold; yet they are counted worthless like dishes of clay.


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Babies are so thirsty that their tongues are stuck to the roof of the mouth. Children go begging for food, but no one gives them any.


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All who ate expensive foods lie starving in the streets; those who grew up in luxury now sit on trash heaps.


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My nation was punished worse than the people of Sodom, whose city was destroyed in a flash without the help of human hands.


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The leaders of Jerusalem were purer than snow and whiter than milk; their bodies were healthy and glowed like jewels.


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Now they are blacker than tar, and no one recognizes them; their skin clings to their bones and is drier than firewood.


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Not a king on this earth or the people of any nation believed enemies could break through her gates.


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Jerusalem was punished because her prophets and her priests had sinned and caused the death of innocent victims.


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Yes, her prophets and priests were covered with blood; no one would come near them, as they wandered from street to street.


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Instead, everyone shouted, "Go away! Don't touch us! You're filthy and unfit to belong to God's people!" So they had to leave and become refugees. But foreign nations told them, "You can't stay here!"


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The LORD is the one who sent them scattering, and he has forgotten them. No respect or kindness will be shown to the priests or leaders.


text:
They swooped down faster than eagles from the sky. They hunted for us in the hills and set traps to catch us out in the desert.


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The LORD's chosen leader was our hope for survival! We thought he would keep us safe somewhere among the nations, but even he was caught in one of their traps.


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The people of Zion have paid for their sins, and the Lord will soon let them return home. But, people of Edom, you will be punished, and your sins exposed.


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I am Ezekiel--a priest and the son of Buzi. Five years after King Jehoiachin of Judah had been led away as a prisoner to Babylonia, I was living near the Chebar River among those who had been taken there with him. Then on the fifth day of the fourth month of the thirtieth year, the heavens suddenly opened. The LORD placed his hand upon me and showed me some visions.


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I saw a windstorm blowing in from the north. Lightning flashed from a huge cloud and lit up the whole sky with a dazzling brightness. The fiery center of the cloud was as shiny as polished metal,


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The four creatures were standing back to back with the tips of their wings touching. They moved together in every direction, without turning their bodies.


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Each creature had the face of a human in front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of a bull on the left, and the face of an eagle in back.


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Two wings of each creature were spread out and touched the wings of the creatures on either side. The other two wings of each creature were folded against its body.


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Wherever the four living creatures went, they moved together without turning their bodies, because each creature faced straight ahead.


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The creatures were glowing like hot coals, and I saw something like a flaming torch moving back and forth among them. Lightning flashed from the torch every time its flame blazed up.


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shining like chrysolite. Each wheel was exactly the same and had a second wheel that cut through the middle of it,


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The creatures controlled when and where the wheels moved--the wheels went wherever the four creatures went and stopped whenever they stopped. Even when the creatures flew in the air, the wheels were beside them.


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Above the living creatures, I saw something that was sparkling like ice, and it reminded me of a dome. Each creature had two of its wings stretched out toward the creatures on either side, with the other two wings folded against its body.


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Whenever the creatures flew, their wings roared like an ocean or a large army or even the voice of God All-Powerful. And whenever the creatures stopped, they folded their wings against their bodies.


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I then saw what looked like a throne made of sapphire, and sitting on the throne was a figure in the shape of a human.


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From the waist up, it was glowing like metal in a hot furnace, and from the waist down it looked like the flames of a fire. The figure was surrounded by a bright light,


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as colorful as a rainbow that appears after a storm. I realized I was seeing the brightness of the LORD's glory! So I bowed with my face to the ground, and just then I heard a voice speaking to me.


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Ezekiel, I am sending you to the people of Israel. They are just like their ancestors who rebelled against me and refused to stop.


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Don't be afraid of them or of anything they say. You may think you're in the middle of a thorn patch or a bunch of scorpions. But be brave


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Ezekiel, don't rebel against me, as they have done. Instead, listen to everything I tell you. And now, Ezekiel, open your mouth and eat what I am going to give you.


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The hand opened the scroll, and both sides of it were filled with words of sadness, mourning, and grief.


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He handed me the scroll and said, "Eat this and fill up on it." So I ate the scroll, and it tasted sweet as honey.


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They are Israelites, not some strangers who speak a foreign language you can't understand. If I were to send you to foreign nations, they would listen to you.


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But the people of Israel will refuse to listen, because they have refused to listen to me. All of them are stubborn and hardheaded,


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You will be so determined to speak my message that nothing will stop you. I will make you hard like a diamond, and you'll have no reason to be afraid of those arrogant rebels.


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Then go to the people who were brought here to Babylonia with you and tell them you have a message from me, the LORD God. Do this, whether they listen to you or not.


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The Spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the LORD started to leave, I heard a loud, thundering noise behind me.


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It was the sound made by the creatures' wings as they brushed against each other, and by the rumble of the wheels beside them.


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Then the Spirit carried me away. The LORD's power had taken complete control of me, and I was both annoyed and angry.


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When I was back with the others living at Abib Hill near the Chebar River, I sat among them for seven days, shocked at what had happened to me.


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Ezekiel, son of man, I have appointed you to stand watch for the people of Israel. So listen to what I say, then warn them for me.


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When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways so they won't be punished. If you refuse, you are responsible for their death.


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However, if you do warn them, and they keep on sinning, they will die because of their sins, and you will be innocent.


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Now suppose faithful people start sinning, and I decide to put stumbling blocks in their paths to make them fall. They deserve to die because of their sins. So if you refuse to warn them, I will forget about the times they were faithful, and I will hold you responsible for their death.


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But if you do warn them, and they listen to you and stop sinning, I will let them live. And you will be innocent.


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The LORD took control of me and said, "Stand up! Go into the valley, and I will talk with you there."


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I immediately went to the valley, where I saw the brightness of the LORD's glory, just as I had seen near the Chebar River, and I bowed with my face to the ground.


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His Spirit took control of me and lifted me to my feet. Then the LORD said: Go back and lock yourself in your house!


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But the time will come, when I will tell you what to say, and you will again be able to speak my message. Some of them will listen; others will be stubborn and refuse to listen.


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Then prepare to attack the brick as if it were a real city. Build a dirt mound and a ramp up to the top and surround the brick with enemy camps. On every side put large wooden poles as though you were going to break down the gate to the city.


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Set up an iron pan like a wall between you and the brick. All this will be a warning for the people of Israel.


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After that, lie down on your left side and stay there for three hundred ninety days as a sign of Israel's punishment --one day for each year of its suffering.


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Then turn over and lie on your right side forty more days. That will be a sign of Judah's punishment--one day for each year of its suffering.


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Get a large bowl. Then mix together wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and millet, and make some bread. This is what you will eat for the three hundred ninety days you are lying down.


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Use dried human waste to start a fire, then bake the bread on the coals where everyone can watch you.


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When I scatter the people of Israel among the nations, they will also have to eat food that is unclean, just as you must do.


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I said, "LORD God, please don't make me do that! Never in my life have I eaten food that would make me unacceptable to you. I've never eaten anything that died a natural death or was killed by a wild animal or that you said was unclean."


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The LORD replied, "Instead of human waste, I will let you bake your bread on a fire made from cow manure.


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Ezekiel, the people of Jerusalem will starve. They will have so little food and water that they will be afraid and hopeless.


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Everyone will be shocked at what is happening, and, because of their sins, they will die a slow death."


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Ezekiel, son of man, get a sharp sword and use it to cut off your hair and beard. Weigh the hair and divide it into three equal piles.


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After you attack the brick that stands for Jerusalem, burn one pile of your hair on the brick. Chop up the second pile and let the small pieces of hair fall around the brick. Throw the third pile into the wind, and I will strike it with my own sword.


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Then pull out a few of those hairs and throw them in the fire, so they will also burn. This fire will spread, destroying everyone in Israel.


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I am the LORD God, and I have made Jerusalem the most important place in the world, and all other nations admire it.


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But the people of Jerusalem rebelled and refuse to obey me. They ignored my laws and have become even more sinful than the nations around them.


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So tell the people of Jerusalem: I am the LORD God! You have refused to obey my laws and teachings, and instead you have obeyed the laws of the surrounding nations. You have become more rebellious than any of them!


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for your sins. Your punishment will be more horrible than anything I've ever done or will ever do again.


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Parents will be so desperate for food that they will eat their own children, and children will eat their parents. Those who survive this horror will be scattered in every direction.


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Your disgusting sins have made my temple unfit as a place to worship me. So I swear by my own life that I will turn my back on you and show you no pity.


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A third of you will die here in Jerusalem from disease or starvation. Another third will be killed in war. And I will scatter the last third of you in every direction, then track you down and kill you.


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You will feel my fierce anger until I have finished taking revenge. Then you will know that I, the LORD, was furious because of your disobedience.


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will insult you and make fun of you, but they will also be shocked and terrified at what I did in my anger.


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Starvation and wild animals will kill your children. I'll punish you with horrible diseases, and your enemies will strike you down with their swords. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Listen, you mountains and hills, and every valley and gorge! I, the LORD, am about to turn against you and crush all the places where foreign gods are worshiped.


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Every altar will be smashed, and in front of the idols I will put to death the people who worship them.


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Every town in Israel will be destroyed to make sure that each shrine, idol, and altar is smashed--everything the Israelites made will be a pile of ruins.


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All over the country, your people will die. And those who survive will know that I, the LORD, did these things.


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I will let some of the people live through this punishment, but I will scatter them among the nations,


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where they will be prisoners. And when they think of me, they will realize that they disgraced me by rebelling and by worshiping idols. They will hate themselves for the evil things they did,


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The LORD God then said: Ezekiel, beat your fists together and stomp your feet in despair! Moan in sorrow, because the people of Israel have done disgusting things and now will be killed by enemy troops, or they will die from starvation and disease.


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Those who live far away will be struck with deadly diseases. Those who live nearby will be killed in war. And the ones who are left will starve to death. I will let loose my anger on them!


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These people used to offer incense to idols at altars built on hills and mountaintops and in the shade of large oak trees. But when they see dead bodies lying around those altars, they will know that I am the LORD.


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I will make their country a barren wasteland, from the Southern Desert to the town of Diblah in the north. Then they will know that I, the LORD, have done these things.


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Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Israel that I am saying: Israel will soon come to an end! Your whole country is about to be destroyed


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that I will show no pity. I will punish you for the evil you've done, and you will know that I am the LORD.


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You people of Israel are doomed! Soon there will be panic on the mountaintops instead of celebration.


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I will let loose my anger and punish you for the evil things you've done. You'll get what you deserve.


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Your sins are so terrible, that you'll get no mercy from me. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have punished you.


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and violent criminals run free. None of you will survive the disaster, and everything you own and value will be shattered.


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and people who sell property will never get it back, because all of you must be punished for your sins. And I won't change my mind!


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A signal has been blown on the trumpet, and weapons are prepared for battle. But no one goes to war, because in my anger I will strike down everyone in Israel.


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War, disease, and starvation are everywhere! People who live in the countryside will be killed in battle, and those who live in towns will die from starvation or deadly diseases.


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Anyone who survives will escape into the hills, like doves who leave the valleys to find safety. All of you will moan because of your sins.


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You will put on sackcloth to show your sorrow, but terror will overpower you. Shame will be written all over your faces, and you will shave your heads in despair.


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Your silver and gold will be thrown into the streets like garbage, because those are the two things that led you into sin, and now they cannot save you from my anger. They are not even worth enough to buy food.


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You took great pride in using your beautiful jewelry to make disgusting idols of foreign gods. So I will make your jewelry worthless.


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They will break into my temple and leave it unfit as a place to worship me, but I will look away and let it happen.


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so I will tell the most wicked nations to come and take over your homes. They will put an end to the pride you have in your strong army, and they will make your places of worship unfit to use.


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One tragedy will follow another, and you'll hear only bad news. People will beg prophets to give them a message from me. Priests will stop teaching my Law, and wise leaders won't be able to give advice.


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Even your king and his officials will lose hope and cry in despair. Your hands will tremble with fear. I will punish you for your sins and treat you the same way you have treated others. Then you will know that I am the LORD.


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Six years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the leaders of Judah were meeting with me in my house. On the fifth day of the sixth month, the LORD God suddenly took control of me,


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and I saw something in the shape of a human. This figure was like fire from the waist down, and it was bright as polished metal from the waist up.


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It reached out what seemed to be a hand and grabbed my hair. Then in my vision the LORD's Spirit lifted me into the sky and carried me to Jerusalem. The Spirit took me to the north gate of the temple's inner courtyard, where there was an idol that disgusted the LORD and made him furious.


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Then I saw the brightness of the glory of the God of Israel, just as I had seen it near the Chebar River.


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God said to me, "Ezekiel, son of man, look north." And when I did, I saw that disgusting idol by the altar near the gate.


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God then said, "Do you see the terrible sins of the people of Israel? Their sins are making my holy temple unfit as a place to worship me. Yet you will see even worse things than this."


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Inside, I saw that the walls were covered with pictures of reptiles and disgusting, unclean animals, as well as with idols that the Israelites were worshiping.


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Seventy Israelite leaders were standing there, including Jaazaniah son of Shaphan. Each of these leaders was holding an incense burner, and the smell of incense filled the room.


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God said, "Ezekiel, do you see what horrible things Israel's leaders are doing in secret? They have filled their rooms with idols. And they say I can't see them, because they think I have already deserted Israel.


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God asked me, "Can you believe what these women are doing? But now I want to show you something worse."


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I was then led into the temple's inner courtyard, where I saw about twenty-five men standing near the entrance, between the porch and the altar. Their backs were to the LORD's temple, and they were bowing down to the rising sun.


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God said, "Ezekiel, it's bad enough that the people of Judah are doing these disgusting things. But they have also spread violence and injustice everywhere in Israel and have made me very angry. They have disgraced and insulted me in the worst possible way.


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So in my fierce anger, I will punish them without mercy and refuse to help them when they cry out to me."


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After that, I heard the LORD shout, "Come to Jerusalem, you men chosen to destroy the city. And bring your weapons!"


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I saw six men come through the north gate of the temple, each one holding a deadly weapon. A seventh man dressed in a linen robe was with them, and he was carrying things to write with. The men went into the temple and stood by the bronze altar.


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The brightness of God's glory then left its place above the statues of the winged creatures inside the temple and moved to the entrance. The LORD said to the man in the linen robe,


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"Walk through the city of Jerusalem and mark the forehead of anyone who is truly upset and sad about the disgusting things that are being done here."


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He turned to the other six men and said, "Follow him and put to death everyone who doesn't have a mark on their forehead. Show no mercy or pity! Kill men and women, parents and children. Begin here at my temple and be sure not to harm those who are marked." The men immediately killed the leaders who were standing there.


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Then the LORD said, "Pollute the temple by piling the dead bodies in the courtyards. Now get busy!" They left and started killing the people of Jerusalem.


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I was then alone, so I bowed down and cried out to the LORD, "Why are you doing this? Are you so angry at the people of Jerusalem that everyone must die?"


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The LORD answered, "The people of Israel and Judah have done horrible things. Their country is filled with murderers, and Jerusalem itself is filled with violence. They think that I have deserted them, and that I can't see what they are doing.


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And so I will not have pity on them or forgive them. They will be punished for what they have done."


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The LORD said to the man in the linen robe, "Walk among the four wheels beside the creatures and pick up as many hot coals as you can carry. Then scatter them over the city of Jerusalem." I watched him as he followed the LORD's instructions.


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The winged creatures were standing south of the temple when the man walked among them. A cloud filled the inner courtyard,


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and the brightness of the LORD's glory moved from above the creatures and stopped at the entrance of the temple. The entire temple was filled with his glory, and the courtyard was dazzling bright.


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The sound of the creatures' wings was as loud as the voice of God All-Powerful and could even be heard in the outer courtyard.


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One of the four creatures reached its hand into the fire among them and gave him some of the hot coals. The man took the coals and left.


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I noticed again that each of the four winged creatures had what looked like human hands under their wings,


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so that they could move in any direction without turning. The wheels moved together whenever the creatures moved.


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I also noticed that the wheels and the creatures' bodies, including their backs, their hands, and their wings, were covered with eyes.


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Each of the winged creatures had four faces: the face of a bull, the face of a human, the face of a lion, and the face of an eagle.


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These were the same creatures I had seen near the Chebar River. They controlled when and where the wheels moved--the wheels went wherever the creatures went and stopped whenever they stopped. Even when the creatures flew in the air, the wheels stayed beside them.


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Then I watched the brightness of the LORD's glory move from the entrance of the temple and stop above the winged creatures.


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They spread their wings and flew into the air with the wheels at their side. They stopped at the east gate of the temple, and the LORD's glory was above them.


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I knew for sure that these were the same creatures I had seen beneath the LORD's glory near the Chebar River.


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They had four wings with hands beneath them, and they had the same four faces as those near the River. Each creature moved straight ahead without turning.


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The LORD's Spirit lifted me up and took me to the east gate of the temple, where I saw twenty-five men, including the two leaders, Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah.


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The LORD said, "Ezekiel, son of man, these men are making evil plans and giving dangerous advice to the people of Jerusalem.


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They say things like, 'Let's build more houses. This city is like a cooking pot over a fire, and we are the meat, but at least the pot keeps us from being burned in the fire.'


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The LORD's Spirit took control of me and told me to tell these leaders: I, the LORD God, know what you leaders are saying.


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This city is indeed a cooking pot, but the bodies of those you killed are the meat. And so I will force you to leave Jerusalem,


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You will be killed in your own country, but not before you realize that I, the LORD, have done these things.


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You leaders claim to be meat in a cooking pot, but you won't be protected by this city. No, you will die at the border of Israel.


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You will realize that while you were following the laws of nearby nations, you were disobeying my laws and teachings. And I am the LORD!


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Before I finished speaking, Pelatiah dropped dead. I bowed down and cried out, "Please, LORD God, don't kill everyone left in Israel."


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Ezekiel, son of man, the people living in Jerusalem claim that you and the other Israelites who were taken to Babylonia are too far away to worship me. They also claim that the land of Israel now belongs only to them.


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But here is what I want you to tell the Israelites in Babylonia: It's true that I, the LORD God, have forced you out of your own country and made you live among foreign nations. But for now, I will be with you wherever you are, so that you can worship me.


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And someday, I will gather you from the nations where you are scattered and let you live in Israel again.


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Then I will take away your stubbornness and make you eager to be completely faithful to me. You will want to obey me


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But those who worship idols will be punished and get what they deserve. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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After the LORD had finished speaking, the winged creatures spread their wings and flew into the air, and the wheels were beside them. The brightness of the LORD's glory above them


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Then in my vision, the LORD's Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to the other exiles in Babylonia. The vision faded away,


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Ezekiel, son of man, you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but refuse to see; they have ears, but refuse to listen.


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So before it gets dark, here is what I want you to do. Pack a few things as though you were going to be taken away as a prisoner. Then go outside where everyone can see you and walk around from place to place. Maybe as they watch, they will realize what rebels they are.


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After you have done this, return to your house. Later that evening leave your house as if you were going into exile.


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Dig through the wall of your house and crawl out, carrying the bag with you. Make sure everyone is watching.


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Lift the bag to your shoulders, and with your face covered, take it into the darkness, so that you cannot see the land you are leaving. All of this will be a warning for the people of Israel.


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I did everything the LORD had said. I packed a few things. Then as the sun was going down, and while everyone was watching, I dug a hole through one of the walls of my house. I pulled out my bag, then lifted it to my shoulders and left in the darkness.


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So he sent me back to tell them: The LORD God has a message for the leader of Jerusalem and everyone living there!


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The leader of Jerusalem will lift his own bag to his shoulders at sunset and leave through a hole that the others have dug in the wall of his house. He will cover his face, so he can't see the land he is leaving.


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The LORD will spread out a net and trap him as he leaves Jerusalem. He will then be led away to the city of Babylon, but will never see that place, even though he will die there.


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His own officials and troops will scatter in every direction, and the LORD will track them down and put them to death.


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The LORD will force the rest of the people in Jerusalem to live in foreign nations, where they will realize that he has done all these things.


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Some of them will survive the war, the starvation, and the deadly diseases. That way, they will be able to tell foreigners how disgusting their sins were, and that it was the LORD who punished them in this way.


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Tell the people of Israel that I, the LORD, say that someday everyone in Jerusalem will shake when they eat and tremble when they drink. Their country will be destroyed and left empty, because they have been cruel and violent.


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Every town will lie in ruins, and the land will be a barren desert. Then they will know that I am the LORD.


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Ezekiel, son of man, you've heard people in Israel use the saying, "Time passes, and prophets are proved wrong."


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Now tell the people that I, the LORD, am going to prove that saying wrong. No one will ever be able to use it again in Israel, because very soon everything I have said will come true!


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I will give them my message, and what I say will certainly happen. Warn those rebels that the time has come for them to be punished. I, the LORD, make this promise.


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Ezekiel, the people of Israel are also saying that your visions and messages are only about things in the future.


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Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the prophets of Israel who say they speak in my name, but who preach messages that come from their own imagination. Tell them it's time to hear my message.


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I, the LORD God, say those lying prophets are doomed! They don't see visions--they make up their own messages!


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Those prophets lie by claiming they speak for me, but I have not even chosen them to be my prophets. And they still think their words will come true.


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So I am going to punish those lying prophets for deceiving the people of Israel with false messages.


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I will turn against them and no longer let them belong to my people. They will not be allowed to call themselves Israelites or even to set foot in Israel. Then they will realize that I am the LORD God.


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Those prophets refuse to be honest. They tell my people there will be peace, even though there's no peace to be found. They are like workers who think they can fix a shaky wall by covering it with paint.


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That wall is the city of Jerusalem. And I, the LORD God, am so angry that I will send strong winds, rainstorms, and hailstones to destroy it.


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The lying prophets have tried to cover up the evil in Jerusalem, but I will tear down the city, all the way to its foundations. And when it collapses, those prophets will be killed, and everyone will know that I have done these things.


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The city of Jerusalem and its lying prophets will feel my fierce anger. Then I will announce that the city has fallen and that the lying prophets are dead,


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Ezekiel, son of man, now condemn the women of Israel who preach messages that come from their own imagination.


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Tell them they're doomed! They wear magic charms on their wrists and scarves on their heads, then trick others into believing they can predict the future. They won't get away with telling those lies.


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They charge my people a few handfuls of barley and a couple pieces of bread, and then give messages that are insulting to me. They use lies to sentence the innocent to death and to help the guilty go free. And my people believe them!


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I hate the magic charms they use to trick people into believing their lies. I will rip those charms from their wrists and set free the people they have trapped like birds.


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I will tear the scarves from their heads and rescue my people from their power once and for all. Then they will know that I am the LORD God.


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They do things I would never do. They lie to good people and encourage them to do wrong, and they convince the wicked to keep sinning and ruin their lives.


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I will no longer let these women give false messages and use magic, and I will free my people from their control. Then they will know that I, the LORD, have done these things.


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Ezekiel, son of man, these men have started worshiping idols, though they know it will cause them to sin even more. So I refuse to give them a message!


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Tell the people of Israel that if they sin by worshiping idols and then go to a prophet to find out what I say, I will give them the answer their sins deserve.


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When they hear my message, maybe they will see that they need to turn back to me and stop worshiping those idols.


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Now, Ezekiel, tell everyone in Israel: I am the LORD God. Stop worshiping your disgusting idols and come back to me.


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Suppose one of you Israelites or a foreigner living in Israel rejects me and starts worshiping idols. If you then go to a prophet to find out what I say, I will answer


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by turning against you. I will make you a warning to anyone who might think of doing the same thing, and you will no longer belong to my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD and that you have sinned against me.


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If a prophet gives a false message, I am the one who caused that prophet to lie. But I will still reject him and cut him off from my people,


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I will do this, so that you will come back to me and stop destroying yourselves with these disgusting sins. So turn back to me! Then I will be your God, and you will be my people. I, the LORD God, make this promise.


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Ezekiel, son of man, suppose an entire nation sins against me, and I punish it by destroying the crops and letting its people and livestock starve to death.


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Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living in that nation, their faithfulness would not save anyone but themselves.


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Or suppose I punish a nation by sending wild animals to eat people and scare away every passerby, so that the land becomes a barren desert.


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As surely as I live, I promise that even if these three men lived in that nation, their own children would not be spared. The three men would live, but the land would be an empty desert.


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If these three men were in that nation when I punished it, not even their children would be spared. Only the three men would live.


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And suppose I am so angry that I send a deadly disease to wipe out the people and livestock of a sinful nation.


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Again, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, I, the LORD, promise that the children of these faithful men would also die. Only the three of them would be spared.


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I am the LORD God, and I promise to punish Jerusalem severely. I will send war, starvation, wild animals, and deadly disease to slaughter its people and livestock.


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And those who survive will be taken from their country and led here to Babylonia. Ezekiel, when you see how sinful they are, you will know why I did all these things to Jerusalem.


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Ezekiel, son of man, what happens to the wood of a grapevine after the grapes have been picked? It isn't like other trees in the forest,


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because the wood of a grapevine can't be used to make anything, not even a small peg to hang things on.


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It can only be used as firewood. But after its ends are burnt and its middle is charred, it can't be used for anything.


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I will punish the people of Jerusalem with fire. Some of them have escaped one destruction, but soon they will be completely burned. And when that happens, you, Ezekiel, will know that I am the LORD.


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I will make their country an empty wasteland, because they have not been loyal to me. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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and tell them that I, the LORD God, am saying: Jerusalem, you were born in the country where Canaanites lived. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.


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When you were born, no one cut you loose from your mother or washed your body. No one rubbed your skin with salt and olive oil, and wrapped you in warm blankets.


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Not one person loved you enough to do any of these things, and no one even felt sorry for you. You were despised, thrown into a field, and forgotten.


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I took care of you, like someone caring for a tender, young plant. You grew up to be a beautiful young woman with perfect breasts and long hair, but you were still naked.


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When I saw you again, you were old enough to have sex. So I covered your naked body with my own robe. Then I solemnly promised that you would belong to me and that I, the LORD God, would take care of you.


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I gave you the finest clothes and the most expensive robes, as well as sandals made from the best leather.


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Your jewelry was gold and silver, and your clothes were made of only the finest material and embroidered linen. Your bread was baked from fine flour, and you ate honey and olive oil. You were as beautiful as a queen,


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You learned that you were attractive enough to have any man you wanted, so you offered yourself to every passerby.


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You made shrines for yourself and decorated them with some of your clothes. That's where you took your visitors to have sex with them. These things should never have happened!


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You made idols out of the gold and silver jewelry I gave you, then you sinned by worshiping those idols.


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You dressed them in the clothes you got from me, and you offered them the olive oil and incense I gave you.


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I supplied you with fine flour, olive oil, and honey, but you sacrificed it all as offerings to please those idols. I, the LORD God, watched this happen.


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You were so busy sinning and being a prostitute that you refused to think about the days when you were young and were rolling around naked in your own blood.


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where you disgraced yourself by having sex with anyone who walked by. And you did that more and more every day!


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So I punished you by letting those greedy Philistine enemies take over some of your territory. But even they were offended by your disgusting behavior.


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You couldn't get enough sex, so you chased after Assyrians and slept with them. You still weren't satisfied,


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I, the LORD God, say that you were so disgusting that you would have done anything to get what you wanted.


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You had sex on every street corner, and when you finished, you refused to accept money. That's worse than being a prostitute!


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You are nothing but an unfaithful wife who would rather have sex with strangers than with your own husband.


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You chased after lovers, then took off your clothes and had sex. You even worshiped disgusting idols and sacrificed your own children as offerings to them.


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So I, the LORD God, will gather every one of your lovers, those you liked and those you hated. They will stand around you, and I will rip off your clothes and let all of those lovers stare at your nakedness.


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I will find you guilty of being an unfaithful wife and a murderer, and in my fierce anger I will sentence you to death!


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Then I will hand you over to your lovers, who will tear down the places where you had sex. They will take your clothes and jewelry, leaving you naked and empty-handed.


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and burn down your houses. Other women will watch these terrible things happen to you. I promise to stop you from being a prostitute and paying your lovers for sex.


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You made me furious by doing all these disgusting things and by forgetting how I took care of you when you were young. Then you made things worse by acting like a prostitute. You must be punished! I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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You are just like your mother, who hated her husband and her own children. You are also like your sisters, who hated their husbands and children. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.


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Your older sister was Samaria, that city to your north with her nearby villages. Your younger sister was Sodom, that city to your south with her nearby villages.


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You followed their way of life and their wicked customs, and soon you were more disgusting than they were.


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As surely as I am the living LORD God, the people of Sodom and its nearby villages were never as sinful as you.


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They were arrogant and spoiled; they had everything they needed and still refused to help the poor and needy.


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They thought they were better than everyone else, and they did things I hate. And so I destroyed them.


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You people of Jerusalem have sinned twice as much as the people of Samaria. In fact, your evil ways have made both Sodom and Samaria look innocent.


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So their punishment will seem light compared to yours. You will be disgraced and put to shame because of your disgusting sins.


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Then you will be ashamed of how you've acted, and Sodom and Samaria will be relieved that they weren't as sinful as you.


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When that day comes, you and Sodom and Samaria will once again be well-off, and all nearby villages will be restored.


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But now everyone has learned how wicked you really are. The countries of Syria and Philistia, as well as your other neighbors, hate you and make insulting remarks.


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But I remember the agreement I made with you when you were young, and so I will make you a promise that will last forever.


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When you think about how you acted, you will be ashamed, especially when I return your sisters to you as daughters, even though this was not part of our agreement.


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I will forgive you, but you will think about your sins and be too ashamed to say a word. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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so they will understand what I am saying to them: A large eagle with strong wings and beautiful feathers once flew to Lebanon. It broke the top branch off a cedar tree,


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The eagle also took seed from Israel and planted it in a fertile field with plenty of water, like a willow tree beside a stream.


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The seed sprouted and grew into a grapevine that spread over the ground. It had lots of leaves and strong, deep roots, and its branches grew upward toward the eagle.


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There was another eagle with strong wings and thick feathers. The roots and branches of the grapevine soon turned toward this eagle, hoping it would bring water for the soil.


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But the vine was already growing in fertile soil, where there was plenty of water to produce healthy leaves and large grapes.


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Now tell me, Ezekiel, do you think this grapevine will live? Or will the first eagle pull it up by its roots and pluck off the grapes and let its new leaves die? The eagle could easily kill it without the help of a large and powerful army.


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The grapevine is strong and healthy, but as soon as the scorching desert wind blows, it will quickly wither.


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Ezekiel, ask the rebellious people of Israel if they know what this story means. Tell them that the king of Babylonia came to Jerusalem, then he captured the king of Judah and his officials, and took them back to Babylon as prisoners.


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He chose someone from the family of Judah's king and signed a treaty with him, then made him swear to be loyal. He also led away other important citizens,


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so that the rest of the people of Judah would obey only him and never gain control of their own country again.


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But this new king of Judah later rebelled against Babylonia and sent officials to Egypt to get horses and troops. Will this king be successful in breaking the treaty with Babylonia? Or will he be punished for what he's done?


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As surely as I am the living LORD God, I swear that the king of Judah will die in Babylon, because he broke the treaty with the king of Babylonia, who appointed him king.


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Even the king of Egypt and his powerful army will be useless to Judah when the Babylonians attack and build dirt ramps to invade the cities of Judah and kill its people.


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The king of Judah broke his own promises and ignored the treaty with Babylonia. And so he will be punished!


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He made a promise in my name and swore to honor the treaty. And now that he has broken that promise, my name is disgraced. He must pay for what he's done.


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I will spread out a net to trap him. Then I will drag him to Babylon and see that he is punished for his unfaithfulness to me.


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His best troops will be killed in battle, and the survivors will be scattered in every direction. I, the LORD, have spoken. *


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Someday, I, the LORD, will cut a tender twig from the top of a cedar tree, then plant it on the peak of Israel's tallest mountain, where it will grow strong branches and produce large fruit.


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All kinds of birds will find shelter under the tree, and they will rest in the shade of its branches.


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Every tree in the forest will know that I, the LORD, can bring down tall trees and help short ones grow. I dry up green trees and make dry ones green. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will keep my word.


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Ezekiel, I hear the people of Israel using the old saying, "Sour grapes eaten by parents leave a sour taste in the mouths of their children."


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Now tell them that I am the LORD God, and as surely as I live, that saying will no longer be used in Israel.


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The lives of all people belong to me--parents as well as children. Only those who sin will be put to death.


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He refuses to eat meat sacrificed to foreign gods at local shrines or to worship Israel's idols. He doesn't have sex with someone else's wife or with a woman having her monthly period.


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He never cheats or robs anyone and always returns anything taken as security for a loan; he gives food and clothes to the poor


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and doesn't charge interest when lending money. He refuses to do anything evil; he is fair to everyone


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cheats the poor, and robs people. He keeps what is given to him as security for a loan. He worships idols, does disgusting things,


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and charges high interest when lending money. An evil man like that will certainly not live. He is the one who has done these horrible sins, so it's his own fault that he will be put to death.


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But suppose this evil man has a son who sees his father do these things and refuses to act like him.


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He doesn't eat meat at local shrines or worship Israel's idols, and he doesn't have sex with someone else's wife.


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He never cheats or robs anyone and doesn't even demand security for a loan. He gives food and clothes to the poor


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and refuses to do anything evil or to charge interest. And he obeys all my laws and teachings. Such a man will live. His own father sinned, but this good man will not be put to death for the sins of his father.


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You may wonder why a son isn't punished for the sins of his father. It is because the son does what is right and obeys my laws.


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Only those who sin will be put to death. Children won't suffer for the sins of their parents, and parents won't suffer for the sins of their children. Good people will be rewarded for what they do, and evil people will be punished for what they do.


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Suppose wicked people stop sinning and start obeying my laws and doing right. They won't be put to death.


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I, the LORD God, don't like to see wicked people die. I enjoy seeing them turn from their sins and live.


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But when good people start sinning and doing disgusting things, will they live? No! All their good deeds will be forgotten, and they will be put to death because of their sins.


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I will judge each of you for what you've done. So stop sinning, or else you will certainly be punished.


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Give up your evil ways and start thinking pure thoughts. And be faithful to me! Do you really want to be put to death for your sins?


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When the nations heard of him, they trapped him in a pit, then they used hooks to drag him to Egypt.


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His mother waited for him to return. But soon she lost all hope and raised another cub, who also became fierce.


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Nations plotted to kill him, and people came from all over to spread out a net and catch him in a trap.


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They put him in a cage and took him to Babylonia. The lion was locked away, so that his mighty roar would never again be heard on Israel's hills.


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Your mother was a vine growing near a stream. There was plenty of water, so she was filled with branches and with lots of fruit.


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Her strong branches became symbols of authority, and she was taller than all other trees-- everyone could see how strong and healthy she was.


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But in anger, I pulled her up by the roots and threw her to the ground, where the scorching desert wind dried out her fruit. Her strong branches wilted and burned up.


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where her stem caught fire, and flames burned her branches and fruit. Not one strong branch is left; she is stripped bare. This funeral song must be sung with sorrow.


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Seven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, some of Israel's leaders came to me on the tenth day of the fifth month. They sat down and asked for a message from the LORD.


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Ezekiel, son of man, these leaders have come to find out what I want them to do. As surely as I live, I will not give them an answer of any kind.


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Tell them that long ago I, the LORD God, chose Israel to be my own. I appeared to their ancestors in Egypt and made a solemn promise that I would be their God and the God of their descendants.


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I swore that I would rescue them from Egypt and lead them to a land I had already chosen. This land was rich with milk and honey and was the most splendid land of all.


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I told them to get rid of their disgusting idols and not to sin by worshiping the gods of Egypt. I reminded them that I was the LORD their God,


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but they still rebelled against me. They refused to listen and kept on worshiping their idols and foreign gods. In my anger, I decided to punish the Israelites in Egypt.


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But that would have made me look like a liar, because I had already promised in front of everyone that I would lead them out of Egypt.


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And I commanded them to respect the Sabbath as a way of showing that they were holy and belonged to me.


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But the Israelites rebelled against me in the desert. They refused to obey my laws and teachings, and they treated the Sabbath like any other day. Then in my anger, I decided to destroy the Israelites in the desert once and for all.


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But that would have disgraced me, because many other nations had seen me bring the Israelites out of Egypt.


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Instead, I told them in the desert that I would not lead them into the beautiful, fertile land I had promised.


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I said this because they had not only ignored my laws and teachings, but had disgraced my Sabbath and worshiped idols.


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So I warned the children not to act like their parents or follow their evil ways or worship their idols.


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I told them to respect my Sabbath to show that they were my people and that I was the LORD their God.


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But the children also rebelled against me. They refused to obey my laws and teachings, and they treated the Sabbath as any other day. I became angry and decided to punish them in the desert.


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But I did not. That would have disgraced me in front of the nations that had seen me bring the Israelites out of Egypt.


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because they had disobeyed my laws and ignored my teachings; they had disgraced my Sabbath and worshiped the idols their ancestors had made.


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and I let them offer me unacceptable sacrifices, including their first-born sons. I did this to horrify them and to let them know that I, the LORD, was punishing them.


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by offering sacrifices, incense, and wine to gods on every hill and under every large tree. I was very angry, because they did these things in the land I had given them!


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I asked them where they went to worship those gods, and they answered, "At the local shrines." And those places of worship are still called shrines.


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by worshiping idols and by sacrificing their own children as offerings. They commit these sins and still think they can ask me for a message. As surely as I am the living LORD God, I will give them no answer.


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They may think they can be like other nations and get away with worshiping idols made of wood and stone. But that will never happen!


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As surely as I am the living LORD God, I will rule over you with my powerful arm. You will feel my fierce anger


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and lead you into a desert surrounded by nations. I will meet you there face to face. Then I will pass judgment on you


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I will separate the sinful rebels from the rest of you, and even though I will bring them from the nations where they live in exile, they won't be allowed to return to Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.


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Go ahead and worship your idols for now, you Israelites, because soon I will no longer let you dishonor me by offering gifts to them. You will have no choice but to obey me!


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When that day comes, everyone in Israel will worship me on Mount Zion, my holy mountain in Jerusalem. I will once again call you my own, and I will accept your sacred offerings and sacrifices.


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When I bring you home from the places where you are now scattered, I will be pleased with you, just as I am pleased with the smell of the smoke from your sacrifices. Every nation on earth will see that I am holy,


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and you will know that I, the LORD, am the one who brought you back to Israel, the land I promised your ancestors.


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Then you will remember your wicked sins, and you will hate yourselves for doing such horrible things. They have made you unacceptable to me,


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so you deserve to be punished. But I will treat you in a way that will bring honor to my name, and you will know that I am the LORD God.


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that I, the LORD God, will start a fire that will burn up every tree, whether green or dry. Nothing will be able to put out the blaze of that fire as it spreads to the north and burns everything in its path.


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But I complained, "LORD God, I don't want to do that! People already say I confuse them with my messages."


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that I am about to punish them. I will pull out my sword and have it ready to kill everyone, whether good or evil.


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When they ask why you are groaning, tell them you have terrifying news that will make them faint and tremble in fear and lose all courage. These things will happen soon. I, the LORD God, make this promise!


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Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Jerusalem: I have sharpened my sword to slaughter you; it is shiny and will flash like lightning! Don't celebrate-- punishment is coming, because everyone has ignored my warnings.


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Groan in sorrow, Ezekiel; the sword is drawn against my people and their leaders. They will die! So give up all hope.


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Ezekiel, warn my people, then celebrate my victory by clapping your hands. My vicious sword will attack again and again, killing my people with every stroke.


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They will lose all courage and stumble with fear. My slaughtering sword is waiting at every gate, flashing and ready to kill.


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Ezekiel, son of man, mark two roads for the king of Babylonia to follow when he comes with his sword. The roads will begin at the same place, but be sure to put up a signpost where the two roads separate and go in different directions.


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Clearly mark where the two roads lead. One goes to Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, and the other goes to Jerusalem, the fortified capital of Judah.


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When the Babylonian king stands at that signpost, he will decide which way to go by shaking his arrows, by asking his idols, and by carefully looking at the liver of a sacrificed animal.


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His right hand will pull out the arrow marked "Jerusalem." Then he will immediately give the signal to shout the battle cry, to build dirt ramps to the top of the city walls, to break down its walls and gates with large wooden poles, and to kill the people.


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Everyone in Jerusalem had promised to be loyal to Babylonia, and so none of them will believe that this could happen to them. But Babylonia's king will remind them of their sinful ways and warn them of their coming captivity.


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Ezekiel, tell the people of Jerusalem and their ruler that I, the LORD God, am saying: Everything you do is wicked and shows how sinful you are. You are guilty and will be taken away as prisoners.


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I, the LORD God, command you to take off your royal turban and your crown, because everything will be different. Those who had no power will be put in charge, and those who now rule will become nobodies.


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The LORD God said: Ezekiel, son of man, the Ammonites have insulted Israel, so condemn them and tell them I am saying: A sword is drawn, ready to slaughter; it is polished and prepared to kill as fast as lightning.


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You wicked Ammonites see false visions and believe untrue messages. But your day of punishment is coming soon, and my sword will slaughter you!


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Your days to punish others are over, so put your swords away. You will be punished in the land of your birth.


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My furious anger will scorch you like fire, and I will hand you over to cruel men who are experts in killing.


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You will be burned and will die in your own land. Then you will be forgotten forever. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Ezekiel, son of man, are you ready to condemn Jerusalem? That city is filled with murderers, so remind the people of their sins


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and tell them I am saying: Jerusalem, you have murdered many of your own people and have worshiped idols. You will soon be punished!


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Those crimes have made you guilty, and the idols have made you unacceptable to me. So your final punishment is near. Other nations will laugh at you and make insulting remarks,


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Some of your own people tell lies, so that others will be put to death. Some of you eat meat sacrificed to idols at local shrines, and others never stop doing vulgar things.


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Others of you accept money to murder someone. Your own people charge high interest when making a loan to other Israelites, and they get rich by cheating. Worst of all, you have forgotten me, the LORD God.


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When I'm finished with you, your courage will disappear, and you will be so weak that you won't be able to lift your hands. I, the LORD, have spoken and will not change my mind.


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You will be humiliated in the eyes of other nations. Then you will know that I, the LORD God, have done these things.


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Ezekiel, son of man, I consider the people of Israel as worthless as the leftover metal in a furnace after silver has been purified.


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I will be like a metalworker who collects that metal from the furnace and melts it down. I will collect the Israelites and blow on them with my fiery anger. They will melt inside the city of Jerusalem


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Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Israel that their country is full of sin, and that I, the LORD, am furious!


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Their leaders are like roaring lions, tearing apart their victims. They put people to death, then steal everything of value. Husbands are killed, and many women are left as widows.


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The priests of Israel ignore my Law! Not only do they refuse to respect any of my sacred things, but they don't even teach the difference between what is sacred and what is ordinary, or between what is clean and what is unclean. They treat my Sabbath like any other day, and so my own people no longer honor me.


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Israel's officials are like ferocious wolves, ripping their victims apart. They make a dishonest living by injuring and killing people.


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And then the prophets in Israel cover up these sins by giving false visions. I have never spoken to them, but they lie and say they have a message from me.


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I looked for someone to defend the city and to protect it from my anger, as well as to stop me from destroying it. But I found no one.


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So in my fierce anger, I will punish the Israelites for what they have done, and they will know that I am furious. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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The older one was named Oholah, which stands for Samaria; the younger one was Oholibah, which stands for Jerusalem. They became my wives and gave birth to my children.


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She offered herself to soldiers in purple uniforms, to every handsome, high-ranking officer, and to cavalry troops.


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Once she started doing these things in Egypt, she never stopped. Men slept with her, and she was always ready for sex.


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They ripped off her clothes, then captured her children and killed her. Women everywhere talked about what had happened to Oholah.


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But Oholibah behaved worse than her sister. Oholibah saw images of Babylonian men carved into walls and painted red.


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They had belts around their waists and large turbans on their heads, and they reminded her of Babylonian cavalry officers.


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As soon as she looked at them, she wanted to have sex with them. And so, she sent messengers to bring them to her.


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She let everyone see her naked body and didn't care if they knew she was a prostitute. That's why I turned my back on her, just as I had done with her older sister.


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The LORD God said: Oholibah, though you no longer want to be around your lovers, they will surround you like enemies, when I turn them against you.


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I will gather all the handsome young officials and the high-ranking cavalry officers from Babylonia and Assyria, as well as from the Chaldean tribes of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa.


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Their large armies will come from the north with chariots and wagons carrying weapons. They will wear shields and helmets and will surround you, and I will let them judge and sentence you according to their own laws.


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I am angry with you, so I will let them be very cruel. They will cut off your nose and ears; they will kill your children and put to death anyone in your family who is still alive.


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I will stop your wickedness and the prostitution you started back in Egypt. You will never want to think about those days again.


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They will cruelly take away everything you have worked for and strip you naked. Then everyone will see you for the prostitute you really are. Your own vulgar sins


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have led to this. You were the one determined to have sex with men from other nations and to worship their idols.


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You have turned out no better than your older sister, and now you must drink from the cup filled with my anger.


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I, the LORD God, gave your sister a large, deep cup filled with my anger. And when you drink from that cup, you will be mocked and insulted.


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But you must drink every drop! Then smash the cup to pieces and use them to cut your breasts in sorrow. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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You have completely rejected me, and so I promise that you will be punished for the disgusting things you did as a prostitute.


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The LORD said: Ezekiel, son of man, it's time for you to tell Oholah and Oholibah that they are guilty. Remind them of their evil ways!


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They have been unfaithful by worshiping idols, and they have committed murder by sacrificing my own children as offerings to idols.


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They came into my temple that same day, and that made it unfit as a place to worship me. They have even stopped respecting the Sabbath.


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They sent messengers to attract men from far away. When those men arrived, the two sisters took baths and put on eye shadow and jewelry.


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They sat on a fancy couch, and in front of them was a table for the olive oil and incense that had belonged to me.


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Their room was always filled with a noisy crowd of drunkards brought in from the desert. These men gave the women bracelets and beautiful crowns,


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and I noticed that the men were eager to have sex with these women, though they were exhausted from being prostitutes.


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But good men will someday accuse those two of murder and of being unfaithful, because they are certainly guilty.


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So I, the LORD God, now say to these sisters: I will call together an angry mob that will abuse and rob you.


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They will stone you to death and cut you to pieces; they will kill your children and burn down your houses.


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I will get rid of sinful prostitution in this country, so that women everywhere will be warned not to act as you have.


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You will be punished for becoming prostitutes and for worshiping idols, and you will know that I am the LORD God.


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Nine years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the LORD spoke to me on the tenth day of the tenth month. He said:


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Ezekiel, son of man, write down today's date, because the king of Babylonia has just begun attacking the city of Jerusalem.


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These words mean that Jerusalem is doomed! The city is filled with murderers and is like an old, rusty pot. The meat is taken out piece by piece, and no one cares what happens to it.


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The people of Jerusalem murdered innocent people in the city and didn't even try to cover up the blood that flowed out on the hard ground.


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Then set the empty pot over the hot coals until it is red-hot. That will clean the pot and burn off the rust.


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Jerusalem is so full of sin and evil that I can't get it clean, even though I have tried. It will stay filthy until I let loose my fierce anger against it.


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That time will certainly come! And when it does, I won't show the people of Jerusalem any pity or change my mind. They must be punished for the evil they have done. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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"Ezekiel, son of man, I will suddenly take the life of the person you love most. But I don't want you to complain or cry.


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Mourn in silence and don't show that you are grieving. Don't remove your turban or take off your sandals; don't cover your face to show your sorrow, or eat the food that mourners eat."


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One morning, I was talking with the people as usual, and by sunset my wife was dead. The next day I did what the LORD told me,


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he is ready to destroy the temple in which you take such pride and which makes you feel so safe. Your children who now live in Jerusalem will be killed.


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Then you will do the same things I have done. You will leave your face uncovered and refuse to eat the food that mourners usually eat.


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You won't take off your turbans and your sandals. You won't cry or mourn, but all day long you will go around groaning because of your sins.


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I am a warning sign--everything I have done, you will also do. And then you will know the LORD God has made these things happen.


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The LORD said, "Ezekiel, I will soon destroy the temple that makes everyone feel proud and safe, and I will take away their children as well.


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Then you will be able to speak again, and the two of you will talk. You will be a warning sign to the people, and they will know that I am the LORD."


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and tell them: You celebrated when my temple was destroyed, when Israel was defeated, and when my people were taken away as prisoners.


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Now I am going to let you be conquered by tribes from the eastern desert. They will set up their camps in your land and eat your fruit and drink your milk.


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Your capital city of Rabbah will be nothing but pastureland for camels, and the rest of the country will be pastures for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD God.


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And so I will hand you over to enemies who will rob you. I will completely destroy you. There won't be enough of your people left to be a nation ever again, and you will know that I, the LORD, have done these things.


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So I will let Moab's fortress towns along its border be attacked, including Beth-Jeshimoth, Baal-Meon, and Kiriathaim.


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The same eastern desert tribes that invade Ammon will invade Moab, and just as Ammon will be forgotten forever,


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So I will punish Edom by killing all its people and livestock. It will be an empty wasteland all the way from Teman to Dedan.


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I will send my own people to take revenge on the Edomites by making them feel my fierce anger. And when I punish them, they will know that I am the LORD God."


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The LORD God said, "The cruel Philistines have taken revenge on their enemies over and over and have tried to destroy them.


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Now it's my turn to treat the Philistines as my enemies and to kill everyone living in their towns along the seacoast.


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In my fierce anger, I will take revenge on them. And when I punish them, they will know that I am the LORD."


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Eleven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the LORD spoke to me on the first day of the month. He said:


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Ezekiel, son of man, the people of the city of Tyre have celebrated Jerusalem's defeat by singing, "Jerusalem has fallen! It used to be powerful, a center of trade. Now the city is shattered, and we will take its place."


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Because the people of Tyre have sung that song, I have the following warning for them: I am the LORD God, and I am now your enemy! I will send nations to attack you, like waves crashing against the shore.


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They will tear down your city walls and defense towers. I will sweep away the ruins until all that's left of you is a bare rock,


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and that the people who live in your towns along the coast will be killed. Then you will know that I am the LORD.


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King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia is the world's most powerful king, and I will send him to attack you. He will march from the north with a powerful army, including horses and chariots and cavalry troops.


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First, he will attack your towns along the coast and kill the people who live there. Then he will build dirt ramps up to the top of your city walls and set up rows of shields around you.


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He will command some of his troops to use large wooden poles to beat down your walls, while others use iron rods to knock down your watchtowers.


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He will have so many horses that the dust they stir up will seem like a thick fog. And as his chariots and cavalry approach, even the walls will shake, especially when he proudly enters your ruined city.


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His troops will ride through your streets, killing people left and right, and your strong columns will crumble to the ground.


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The troops will steal your valuable possessions; they will break down your walls, and crush your expensive houses. Then the stones and wood and all the remains will be dumped into the sea.


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because I will turn you into a bare rock where fishermen can dry their nets. And you will never rebuild your city. I, the LORD God, make this promise.


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The people of the nations up and down the coast will shudder when they hear your screams and moans of death.


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The kings will step down from their thrones, then take off their royal robes and fancy clothes, and sit on the ground, trembling. They will be so shocked at the news of your defeat that they will shake in fear


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and sing this funeral song: "The great city beside the sea is destroyed! Its people once ruled the coast and terrified everyone there.


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and carry you down to the world of the dead, where you will join people of ancient times and towns ruined long ago. You will stay there and never again be a city filled with people.


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You will die a horrible death! People will come looking for your city, but it will never be found. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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the city that is built along the sea and that trades with nations along the coast. Tell the people of Tyre that the following message is from me: Tyre, you brag about your perfect beauty,


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Builders used cypress trees from Mount Hermon to make your planks and a cedar tree from Lebanon for your tall mast.


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Oak trees from Bashan were shaped into oars; pine trees from Cyprus were cut for your deck, which was then decorated with strips of ivory.


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The builders used fancy linen from Egypt for your sails, so everyone could see you. Blue and purple cloth from Cyprus was used to shade your deck.


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Experienced men from Byblos repaired any damages. Sailors from all over shopped at the stores in your port.


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Brave soldiers from Persia, Lydia, and Libya served in your navy, protecting you with shields and helmets, and making you famous.


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Your guards came from Arvad and Cilicia, and men from Gamad stood watch in your towers. With their weapons hung on your walls, your beauty was complete.


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You also did business with people from Rhodes, and people from nations along the coast gave you ivory and ebony in exchange for your goods.


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Judah and Israel gave you their finest wheat, fancy figs, honey, olive oil, and spices in exchange for your merchandise.


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The people of Damascus saw what you had to offer and brought you wine from Helbon and wool from Zahar.


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Merchants from Sheba and Raamah gave you excellent spices, precious stones, and gold in exchange for your products.


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You also did business with merchants from the cities of Haran, Canneh, Eden, Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad,


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and they gave you expensive clothing, purple and embroidered cloth, brightly colored rugs, and strong rope.


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Large, seagoing ships carried your goods wherever they needed to go. You were like a ship loaded with heavy cargo


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Everything on board was lost-- your valuable cargo, your sailors and carpenters, merchants and soldiers.


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In their grief they sing a funeral song for you: "Tyre, you were greater than all other cities. But now you lie in silence at the bottom of the sea.


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"Nations that received your merchandise were always pleased; kings everywhere got rich from your costly goods.


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People living along the coast are shocked at the news. Their rulers are horrified, and terror is written across their faces.


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The merchants of the world can't believe what happened. Your death was gruesome, and you are gone forever."


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Ezekiel, son of man, tell the king of Tyre that I am saying: You are so arrogant that you think you're a god and that the city of Tyre is your throne. You may claim to be a god, though you're nothing but a mere human.


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will make you the victim of cruel enemies. They will destroy all the possessions you've worked so hard to get.


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When you face your enemies, will you still claim to be a god? They will attack, and you will suffer like any other human.


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Foreigners will kill you, and you will die the death of those who don't worship me. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Ezekiel, son of man, sing a funeral song for the king of Tyre and tell him I am saying: At one time, you were perfect, intelligent, and good-looking.


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You lived in the garden of Eden and wore jewelry made of brightly colored gems and precious stones. They were all set in gold and were ready for you on the day you were born.


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I appointed a winged creature to guard your home on my holy mountain, where you walked among gems that dazzled like fire.


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You traded with other nations and became more and more cruel and evil. So I forced you to leave my mountain, and the creature that had been your protector now chased you away from the gems.


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It was your good looks that made you arrogant, and you were so famous that you started acting like a fool. That's why I threw you to the ground and let other kings sneer at you.


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You have cheated so many other merchants that your places of worship are corrupt. So I set your city on fire and burned it down. Now everyone sees only ashes where your city once stood,


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and the people of other nations are shocked. Your punishment was horrible, and you are gone forever.


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and tell its people: I, the LORD God, am your enemy! People will praise me when I punish you, and they will see that I am holy.


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I will send deadly diseases to wipe you out, and I will send enemies to invade and surround you. Your people will be killed, and you will know that I am the LORD.


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When that happens, the people of Israel will no longer have cruel neighbors that abuse them and make them feel as though they are in a field of thorns and briers. And the Israelites will know that I, the LORD God, have done these things.


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The LORD God said: Someday I will gather the people of Israel from the nations where they are now scattered, and every nation will see that I am holy. The Israelites will once again live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob.


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They will be safe and will build houses and plant vineyards. They will no longer be in danger, because I will punish their hateful neighbors. Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.


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Ten years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the LORD spoke to me on the twelfth day of the tenth month. He said:


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that I am saying: King of Egypt, you were like a giant crocodile lying in a river. You acted as though you owned the Nile and made it for yourself. But now I, the LORD God, am your enemy!


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I will put a hook in your jaw and pull you out of the water, and all the fish in your river will stick to your scaly body.


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I'll throw you and the fish into the desert, and your body will fall on the hard ground. You will be left unburied, and wild animals and birds will eat your flesh.


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Then everyone in Egypt will know that I am the LORD. You and your nation refused to help the people of Israel and were nothing more than a broken stick.


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When they reached out to you for support, you broke in half, cutting their arms and making them fall.


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So I, the LORD God, will send troops to attack you, king of Egypt. They will kill your people and livestock,


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until your land is a barren desert. Then you will know that I have done these things. You claimed that you made the Nile River and control it.


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Now I am turning against you and your river. Your nation will be nothing but an empty wasteland all the way from the town of Migdol in the north to Aswan in the south, and as far as the border of Ethiopia.


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No human or animal will even dare travel through Egypt, because no sign of life will be found there for forty years.


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It will be the most barren place on earth. Every city in Egypt will lie in ruins during those forty years, and I will scatter your people throughout the nations of the world.


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Then after those forty years have passed, I will bring your people back from the places where I scattered them.


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My own people Israel will never again depend on your nation. In fact, when the Israelites remember what happened to you Egyptians, they will realize how wrong they were to turn to you for help. Then the Israelites will know that I, the LORD God, did these things.


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Twenty-seven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the LORD spoke to me on the first day of the first month. He said:


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King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia has attacked the city of Tyre. He forced his soldiers to carry so many heavy loads that their heads were rubbed bald, and their shoulders were red and sore. Nebuchadnezzar and his army still could not capture the city.


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So now I will hand over the nation of Egypt to him. He will take Egypt's valuable treasures and give them to his own troops.


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Egypt will be his reward, because he and his army have been following my orders. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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Ezekiel, when Egypt is defeated, I will make the people of Israel strong, and I will give you the power to speak to them. Then they will know that I, the LORD, have done these things.


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Your own nation of Egypt will be attacked, and Ethiopia will suffer. You will be killed in battle, and your land will be robbed and left in ruins.


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Soldiers hired from Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, Arabia, Kub, as well as from Israel, will die in that battle.


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All of your allies will be killed, and your proud strength will crumble. People will die from Migdol in the north to Aswan in the south. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Your nation of Egypt will be the most deserted place on earth, and its cities will lie in complete ruin.


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I will set fire to your land, and anyone who defended your nation will die. Then you will know that I am the LORD.


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On the same day I destroy Egypt, I will send messengers to the Ethiopians to announce their coming destruction. They think they are safe, but they will be terrified.


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Your Egyptian army is very strong, but I will send King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to completely defeat that army.


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He and his cruel troops will invade and destroy your land and leave your dead bodies piled everywhere.


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I will dry up the Nile River, then sell the land to evil buyers. I will send foreigners to turn your entire nation into a barren desert. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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All the idols and images you Egyptians worship in the city of Memphis will be smashed. No one will be left to rule your nation, and terror will fill the land.


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The city of Pathros will be left in ruins, and Zoan will be burned to the ground. Thebes, your capital city, will also be destroyed!


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The fortress city of Pelusium will feel my fierce anger, and all the troops stationed at Thebes will be slaughtered.


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I will set fire to your nation of Egypt! The city of Pelusium will be in anguish. Thebes will fall, and the people of Memphis will live in constant fear.


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The young soldiers in the cities of Heliopolis and Bubastis will die in battle, and the rest of the people will be taken prisoner.


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You were so proud of your nation's power, but when I crush that power and kill that pride, darkness will fall over the city of Tahpanhes. A dark, gloomy cloud will cover the land as you are being led away into captivity.


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Eleven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the LORD spoke to me on the seventh day of the first month. He said:


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Ezekiel, son of man, I, the LORD, have defeated the king of Egypt! I broke his arm, and no one has wrapped it or put it in a sling, so that it could heal and get strong enough to hold a sword.


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So tell him that I am now his worst enemy. I will break both his arms--the good one and the broken one! His sword will drop from his hand forever,


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I will strengthen the power of Babylonia's king and give him my sword to use against Egypt. I will also make the wounded king of Egypt powerless, and he will moan in pain and die in front of the Babylonian king. Then everyone on earth will know that I am the LORD.


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I will force the Egyptians to live as prisoners in foreign nations, and they will know that I, the LORD, have punished them.


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Eleven years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the LORD spoke to me on the first day of the third month. He said:


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Ezekiel, son of man, tell the king of Egypt and his people that I am saying: You are more powerful than anyone on earth. Now listen to this.


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This tree had plenty of water to help it grow tall, and nearby streams watered the other trees in the forest.


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Birds built nests in its branches, and animals were born beneath it. People from all nations lived in the shade of this strong tree.


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None of the cedar trees in my garden of Eden were as beautiful as this tree; no tree of any kind had such long branches.


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I, the LORD, gave this tree its beauty, and I helped the branches grow strong. All other trees in Eden wanted to be just like it.


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King of Egypt, now listen to what I, the LORD God, am saying about that tree: The tree grew so tall that it reached the sky and became very proud and arrogant.


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So I, the LORD God, will reject the tree and hand it over to a foreign ruler, who will punish it for its wickedness.


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Cruel foreigners will chop it down and leave it wherever it falls. Branches and broken limbs will be scattered over the mountains and in the valleys. The people living in the shade of those branches will go somewhere else.


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Never again will any tree dare to grow as tall as this tree, no matter how much water it has. Every tree must die, just as humans die and go down to the world of the dead.


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On the day this tree dies and goes to the world below, I, the LORD God, will command rivers and streams to mourn its death. Every underground spring of water and every river will stop flowing. The mountains in Lebanon will be covered with darkness as a sign of their sorrow, and all the trees in the forest will wither.


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This tree will crash to the ground, and I will send it to the world below. Then the nations of the earth will tremble. The trees from Eden and the choice trees from Lebanon are now in the world of the dead, and they will be comforted when this tree falls.


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Those people who found protection in its shade will also be sent to the world below, where they will join the dead.


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King of Egypt, all these things will happen to you and your people! You were like this tree at one time--taller and stronger than anyone on earth. But now you will be chopped down, just as every tree in the garden of Eden must die. You will be sent down to the world of the dead, where you will join the godless and the other victims of violent death. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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Twelve years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, the LORD spoke to me on the first day of the twelfth month. He said:


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Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the king of Egypt and tell him I am saying: You act like a lion roaming the earth; but you are nothing more than a crocodile in a river, churning up muddy water with your feet.


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King of Egypt, listen to me. I, the LORD God, will catch you in my net and let a crowd of foreigners drag you to shore.


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I will cover the whole sky and every star with thick clouds, so that the sun and moon will stop shining.


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They will be horrified, and when I flash my sword in victory on the day of your death, their kings will tremble in the fear of what could happen to them.


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Your soldiers will be killed by the cruelest army in the world, and everything you take pride in will be crushed.


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I will slaughter your cattle that graze by the river, and no people or livestock will be left to muddy its water.


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Egypt will become a barren wasteland, and no living thing will ever survive there. Then you and your people will know that I am the LORD.


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This is your warning, and it will be used as a funeral song by foreign women to mourn the death of your people. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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Ezekiel, son of man, mourn for the Egyptians and condemn them to the world of the dead, where they will be buried alongside the people of other powerful nations.


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Say to them: You may be more beautiful than the people of other nations, but you will also die and join the godless in the world below.


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Brave military leaders killed in battle will gladly welcome you and your allies into the world of the dead.


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The graves of soldiers from Assyria are there. They once terrified people, but they were killed in battle and now lie deep in the world of the dead.


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The graves of soldiers from Elam are there. The very sight of those godless soldiers once terrified their enemies and made them panic. But now they are disgraced and ashamed as they lie in the world of the dead, alongside others who were killed in battle.


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The graves of soldiers from Meshech and Tubal are there. These godless soldiers who terrified people were all killed in battle.


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They were not given a proper burial like the heroes of long ago, who were buried with their swords under their heads and with their shields over their bodies. These were the heroes who made their enemies panic.


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You Egyptians will be cruelly defeated, and you will be buried alongside these other godless soldiers who died in battle.


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The graves of kings and leaders from Edom are there. They were powerful at one time. Now they are buried in the world of the dead with other godless soldiers killed in battle.


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The graves of the rulers of the north are there, as well as those of the Sidonians. Their powerful armies once terrified enemies. Now they lie buried in the world of the dead, where they are disgraced like other soldiers killed in battle.


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The LORD God says: When your king of Egypt sees all of these graves, he and his soldiers will be glad they are not the only ones suffering.


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I sent him to terrify people all over the earth. But he and his army will be killed and buried alongside other godless soldiers in the world of the dead. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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Ezekiel, son of man, warn your people by saying: Someday, I, the LORD, may send an enemy to invade a country. And suppose its people choose someone to stand watch


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If any of these people hear the signal and ignore it, they will be killed in battle. But it will be their own fault, because they could have escaped if they had paid attention.


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But suppose the person watching fails to sound the warning signal. The enemy will attack and kill some of the sinful people in that country, and I, the LORD, will hold that person responsible for their death.


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Ezekiel, I have appointed you to stand watch for the people of Israel. So listen to what I say, then warn them for me.


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When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways. But if you refuse to warn them, you are responsible for their death.


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If you do warn them, and they keep sinning, they will die because of their sins, and you will be innocent.


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The LORD said: Ezekiel, son of man, the people of Israel are complaining that the punishment for their sins is more than they can stand. They have lost all hope for survival, and they blame me.


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Tell them that as surely as I am the living LORD God, I don't like to see wicked people die. I enjoy seeing them turn from their sins and live. So if the Israelites want to live, they must stop sinning and turn back to me.


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Tell them that when good people start sinning, all the good they did in the past cannot save them from being punished. And remind them that when wicked people stop sinning, their past sins will be completely forgiven, and they won't be punished.


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Suppose I promise good people that they will live, then later they start sinning and believe they will be saved by the good they did in the past. These people will certainly be put to death because of their sins. Their good deeds will be forgotten.


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Suppose I warn wicked people that they will die because of their sins, and they stop sinning and start doing right.


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For example, they need to return anything they have taken as security for a loan and anything they have stolen. Then if they stop doing evil and start obeying my Law, they will live.


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But the Israelites still think I am unfair. So warn them that they will be punished for what they have done.


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Twelve years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, a refugee who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me on the fifth day of the tenth month. He told me that the city had fallen.


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The evening before this man arrived at my house, the LORD had taken control of me. So when the man came to me the next morning, I could once again speak.


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Ezekiel, son of man, the people living in the ruined cities of Israel are saying, "Abraham was just one man, and the LORD gave him this whole land of Israel. There are many of us, and so this land must be ours."


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So, Ezekiel, tell them I am saying: How can you think the land is still yours? You eat meat with blood in it and worship idols. You commit murder


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and spread violence throughout the land. Everything you do is wicked; you are even unfaithful in marriage. And you claim the land is yours!


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As surely as I am the living LORD God, you people in the ruined cities will be killed in battle. Those of you living in the countryside will be eaten by wild animals, and those hiding in caves and on rocky cliffs will die from deadly diseases.


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I will make the whole country an empty wasteland and crush the power in which you take such pride. Even the mountains will be bare, and no one will try to cross them.


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I will punish you because of your sins, and I will turn your nation into a barren desert. Then you will know that I am the LORD.


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Ezekiel, son of man, the people with you in Babylonia talk about you when they meet by the city walls or in the doorways of their houses. They say, "Let's ask Ezekiel what the LORD has said today."


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So they all come and listen to you, but they refuse to do what you tell them. They claim to be faithful, but they are forever trying to cheat others out of their money.


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They treat you as though you were merely singing love songs or playing music. They listen, but don't do anything you say.


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Soon they will be punished, just as you warned, and they will know that a prophet has been among them.


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Ezekiel, son of man, Israel's leaders are like shepherds taking care of my sheep, the people of Israel. But I want you to condemn these leaders and tell them: I, the LORD God, say you shepherds of Israel are doomed! You take care of yourselves while ignoring my sheep.


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You drink their milk and use their wool to make your clothes. Then you butcher the best ones for food. But you don't take care of the flock!


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You have never protected the weak ones or healed the sick ones or bandaged those that get hurt. You let them wander off and never look for those that get lost. You are cruel and mean to my sheep.


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They strayed in every direction, and because there was no shepherd to watch them, they were attacked and eaten by wild animals.


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So my sheep were scattered across the earth. They roamed on hills and mountains, without anyone even bothering to look for them.


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Now listen to what I, the living LORD God, am saying to you shepherds. My sheep have been attacked and eaten by wild animals, because you refused to watch them. You never went looking for the lost ones, and you fed yourselves without feeding my sheep.


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So I, the LORD, will punish you! I will rescue my sheep from you and never let you be their shepherd again or butcher them for food. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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just as a shepherd looks for lost sheep. My sheep have been lost since that dark and miserable day when they were scattered throughout the nations. But I will rescue them


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and bring them back from the foreign nations where they now live. I will be their shepherd and will let them graze on Israel's mountains and in the valleys and fertile fields.


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to look for those that are lost and bring back the ones that wander off, to bandage those that are hurt and protect the ones that are weak. I will also slaughter those that are fat and strong, because I always do right.


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The LORD God said to his sheep, the people of Israel: I will carefully watch each one of you to decide which ones are the strong sheep and which ones are weak.


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Some of you eat the greenest grass, then trample down what's left when you finish. Others drink clean water, then step in the water to make the rest of it muddy.


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After that, I will give you a shepherd from the family of my servant King David. All of you, both strong and weak, will have the same shepherd, and he will take good care of you.


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The people of Israel are my sheep, and I solemnly promise that they will live in peace. I will chase away every wild animal from the desert and the forest, so my sheep will not be afraid.


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to make their trees produce fruit and their crops to grow. I will set them free from slavery and let them live safely in their own land. Then they will know that I am the LORD.


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Foreign nations will never again rob them, and wild animals will no longer kill and eat them. They will have nothing to fear.


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I will make their fields produce large amounts of crops, so they will never again go hungry or be laughed at by foreigners.


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and say to them: I, the LORD God, am now your enemy! And I will turn your nation into an empty wasteland,


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People of Edom, not only have you been Israel's longtime enemy, you simply watched when disaster wiped out its people as punishment for their sins.


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and your land will lie in ruins forever. No one will live in your towns ever again. You will know that I am the LORD.


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You thought the nations of Judah and Israel belonged to you, and that you could take over their territory. But I am their God,


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and as surely as I live, I will punish you for treating my people with anger and hatred. Then they will know that I, the LORD, am punishing you!


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And you will finally realize that I heard you laugh at their destruction and say their land was yours to take.


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just as you celebrated when Israel was destroyed. Your nation of Edom will be nothing but a wasteland. Then everyone will know that I am the LORD.


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So all you mountains and hills, streams and valleys, listen to what I will do. Your towns may now lie in ruins, and nations may laugh and insult you.


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But in my fierce anger, I will turn against those nations, and especially the Edomites, because they laughed at you the loudest and took over your pasturelands.


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Trees will grow on you mountains of Israel and produce fruit for my people, because they will soon come home.


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Children will be born, and animals will give birth to their young. You will no longer be deserted as you are now, but you will be covered with people and treated better than ever. Then you will know that I am the LORD.


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I will bring my people Israel home, and they will live on you mountains, because you belong to them, and your fertile slopes will never again let them starve.


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It's true that you have been accused of not producing enough food and of letting your people starve.


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But I, the LORD, promise that you won't hear other nations laugh and sneer at you ever again. From now on, you will always produce plenty of food for your people. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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Ezekiel, son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own country, they made the land unclean by the way they behaved, just as a woman's monthly period makes her unclean.


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They committed murders and worshiped idols, which made the land even worse. So in my anger, I punished my people


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Wherever they went, my name was disgraced, because foreigners insulted my people by saying I had forced them out of their own land.


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so tell the Israelites that I am saying: You have disgraced my holy name among the nations where you now live. So you don't deserve what I'm going to do for you. I will lead you home to bring honor to my name


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and to show foreign nations that I am holy. Then they will know that I am the LORD God. I have spoken.


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I will sprinkle you with clean water, and you will be clean and acceptable to me. I will wash away everything that makes you unclean, and I will remove your disgusting idols.


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I will take away your stubborn heart and give you a new heart and a desire to be faithful. You will have only pure thoughts,


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You will once again live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.


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I will protect you from anything that makes you unclean. Your fields will overflow with grain, and no one will starve.


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Your trees will be filled with fruit, and crops will grow in your fields, so that you will never again feel ashamed for not having enough food.


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People of Israel, I'm not doing these things for your sake. You sinned against me, and you must suffer shame and disgrace for what you have done. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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Instead, they will say that it looks as beautiful as the garden of Eden. They won't see towns lying in ruins, but they will see your strong cities filled with people.


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Then the nearby nations that survive will know that I am the one who rebuilt the ruined places and replanted the barren fields. I, the LORD, make this promise.


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I will once again answer your prayers, and I will let your nation grow until you are like a large flock of sheep.


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The towns that now lie in ruins will be filled with people, just as Jerusalem was once filled with sheep to be offered as sacrifices during a festival. Then you will know that I am the LORD.


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Some time later, I felt the LORD's power take control of me, and his Spirit carried me to a valley full of bones.


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He said, "Ezekiel, son of man, can these bones come back to life?" I replied, "LORD God, only you can answer that."


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I will wrap you with muscles and skin and breathe life into you. Then you will know that I am the LORD."


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I did what the LORD said, but before I finished speaking, I heard a rattling noise. The bones were coming together!


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The LORD said: Ezekiel, now say to the wind, "The LORD God commands you to blow from every direction and to breathe life into these dead bodies, so they can live again."


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As soon as I said this, the wind blew among the bodies, and they came back to life! They all stood up, and there were enough to make a large army.


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The LORD said: Ezekiel, the people of Israel are like dead bones. They complain that they are dried up and that they have no hope for the future.


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So tell them, "I, the LORD God, promise to open your graves and set you free. I will bring you back to Israel,


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My Spirit will give you breath, and you will live again. I will bring you home, and you will know that I have kept my promise. I, the LORD, have spoken."


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Ezekiel, son of man, get a stick and write on it, "The kingdom of Judah." Then get another stick and write on it, "The kingdom of Israel."


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tell them that I, the LORD, will join together the stick of Israel and the stick of Judah. I will hold them in my hand, and they will become one.


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and then say: I, the LORD God, will gather the people of Israel and bring them home from the foreign nations where they now live.


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I will make them into one nation and let them once again live in the land of Israel. Only one king will rule them, and they will never again be divided into two nations.


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They will no longer worship idols and do things that make them unacceptable to me. I will wash away their sin and make them clean, and I will protect them from everything that makes them unclean. They will be my people, and I will be their God.


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Their king will always come from the family of my servant King David and will care for them like a shepherd. The people of Israel will faithfully obey my laws. They and their descendants will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, just as their ancestors did.


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I solemnly promise to bless the people of Israel with unending peace. I will protect them and let them become a powerful nation. My temple will stand in Israel for all time,


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Every nation on earth will know that my temple is in Israel and that I have chosen the Israelites to be my people.


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Ezekiel, son of man, condemn Gog, that wicked ruler of the kingdoms of Meshech and Tubal in the land of Magog. Tell him:


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and I will make you powerless! I will put a hook in your jaw and drag away both you and your large army. You command cavalry troops that wear heavy armor and carry shields and swords.


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because in a few years, I will command you to invade Israel, a country that was ruined by war. It was deserted for a long time, but its people have returned from the foreign nations where they once lived. The Israelites now live in peace in the mountains of their own land.


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to take advantage of Israel, that weak and peaceful country where people live safely inside towns that have no walls or gates or locks.


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You will rob the people in towns that were once a pile of rubble. These people lived as prisoners in foreign nations, but they have returned to Israel, the most important place in the world, and they own livestock and property.


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The people of Sheba and Dedan, along with merchants from villages in southern Spain, will be your allies. They will want some of the silver and gold, as well as the livestock and property that your army takes from Israel.


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You will attack my people like a storm-cloud that covers their land. I will let you invade my country Israel, so that every nation on earth will know that I, the LORD, am holy.


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The LORD said to Gog: Long ago, I had my prophets warn the people of Israel that someday I would send an enemy to attack them. You, Gog, are that enemy, and that day is coming.


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Every living thing on earth will tremble in fear of me--every fish and bird, every wild animal and reptile, and every human. Mountains will crumble, cliffs will fall, and cities will collapse.


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I, the LORD, will make the mountains of Israel turn against you. Your troops will be so terrified that they will attack each other.


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I will strike you with diseases and punish you with death. You and your army will be pounded with rainstorms, hailstones, and burning sulfur.


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Ezekiel, son of man, condemn Gog and tell him: You are the ruler of Meshech and Tubal, but I, the LORD, am your enemy!


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I will set fire to the land of Magog and to those nations along the seacoast that think they are so secure, and they will know that I am the LORD.


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My people Israel will know me, and they will no longer disgrace my holy name. Everyone on earth will know that I am the holy LORD God of Israel.


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When that day comes, the people in the towns of Israel will collect the weapons of their dead enemies. They will use these shields, bows and arrows, spears, and clubs as firewood, and there will be enough to last for seven years.


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They will burn these weapons instead of gathering sticks or chopping down trees. That's how the Israelites will take revenge on those who robbed and abused them. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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After Gog has been destroyed, I will bury him and his army in Israel, in Travelers' Valley, east of the Dead Sea. That graveyard will be so large that it will block the way of anyone who tries to walk through the valley, which will then be known as "The Valley of Gog's Army."


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Everyone will help with the burial, and they will be honored for this on the day the brightness of my glory is seen.


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After those seven months, the people will appoint a group of men to look for any dead bodies left unburied. This must be done for seven months to make sure that the land is no longer unclean.


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Whenever they find a human bone, they will set up a marker next to it. Then the gravediggers will bury it in "The Valley of Gog's Army"


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Ezekiel, son of man, I am going to hold a feast on Israel's mountains and offer sacrifices there. So invite all the birds and wild animals to come from every direction and eat the meat of sacrifices and drink the blood. The birds and animals


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will feast on the bodies of warriors and foreign rulers that I will sacrifice like sheep, goats, and bulls.


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They will come to my table and stuff themselves with the flesh of horses and warriors of every kind. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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Foreign nations will realize that the Israelites were forced to leave their own land because they sinned against me. I turned my back on my people and let enemies attack and kill them.


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Now I will show mercy to the people of Israel and bring them back from the nations where they are living. They are Jacob's descendants, so I will bless them and show that I am holy.


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They will live safely in their own land, but will be ashamed when they remember their evil ways and how they disgraced me.


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Foreign nations will watch as I take the Israelites from enemy lands and bring them back home, and those nations will see that I am holy.


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My people will realize that I, the LORD their God, sent them away as prisoners and now will bring them back to their own land.


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Never again will I turn my back on the people of Israel, and my Spirit will live in them. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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Twenty-five years after King Jehoiachin and the rest of us had been led away as prisoners to Babylonia, and fourteen years after the Babylonians had captured Jerusalem, the LORD's power took control of me on the tenth day of the first month. The LORD showed me some visions in which I was carried to the top of a high mountain in Jerusalem. I looked to the south and saw what looked like a city full of buildings.


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In my vision the LORD took me closer, and I saw a man who was sparkling like polished bronze. He was standing near one of the gates and was holding a tape measure in one hand and a measuring stick in the other.


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The man said, "Ezekiel, son of man, pay close attention to everything I'm going to show you--that's why you've been brought here. Listen carefully, because you must tell the people of Israel what you see."


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The first thing I saw was an outer wall that completely surrounded the temple area. The man took his measuring stick, which was ten feet long, and measured the wall; it was ten feet high and ten feet thick.


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Then he went to the east gate, where he walked up steps that led to a long passageway. On each side of this passageway were three guardrooms, which were ten feet square, and they were separated by walls over eight feet thick. The man measured the distance between the opening of the gate and the first guardroom, and it was ten feet, the thickness of the outer wall. At the far end of this passageway, I saw an entrance room that faced the courtyard of the temple itself. There was also a distance of ten feet between the last guardroom and the entrance room


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at the end of the passageway. The man measured this room: It was thirteen feet from the doorway to the opposite wall, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was three feet.


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The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway were the same size, and the walls that separated them were the same thickness.


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Next, the man measured the width of the passageway, and it was twenty-two feet, but the two doors of the gate were only sixteen feet wide.


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In front of the guardrooms, which were ten feet square, was a railing about twenty inches high and twenty inches thick.


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The man measured the distance from the back wall of one of these rooms to the same spot in the room directly across the passageway, and it was forty-two feet.


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Finally, he measured the total length of the passageway, from the outer wall to the entrance room, and it was eighty-five feet.


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The three walls in the guardrooms had small windows in them, just like the ones in the entrance room. The walls along the passageway were decorated with carvings of palm trees.


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The man then led me through the passageway and into the outer courtyard of the temple, where I saw thirty rooms built around the outside of the courtyard. These side rooms were built against the outer wall, and in front of them was a sidewalk that circled the courtyard.


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I saw the gates that led to the inner courtyard of the temple and noticed that they were higher than those leading to the outer courtyard. The man measured the distance between the outer and inner gates, and it was one hundred seventy feet.


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This gate also had three guardrooms on each side of a passageway. The measurements of these rooms, the walls between them, and the entrance room at the far end of the passageway were exactly the same as those of the east gate. The north gate was also eighty-five feet long and forty-two feet wide,


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and the windows, the entrance room, and the carvings of palm trees were just like those in the east gate. The entrance room also faced the courtyard of the temple and had seven steps leading up to it.


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Directly across the outer courtyard was a gate that led to the inner courtyard, just as there was for the east gate. The man measured the distance between the outer and inner gate, and it was one hundred seventy feet.


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The man then took me to the south gate. He measured the walls and the entrance room of this gate, and the measurements were exactly the same as those of the other two gates.


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There were windows in the guardrooms of this gate and in the entrance room, just like the others, and this gate was also eighty-five feet long and forty-two feet wide.


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Seven steps led up to the gate; the entrance room was at the far end of the passageway and faced the courtyard of the temple. Carvings of palm trees decorated the walls along the passageway.


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And directly across the outer courtyard was a gate on the south side of the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the outer and inner gate, and it was also one hundred seventy feet.


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We then went into the inner courtyard, through the gate on the south side of the temple. The man measured the gate, and it was the same size as the gates in the outer wall.


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In fact, everything along the passageway was also the same size, including the guardrooms, the walls separating them, the entrance room at the far end, and the windows. This gate, like the others, was eighty-five feet long and forty-two feet wide.


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The entrance room of this gate faced the outer courtyard, and carvings of palm trees decorated the walls of the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.


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Next, we went through the east gate to the inner courtyard. The man measured this gate, and it was the same size as the others.


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The guardrooms, the walls separating them, and its entrance room had the same measurements as the other gates. The guardrooms and the entrance room had windows, and the gate was eighty-five feet long and forty-two feet wide.


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The entrance room faced the outer courtyard, and the walls in the passageway were decorated with carvings of palm trees. Eight steps also led up to this gate.


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including the guardrooms, the walls separating them, and the entrance room. There were also windows in this gate. It was eighty-five feet long and forty-two feet wide,


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and like the other inner gates, its entrance room faced the outer courtyard, and its walls were decorated with carvings of palm trees. Eight steps also led up to this gate.


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Inside the entrance room of the north gate, I saw four tables, two on each side of the room, where the animals to be sacrificed were killed. Just outside this room was a small building used for washing the animals before they were offered as sacrifices to please the LORD or sacrifices for sin or sacrifices to make things right.


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Four more tables were in the outer courtyard, two on each side of the steps leading into the entrance room.


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and where the meat was placed until it was sacrificed on the altar. Next to the tables in the entrance room were four stone tables twenty inches high and thirty inches square; the equipment used for killing the animals was kept on top of these tables. All around the walls of this room was a three inch shelf.


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The man then took me to the inner courtyard, where I saw two buildings, one beside the inner gate on the north and the other beside the inner gate on the south.


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and the building beside the south gate belongs to those who serve at the altar. All of them are descendants of Zadok and are the only Levites allowed to serve as the LORD's priests."


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Now the man measured the inner courtyard; it was one hundred seventy feet square. I also saw an altar in front of the temple.


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We walked to the porch of the temple, and the man measured the doorway of the porch: It was twenty-four feet long, eight feet wide, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was five feet.


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The porch itself was thirty-four feet by twenty feet, with steps leading up to it. There was a column on each side of these steps.


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Next we went into the main room of the temple. The man measured the doorway of this room: It was ten feet wide,


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seventeen feet long, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was eight feet. The main room itself was sixty-eight feet by thirty-four feet.


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Then the man walked to the far end of the temple's main room and said, "Beyond this doorway is the most holy place." He first measured the doorway: It was three feet wide, ten feet long, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was twelve feet. Then he measured the most holy place, and it was thirty-four feet square.


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The man measured the wall of the temple, and it was ten feet thick. Storage rooms seven feet wide were built against the outside of the wall.


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There were three levels of rooms, with thirty rooms on each level, and they rested on ledges that were attached to the temple walls, so that nothing was built into the walls.


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The walls of the temple were thicker at the bottom than at the top, which meant that the storage rooms on the top level were wider than those on the bottom level. Steps led from the bottom level, through the middle level, and into the top level.


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The temple rested on a stone base ten feet high, which also served as the foundation for the storage rooms.


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One door led into the storage rooms on the north side of the temple, and another door led to those on the south side. The stone base extended eight feet beyond the outside wall of the storage rooms.


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I noticed another building: It faced the west end of the temple and was one hundred seventeen feet wide, one hundred fifty feet long, and had walls over eight feet thick.


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The man measured the length of the temple, and it was one hundred seventy feet. He then measured from the back wall of the temple, across the open space behind the temple, to the back wall of the west building; it was one hundred seventy feet.


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The distance across the front of the temple, including the open space on either side, was also one hundred seventy feet.


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Finally, the man measured the length of the west building, including the side rooms on each end, and it was also one hundred seventy feet. The inside walls of the temple's porch and main room


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were paneled with wood all the way from the floor to the windows, while the doorways, the small windows, and the three side rooms were trimmed in wood.


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with carvings of winged creatures and had a carving of a palm tree between the creatures. Each winged creature had two faces: A human face looking at the palm tree on one side, and a lion's face looking at the palm tree on the other side. These designs were carved into the paneling all the way around the two rooms.


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The doorframe to the temple's main room was in the shape of a rectangle. In front of the doorway to the most holy place was something that looked like


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a wooden altar. It was five feet high and four feet square, and its corners, its base, and its sides were made of wood. The man said, "This is a reminder that the LORD is constantly watching over his temple."


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Both the doorway to the main room of the temple and the doorway to the most holy place had two doors,


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The doors to the main room were decorated with carvings of winged creatures and palm trees just like those on the walls, and there was a wooden covering over the porch just outside these doors.


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The walls on each side of this porch had small windows and were also decorated with carvings of palm trees.


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After the man and I left the temple and walked back to the outer courtyard, he showed me a set of rooms on the north side of the west building. This set of rooms was one hundred seventy feet long and eighty-five feet wide.


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On one side of them was the thirty-four feet of open space that ran alongside the temple, and on the other side was the sidewalk that circled the outer courtyard. The rooms were arranged in three levels


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with doors that opened toward the north, and in front of them was a walkway seventeen feet wide and one hundred seventy feet long.


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The rooms on the top level were narrower than those on the middle level, and the rooms on the middle level were narrower than those on the bottom level.


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The rooms on the bottom level supported those on the two upper levels, and so these rooms did not have columns like other buildings in the courtyard.


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and at the east end of this wall was the door leading from the courtyard to these rooms. There was also a set of rooms on the south side of the west building.


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These rooms were exactly like those on the north side, and they also had a walkway in front of them.


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The man then said to me: These rooms on the north and south sides of the temple are the sacred rooms where the LORD's priests will eat the most holy offerings. These offerings include the grain sacrifices, the sacrifices for sin, and the sacrifices to make things right.


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When the priests are ready to leave the temple, they must go through these rooms before they return to the outer courtyard. They must leave their sacred clothes in these rooms and put on regular clothes before going anywhere near other people.


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After the man had finished measuring the buildings inside the temple area, he took me back through the east gate and measured the wall around this area.


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He used his measuring stick to measure the east side of this wall; it was eight hundred forty feet long.


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Then he measured the north side, the south side, and the west side of the wall, and they were each eight hundred forty feet long,


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and so the temple area was a perfect square. The wall around this area separated what was sacred from what was ordinary.


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where I saw the brightness of the glory of Israel's God coming from the east. The sound I heard was as loud as ocean waves, and everything around was shining with the dazzling brightness of his glory.


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This vision was like the one I had seen when God came to destroy Jerusalem and like the one I had seen near the Chebar River. I immediately bowed with my face to the ground,


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The LORD's Spirit lifted me to my feet and carried me to the inner courtyard, where I saw that the LORD's glory had filled the temple.


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Ezekiel, son of man, this temple is my throne on earth. I will live here among the people of Israel forever. They and their kings will never again disgrace me by worshiping idols at local shrines or by setting up memorials to their dead kings.


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Israel's kings built their palaces so close to my holy temple that only a wall separated them from me. Then these kings disgraced me with their evil ways, and in my fierce anger I destroyed them.


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But if the people and their kings stop worshiping other gods and tear down those memorials, I will live among them forever.


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The people of Israel must suffer shame for sinning against me, so tell them about my holy temple. Let them think about it,


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then if they are truly sorry, describe for them the design and shape of the temple, the gates, the measurements, and how the buildings are arranged. Explain the regulations about worshiping there, then write down these things, so they can study and obey them.


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The temple area on my holy mountain must be kept sacred! This is the most important law about the temple.


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According to the official standards, the altar in the temple had the following measurements: Around the bottom of the altar was a gutter twenty inches wide and twenty inches deep, with a ten inch ledge on the outer rim.


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The altar rested on a base and had three sections, each one of them square. The bottom section was twenty-seven feet on each side and three feet high. The middle section was twenty-four feet on each side and seven feet high, and it had a ten inch rim around its outer edge. The top section, which was twenty feet on each side and seven feet high, was the place where sacrifices were burned, and the four corners of the top section looked like the horns of a bull. The steps leading up to the altar were on the east side.


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The LORD God said: Ezekiel, son of man, after the altar is built, it must be dedicated by offering sacrifices on it and by splattering it with blood. Here is what you must do:


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The priests of the Levi tribe from the family of Zadok the priest are the only ones who may serve in my temple--this is my law. So give them a young bull to slaughter as a sacrifice for sin.


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Take some of the animal's blood and smear it on the four corners of the altar, some on the corners of the middle section, and some more on the rim around its edge. That will purify the altar and make it fit for offering sacrifices to me.


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The next day, a goat that has nothing wrong with it must be offered as a sacrifice for sin. Purify the altar with its blood, just as you did with the blood of the bull.


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and bring them to my temple. The priests will sprinkle salt on them and offer them as sacrifices to please me.


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Each day for the next seven days, you must offer a goat and a bull and a ram as sacrifices for sin. These animals must have nothing wrong with them.


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The priests will purify the altar during those days, so that it will be acceptable to me and ready to use.


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From then on, the priests will use this altar to offer sacrifices to please me and sacrifices to ask my blessing. Then I will be pleased with the people of Israel. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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The man took me back to the outer courtyard, near the east gate of the temple area. I saw that the doors to this gate were closed.


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The LORD said: I, the LORD God of Israel, came through this gate, so it must remain closed forever! No one must ever use it.


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The ruler of Israel may come here to eat a sacrificial meal that has been offered to me, but he must use only the entrance room of this gate.


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Then the man took me through the north gate to the front of the temple. I saw that the brightness of the LORD's glory had filled the temple, and I immediately bowed with my face to the ground.


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The LORD said: Ezekiel, son of man, I am going to give you the laws for my temple. So pay attention and listen carefully to what kind of people are allowed to come in the temple, and what kind are not.


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My temple has been disgraced, because you have let godless, stubborn foreigners come here when sacrifices are being offered to me. You have sinned and have broken our solemn agreement.


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Instead of following the proper ways to worship me, you have put foreigners in charge of worship at my temple.


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And so I, the LORD God, say that no godless foreigner who disobeys me will be allowed in my temple. This includes any foreigner living in Israel.


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Some of the Levites turned their backs on me and joined the other people of Israel in worshiping idols. So these Levites must be punished!


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They will still be allowed to serve me as temple workers by guarding the gates and by killing the animals to be sacrificed and by helping the worshipers.


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But because these Levites served the people of Israel when they worshiped idols, I, the LORD God, promise that the Levites will be punished. They did not stop the Israelites from sinning,


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and now I will no longer let the Levites serve as my priests or come near anything sacred to me. They must suffer shame and disgrace for their disgusting sins.


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The priests of the Levi tribe who are descendants of Zadok the priest were faithful to me, even when the rest of the Israelites turned away. And so, these priests will continue to serve as my priests and to offer the fat and the blood of sacrifices.


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They will come into my temple, where they will offer sacrifices at my altar and lead others in worship.


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When they come to the inner courtyard, they must wear their linen priestly clothes. My priests must never wear anything made of wool when they are on duty in this courtyard or in the temple.


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Even their turbans and underwear must be made of linen to keep my priests from sweating when they work.


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And before they leave to join the other people in the outer courtyard, they must take off their priestly clothes, then place them in the sacred rooms and put on their regular clothes. That way, no one will touch their sacred clothes and be harmed.


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Priests must never shave their heads when they are mourning. But they must keep their hair properly trimmed and not let it grow too long.


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A priest must not marry a divorced woman; he can marry only a virgin from Israel or the widow of another priest.


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Priests must teach my people the difference between what is sacred and what is ordinary, and between what is clean and what is unclean.


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They will make decisions in difficult legal cases, according to my own laws. They must also observe the religious festivals my Law requires and must always respect the Sabbath.


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Touching a dead body will make a person unclean. So a priest must not go near a dead body, unless it is one of his parents or children, or his brother or unmarried sister.


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If a priest touches a dead body, he is unclean and must go through a ceremony to make himself clean. Then seven days later,


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he must go to the inner courtyard of the temple and offer a sacrifice for sin. After that, he may once again serve as my priest. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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Instead, they will receive part of the grain sacrifices, as well as part of the sacrifices for sin and sacrifices to make things right. They will also be given everything in Israel that has been completely dedicated to me.


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The first part of every harvest will belong to the priests. They will also receive part of all special gifts and offerings the Israelites bring to me. And whenever any of my people bake bread, they will give their first loaf as an offering to the priests, and I will bless the homes of the people when they do this.


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Priests must not eat any bird or animal that dies a natural death or that has been killed by a wild animal.


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When the land of Israel is divided among the twelve tribes, you must set aside an area that will belong to me. This sacred area will be eight miles long and six miles wide.


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The temple will be on a piece of land eight hundred forty feet square, and the temple will be completely surrounded by an open space eighty-four feet wide.


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I will give half of my sacred land, a section eight miles long and three miles wide, to the priests who serve in the temple. Their houses will be in this half, as well as my temple, which is the most sacred place of all.


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I will give the other half of my land to the Levites who work in my temple, and the towns where they will live will be there.


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Next to my sacred land will be an area eight miles long and two miles wide. This will belong to the people of Israel and will include the city of Jerusalem.


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The regions west and east of my sacred land and the city of Jerusalem will belong to the ruler of Israel. He will be given the region between the western edge of my land and the Mediterranean Sea, and between the eastern edge of my land and the Jordan River. This will mean that the length of his property will be the same as the sections of land given to the tribes. This property will belong to every ruler of Israel, so they will always be fair to my people and will let them live peacefully in the land given to their tribes.


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The LORD God said: You leaders of Israel have robbed and cheated my people long enough! I want you to stop sinning and start doing what is right and fair. You must never again force my people off their own land. I, the LORD, have spoken.


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The ephah will be the standard dry measure, and the bath will be the standard liquid measure. Their size will be based on the homer, which will equal ten ephahs or ten baths.


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The standard unit of weight will be the shekel. One shekel will equal twenty gerahs, and sixty shekels will equal one mina.


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Leaders of Israel, the people must bring you one sixtieth of their grain harvests as offerings to me.


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They will also bring one percent of their olive oil. These things will be measured according to the bath, and ten baths is the same as one homer or one cor.


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Finally, they must bring one sheep out of every two hundred from their flocks. These offerings will be used as grain sacrifices, as well as sacrifices to please me and those to ask my blessing. I, the LORD, will be pleased with these sacrifices and will forgive the sins of my people.


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But during New Moon Festivals, Sabbath celebrations, and other religious feasts, you leaders will be responsible for providing animals for the sacrifices, as well as the grain and wine. All these will be used for the sacrifices for sin, the grain sacrifices, the sacrifices to please me, and those to ask my blessing. I will be pleased and will forgive the sins of my people.


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The LORD God said: On the first day of the first month, a young bull that has nothing wrong with it must be offered as a sacrifice to purify the temple.


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The priest will take some blood from this sacrifice and smear it on the doorposts of the temple, as well as on the four corners of the altar and on the doorposts of the gates that lead into the inner courtyard.


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The same ceremony must also be done on the seventh day of the month, so that anyone who sins accidentally or without knowing it will be forgiven, and so that my temple will remain holy.


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Beginning on the fourteenth day of the first month, and continuing for seven days, everyone will celebrate Passover and eat bread made without yeast.


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On the first day, the ruler will bring a bull to offer as a sacrifice for his sins and for the sins of the people.


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Each day of the festival he is to bring seven bulls and seven rams as sacrifices to please me, and he must bring a goat as a sacrifice for sin. These animals must have nothing wrong with them.


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He will also provide twenty pounds of grain and four quarts of olive oil to be offered with each bull and each ram.


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The Festival of Shelters will begin on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and will continue for seven days. On each day of this festival, the ruler will provide the same number of animals that he did each day during Passover, as well as the same amount of grain and olive oil for the sacrifices.


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The LORD said: The east gate of the inner courtyard must remain closed during the six working days of each week. But on the Sabbath and on the first day of the month, this gate will be opened.


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Israel's ruler will go from the outer courtyard into the entrance room of this gate and stand in the doorway while the priest offers sacrifices to ask my blessing and sacrifices to please me. The ruler will bow with his face to the ground to show that he has worshiped me. Then he will leave, and the gate will remain open until evening.


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Each Sabbath and on the first day of each month, the people of Israel must also come to the east gate and worship me.


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On the Sabbath, the ruler will bring six lambs and one ram to be offered as sacrifices to please me. There must be nothing wrong with any of these animals.


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With the ram, he is to offer twenty pounds of grain, and with each of the lambs, he can offer as much as he wants. He must also offer four quarts of olive oil with every twenty pounds of grain.


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The ruler is to bring six lambs, a bull, and a ram to be offered as sacrifices at the New Moon Festival. There must be nothing wrong with any of these animals.


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With the bull and the ram, he is to offer twenty pounds of grain, and with each of the lambs, he can offer as much as he wants. He must also offer four quarts of olive oil with every twenty pounds of grain.


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When my people come to worship me during any festival, they must always leave by the opposite gate from which they came: Those who come in the north gate must leave by the south gate, and those who come in the south gate must leave by the north gate.


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At all other festivals and celebrations, twenty pounds of grain will be offered with a bull, and twenty pounds will be offered with a ram. The worshipers can offer as much grain as they want with each lamb. Four quarts of olive oil must be offered with every twenty pounds of grain.


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If the ruler voluntarily offers a sacrifice to please me or to ask my blessing, the east gate of the inner courtyard will be opened for him. He will offer his sacrifices just as he does on each Sabbath; then he will leave, and the gate will be closed.


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Each morning a year-old lamb that has nothing wrong with it must be offered as a sacrifice to please me.


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Along with it, three pounds of fine flour mixed with a quart of olive oil must be offered as a grain sacrifice. This law will never change--


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The LORD God said: If the ruler of Israel gives some of his land to one of his children, it will belong to the ruler's child as part of the family property.


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But if the ruler gives some of his land to one of his servants, the land will belong to the servant until the Year of Celebration, when it will be returned to the ruler. Only the ruler's children can keep what is given to them.


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The ruler must never abuse my people by taking land from them. Any land he gives his children must already belong to him.


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The man who was showing me the temple then took me back to the inner courtyard. We walked to the south side of the courtyard and stopped at the door to the sacred rooms that belonged to the priests. He showed me more rooms at the western edge of the courtyard


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and said, "These are the kitchens where the priests must boil the meat to be offered as sacrifices to make things right and as sacrifices for sin. They will also bake the grain for sacrifices in these kitchens. That way, these sacred offerings won't have to be carried through the outer courtyard, where someone could accidentally touch them and be harmed."


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Around the inside of these smaller courtyards was a low wall of stones, and against the wall were places to build fires.


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The man said, "These are the kitchens where the temple workers will boil the meat that worshipers offer as sacrifices."


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The man took me back to the temple, where I saw a stream flowing from under the entrance. It began in the south part of the temple, where it ran past the altar and continued east through the courtyard.


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We walked out of the temple area through the north gate and went around to the east gate. I saw the small stream of water flowing east from the south side of the gate.


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The man walked east, then took out his measuring stick and measured five hundred sixty yards downstream. He told me to wade through the stream there, and the water came up to my ankles.


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Then he measured another five hundred sixty yards downstream, and told me to wade through it there. The water came up to my knees. Another five hundred sixty yards downstream the water came up to my waist.


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Another five hundred sixty yards downstream, the stream had become a river that could be crossed only by swimming.


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The man said: This water flows eastward to the Jordan River valley and empties into the Dead Sea, where it turns the salt water into fresh water.


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Wherever this water flows, there will be all kinds of animals and fish, because it will bring life and fresh water to the Dead Sea.


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From En-Gedi to Eneglaim, people will fish in the sea and dry their nets along the coast. There will be as many kinds of fish in the Dead Sea as there are in the Mediterranean Sea.


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Fruit trees will grow all along this river and produce fresh fruit every month. The leaves will never dry out, because they will always have water from the stream that flows from the temple, and they will be used for healing people.


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The LORD God said to the people of Israel: When the land is divided among the twelve tribes of Israel, the Joseph tribe will receive two shares. Divide the land equally, because I promised your ancestors that this land would someday belong to their descendants. These are the borders of the land:


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The northern border will begin at the Mediterranean Sea, then continue eastward to Hethlon, to Lebo-Hamath, then across to Zedad,


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Berothah, and Sibraim, which is on the border between the two kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath. The border will end at Hazer-Hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran.


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So the northern border will run between the Mediterranean Sea and Hazar-Enon, which is on the border between Damascus and Hamath.


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The eastern border will begin on the border between the two kingdoms of Hauran and Damascus. It will run south along the Jordan River, which separates the territories of Gilead and Israel, and it will end at the Dead Sea near the town of Tamar.


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The southern border will begin at Tamar, then run southwest to the springs near Meribath-Kadesh. It will continue along the Egyptian Gorge and will end at the Mediterranean Sea.


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It will belong to the Israelites and to any foreigners living among them whose children were born in Israel. These foreigners must be treated like any other Israelite citizen, and they will receive


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Each tribe will receive a section of land that runs from the eastern border of Israel west to the Mediterranean Sea. The northern border of Israel will run along the towns of Hethlon and Lebo-Hamath, and will end at Hazar-Enon, which is on the border between the kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath. The tribes will receive their share of land in the following order, from north to south: Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah.


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South of Judah's territory will be a special section of land. Its length will be eight miles, and its width will run from the eastern border of Israel west to the Mediterranean Sea. My temple will be located in this section of land.


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An area in the center of this land will belong to me. It will be eight miles long and six miles wide.


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I, the LORD, will give half of my sacred land to the priests. Their share will be eight miles long and three miles wide, and my temple will be right in the middle.


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Only priests who are descendants of Zadok will receive a share of this sacred land, because they remained faithful to me when the Levites and the rest of the Israelites started sinning.


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The land belonging to the priests will be the most sacred area and will lie south of the area that belongs to the Levites.


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I will give the other half of my sacred land to the Levites. Their share will also be eight miles long and three miles wide,


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South of my sacred land will be a section eight miles long and two miles wide. It will not be sacred, but will belong to the people of Israel and will include the city of Jerusalem, together with its houses and pastureland.


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The land on the east and west sides of the city limits will be farmland for the people of Jerusalem; both sections will be three miles long and two miles wide.


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And so the center of this special section of land will be for my sacred land, as well as for the city and its property. The land will be a square, eight miles on each side.


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The regions east and west of this square of land will belong to the ruler of Israel. His property will run east to the Jordan River and west to the Mediterranean Sea. In the very center of his property will be my sacred land, as well as the temple,


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together with the share belonging to the Levites and the city of Jerusalem. The northern border of the ruler's property will be the land that belongs to Judah, and the southern border will be the land that belongs to Benjamin.


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South of this special section will be the land that belongs to the rest of Israel's tribes. Each tribe will receive a section of land that runs from the eastern border of Israel west to the Mediterranean Sea. The tribes will receive their share of land in the following order, from north to south: Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad.


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Gad's southern border is also the southern border of Israel. It will begin at the town of Tamar, then run southwest to the springs near Meribath-Kadesh. It will continue along the Egyptian Gorge and end at the Mediterranean Sea.


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That's how the land of Israel will be divided among the twelve tribes. I, the LORD God, have spoken.


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The city of Jerusalem will have twelve gates, three on each of the four sides of the city wall. These gates will be named after the twelve tribes of Israel. The gates of Reuben, Judah, and Levi will be in the north; Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan will be in the east; Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun will be in the south; Gad, Asher, and Naphtali will be in the west. Each side of the city wall will be a mile and a half long,


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and so the total length of the wall will be six miles. The new name of the city will be "The-LORD-Is-Here!"


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In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem.


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The Lord let Nebuchadnezzar capture Jehoiakim and take away some of the things used in God's temple. And when the king returned to Babylonia, he put these things in the temple of his own god.


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One day the king ordered Ashpenaz, his highest palace official, to choose some young men from the royal family of Judah and from other leading Jewish families.


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The king said, "They must be healthy, handsome, smart, wise, educated, and fit to serve in the royal palace. Teach them how to speak and write our language


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and give them the same food and wine that I am served. Train them for three years, and then they can become court officials."


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Four of the young Jews chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all from the tribe of Judah.


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But the king's chief official gave them Babylonian names: Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach, and Azariah became Abednego.


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Daniel made up his mind to eat and drink only what God had approved for his people to eat. And he asked the king's chief official for permission not to eat the food and wine served in the royal palace.


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But the man still told him, "The king has decided what you must eat and drink. And I am afraid he will kill me, if you eat something else and end up looking worse than the other young men."


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The king's official had put a guard in charge of Daniel and his three friends. So Daniel said to the guard,


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When the ten days are up, compare how we look with the other young men, and decide what to do with us."


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Ten days later, Daniel and his friends looked healthier and better than the young men who had been served food from the royal palace.


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God made the four young men smart and wise. They read a lot of books and became well educated. Daniel could also tell the meaning of dreams and visions.


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At the end of the three-year period set by King Nebuchadnezzar, his chief palace official brought all the young men to him.


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The king interviewed them and discovered that none of the others were as outstanding as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were given positions in the royal court.


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From then on, whenever the king asked for advice, he found their wisdom was ten times better than that of any of his other advisors and magicians.


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During the second year that Nebuchadnezzar was king, he had such horrible nightmares that he could not sleep.


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They answered in Aramaic, "Your Majesty, we hope you live forever! We are your servants. Please tell us your dream, and we will explain what it means."


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But the king replied, "No! I have made up my mind. If you don't tell me both the dream and its meaning, you will be chopped to pieces and your houses will be torn down.


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However, if you do tell me both the dream and its meaning, you will be greatly rewarded and highly honored. Now tell me the dream and explain what it means."


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because you know what's going to happen if you don't come up with the answer. You've decided to make up a bunch of lies, hoping I might change my mind. Now tell me the dream, and that will prove that you can interpret it."


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His advisors explained, "Your Majesty, you are demanding the impossible! No king, not even the most famous and powerful, has ever ordered his advisors, magicians, or wise men to do such a thing.


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This made the king so angry that he gave orders for every wise man in Babylonia to be put to death, including Daniel and his three friends.


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Arioch was the king's official in charge of putting the wise men to death. He was on his way to have it done, when Daniel very wisely went to him


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Daniel rushed off and said to the king, "If you will just give me some time, I'll explain your dream."


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Then he said, "Pray that the God who rules from heaven will be merciful and explain this mystery, so that we and the others won't be put to death."


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In a vision one night, Daniel was shown the dream and its meaning. Then he praised the God who rules from heaven:


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"Our God, your name will be praised forever and forever. You are all-powerful, and you know everything.


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You control human events-- you give rulers their power and take it away, and you are the source of wisdom and knowledge.


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You are the God who was worshiped by my ancestors. Now I thank you and praise you for making me wise and telling me the king's dream, together with its meaning."


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Daniel went back to Arioch, the official in charge of executing the wise men. Daniel said, "Don't kill those men! Take me to the king, and I will explain the meaning of his dream."


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Arioch rushed Daniel to the king and announced, "Your Majesty, I have found out that one of the men brought here from Judah can explain your dream."


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Daniel answered: Your Majesty, not even the smartest person in all the world can do what you are demanding.


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But the God who rules from heaven can explain mysteries. And while you were sleeping, he showed you what will happen in the future.


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However, you must realize that these mysteries weren't explained to me because I am smarter than everyone else. Instead, it was done so that you would understand what you have seen.


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Your Majesty, what you saw standing in front of you was a huge and terrifying statue, shining brightly.


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Its head was made of gold, its chest and arms were silver, and from its waist down to its knees, it was bronze.


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As you watched, a stone was cut from a mountain--but not by human hands. The stone struck the feet, completely shattering the iron and clay.


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Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed and blown away without a trace, like husks of wheat at threshing time. But the stone became a tremendous mountain that covered the entire earth.


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After you are gone, another kingdom will rule, but it won't be as strong. Then it will be followed by a kingdom of bronze that will rule the whole world.


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This fourth kingdom will be divided--it will be both strong and brittle, just as you saw that the feet and toes were a mixture of iron and clay.


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This kingdom will be the result of a marriage between kingdoms, but it will crumble, just as iron and clay don't stick together.


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During the time of those kings, the God who rules from heaven will set up an eternal kingdom that will never fall. It will be like the stone that was cut from the mountain, but not by human hands--the stone that crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. Your Majesty, in your dream the great God has told you what is going to happen, and you can trust this interpretation.


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King Nebuchadnezzar bowed low to the ground and worshiped Daniel. Then he gave orders for incense to be burned and a sacrifice of grain to be offered in honor of Daniel.


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The king said, "Now I know that your God is above all other gods and kings, because he gave you the power to explain this mystery."


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The king then presented Daniel with a lot of gifts; he promoted him to governor of Babylon Province and put him in charge of the other wise men.


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At Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to high positions in Babylon Province, and he let Daniel stay on as a palace official.


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King Nebuchadnezzar ordered a gold statue to be built ninety feet high and nine feet wide. He had it set up in Dura Valley near the city of Babylon,


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and he commanded his governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, and his other officials to come from everywhere in his kingdom to the dedication of the statue.


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Then an official stood up and announced: People of every nation and race, now listen to the king's command!


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Trumpets, flutes, harps, and all other kinds of musical instruments will soon start playing. When you hear the music, you must bow down and worship the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.


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As soon as the people heard the music, they bowed down and worshiped the gold statue that the king had set up.


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And you said that anyone who did not bow down and worship it would be thrown into a flaming furnace.


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Sir, you appointed three men to high positions in Babylon Province, but they have disobeyed you. Those Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refuse to worship your gods and the statue you have set up."


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Now I am going to give you one more chance. If you bow down and worship the statue when you hear the music, everything will be all right. But if you don't, you will at once be thrown into a flaming furnace. No god can save you from me."


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Nebuchadnezzar's face twisted with anger at the three men. And he ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual.


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Next, he commanded some of his strongest soldiers to tie up the men and throw them into the flaming furnace.


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The king wanted it done at that very moment. So the soldiers tied up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and threw them into the flaming furnace with all of their clothes still on, including their turbans. The fire was so hot that flames leaped out and killed the soldiers.


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Suddenly the king jumped up and shouted, "Weren't only three men tied up and thrown into the fire?" "Yes, Your Majesty," the people answered.


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"But I see four men walking around in the fire," the king replied. "None of them is tied up or harmed, and the fourth one looks like a god."


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Nebuchadnezzar went closer to the flaming furnace and said to the three young men, "You servants of the Most High God, come out at once!" They came out,


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and the king's high officials, governors, and advisors all crowded around them. The men were not burned, their hair wasn't scorched, and their clothes didn't even smell like smoke.


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King Nebuchadnezzar said: Praise their God for sending an angel to rescue his servants! They trusted their God and refused to obey my commands. Yes, they chose to die rather than to worship or serve any god except their own.


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And I won't allow people of any nation or race to say anything against their God. Anyone who does will be chopped up and their houses will be torn down, because no other god has such great power to save.


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After this happened, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions in Babylon Province.


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King Nebuchadnezzar sent the following letter to the people of all nations and races on the earth: Greetings to all of you!


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Then I commanded every wise man in Babylonia to appear in my court, so they could explain the meaning of my dream.


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Finally, a young man named Daniel came in, and I told him the dream. The holy gods had given him special powers, and I had renamed him Belteshazzar after my own god.


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I said, "Belteshazzar, not only are you the wisest of all advisors and counselors, but the holy gods have given you special powers to solve the most difficult mysteries. So listen to what I dreamed and tell me what it means:


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It was covered with leaves and heavy with fruit-- enough for all nations. Wild animals enjoyed its shade, birds nested in its branches, and all creatures on earth lived on its fruit.


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and shouted: 'Chop down the tree and cut off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Make the animals leave its shade and send the birds flying from its branches.


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But leave its stump and roots in the ground, surrounded by grass and held by chains of iron and bronze. 'Make sure that this ruler lives like the animals out in the open fields, unprotected from the dew.


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This punishment is given at the command of the holy angels. It will show to all who live that God Most High controls all kingdoms and chooses for their rulers persons of humble birth.'


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"Daniel, that was the dream that none of the wise men in my kingdom were able to understand. But I am sure that you will understand what it means, because the holy gods have given you some special powers."


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For a while, Daniel was terribly confused and worried by what he was thinking. But I said, "Don't be bothered either by the dream or by what it means." Daniel replied: Your Majesty, I wish the dream had been against your enemies.


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You saw a tree that grew so big and strong that it reached up to heaven and could be seen from anywhere on earth.


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Its leaves were beautiful, and it produced enough fruit for all living creatures; animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches.


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Your Majesty, that tree is you. Your glorious reputation has reached heaven, and your kingdom covers the earth.


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Then you saw a holy angel come down from heaven and say, "Chop down the tree and destroy it! But leave its stump and roots in the ground, fastened there by a chain of iron and bronze. Let it stay for seven years out in the field with the wild animals, unprotected from the dew."


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that you will be forced to live with the wild animals, far away from humans. You will eat grass like a wild animal and live outdoors for seven years, until you learn that God Most High controls all earthly kingdoms and chooses their rulers.


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But he gave orders not to disturb the stump and roots. This is to show that you will be king once again, after you learn that the God who rules from heaven is in control.


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Your Majesty, please be willing to do what I say. Turn from your sins and start living right; have mercy on those who are mistreated. Then all will go well with you for a long time.


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About twelve months later, I was walking on the flat roof of my royal palace and admiring the beautiful city of Babylon, when these things started happening to me. I was saying to myself, "Just look at this wonderful capital city that I have built by my own power and for my own glory!"


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But before I could finish speaking, a voice from heaven interrupted: King Nebuchadnezzar, this kingdom is no longer yours.


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You will be forced to live with the wild animals, away from people. For seven years you will eat grass, as though you were an ox, until you learn that God Most High is in control of all earthly kingdoms and that he is the one who chooses their rulers.


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This was no sooner said than done--I was forced to live like a wild animal; I ate grass and was unprotected from the dew. As time went by, my hair grew longer than eagle feathers, and my fingernails looked like the claws of a bird.


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Finally, I prayed to God in heaven, and my mind was healed. Then I said: "I praise and honor God Most High. He lives forever, and his kingdom will never end.


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To him the nations are far less than nothing; God controls the stars in the sky and everyone on this earth. When God does something, we cannot change it or even ask why."


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At that time my mind was healed, and once again I became the ruler of my glorious kingdom. My advisors and officials returned to me, and I had greater power than ever before.


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That's why I say: "Praise and honor the King who rules from heaven! Everything he does is honest and fair, and he can shatter the power of those who are proud."


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One evening, King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his highest officials, and he drank wine with them.


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He got drunk and ordered his servants to bring in the gold and silver cups his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. Belshazzar wanted the cups, so that he and all his wives and officials could drink from them.


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When the gold cups were brought in, everyone at the banquet drank from them and praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.


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Suddenly a human hand was seen writing on the plaster wall of the palace. The hand was just behind the lampstand, and the king could see it writing.


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He was so frightened that his face turned pale, his knees started shaking, and his legs became weak.


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The king called in his advisors, who claimed they could talk with the spirits of the dead and understand the meanings found in the stars. He told them, "The man who can read this writing and tell me what it means will become the third most powerful man in my kingdom. He will wear robes of royal purple and a gold chain around his neck."


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All of King Belshazzar's highest officials came in, but not one of them could read the writing or tell what it meant,


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and they were completely puzzled. Now the king was more afraid than ever before, and his face turned white as a ghost.


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When the queen heard the king and his officials talking, she came in and said: Your Majesty, I hope you live forever! Don't be afraid or look so pale.


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In your kingdom there is a man who has been given special powers by the holy gods. When your father Nebuchadnezzar was king, this man was known to be as smart, intelligent, and wise as the gods themselves. Your father put him in charge of all who claimed they could talk with the spirits or understand the meanings in the stars or tell about the future.


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He also changed the man's name from Daniel to Belteshazzar. Not only is he wise and intelligent, but he can explain dreams and riddles and solve difficult problems. Send for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.


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When Daniel was brought in, the king said: So you are Daniel, one of the captives my father brought back from Judah!


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Neither my advisors nor the men who talk with the spirits of the dead could read this writing or tell me what it means.


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But I have been told that you understand everything and that you can solve difficult problems. Now then, if you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will become the third most powerful man in my kingdom. You will wear royal purple robes and have a gold chain around your neck.


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Daniel answered: Your Majesty, I will read the writing and tell you what it means. But you may keep your gifts or give them to someone else.


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Sir, the Most High God made your father a great and powerful man and brought him much honor and glory.


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God did such great things for him that people of all nations and races shook with fear. Your father had the power of life or death over everyone, and he could honor or ruin anyone he chose.


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His mind became like that of an animal, and he was forced to stay away from people and live with wild donkeys. Your father ate grass like an ox, and he slept outside where his body was soaked with dew. He was forced to do this until he learned that the Most High God rules all kingdoms on earth and chooses their kings.


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King Belshazzar, you knew all of this, but you still refused to honor the Lord who rules from heaven.


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Instead, you turned against him and ordered the cups from his temple to be brought here, so that you and your wives and officials could drink wine from them. You praised idols made of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, even though they cannot see or hear or think. You refused to worship the God who gives you breath and controls everything you do.


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The words written there are mene, which means "numbered," tekel, which means "weighed," and parsin, which means "divided." God has numbered the days of your kingdom and has brought it to an end. He has weighed you on his balance scales, and you fall short of what it takes to be king. So God has divided your kingdom between the Medes and the Persians.


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Belshazzar gave a command for Daniel to be made the third most powerful man in his kingdom and to be given a purple robe and a gold chain.


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Darius divided his kingdom into a hundred and twenty states and placed a governor in charge of each one.


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In order to make sure that his government was run properly, Darius put three other officials in charge of the governors. One of these officials was Daniel.


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And he did his work so much better than the other governors and officials that the king decided to let him govern the whole kingdom.


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The other men tried to find something wrong with the way Daniel did his work for the king. But they could not accuse him of anything wrong, because he was honest and faithful and did everything he was supposed to do.


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Finally, they said to one another, "We will never be able to bring any charge against Daniel, unless it has to do with his religion."


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All of your officials, leaders, advisors, and governors agree that you should make a law forbidding anyone to pray to any god or human except you for the next thirty days. Everyone who disobeys this law must be thrown into a pit of lions.


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Order this to be written and then sign it, so it cannot be changed, just as no written law of the Medes and Persians can be changed."


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Daniel heard about the law, but when he returned home, he went upstairs and prayed in front of the window that faced Jerusalem. In the same way that he had always done, he knelt down in prayer three times a day, giving thanks to God.


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They went back to the king and said, "Didn't you make a law that forbids anyone to pray to any god or human except you for the next thirty days? And doesn't the law say that everyone who disobeys it will be thrown into a pit of lions?" "Yes, that's the law I made," the king agreed. "And just like all written laws of the Medes and Persians, it cannot be changed."


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The men then told the king, "That Jew named Daniel, who was brought here as a captive, refuses to obey you or the law that you ordered to be written. And he still prays to his god three times a day."


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The king was really upset to hear about this, and for the rest of the day he tried to think how he could save Daniel.


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At sunset the men returned and said, "Your Majesty, remember that no written law of the Medes and Persians can be changed, not even by the king."


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So Darius ordered Daniel to be brought out and thrown into a pit of lions. But he said to Daniel, "You have been faithful to your God, and I pray that he will rescue you."


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A stone was rolled over the pit, and it was sealed. Then Darius and his officials stamped the seal to show that no one should let Daniel out.


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All night long the king could not sleep. He did not eat anything, and he would not let anyone come in to entertain him.


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He was anxious and shouted, "Daniel, you were faithful and served your God. Was he able to save you from the lions?"


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My God knew that I was innocent, and he sent an angel to keep the lions from eating me. Your Majesty, I have never done anything to hurt you."


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The king was relieved to hear Daniel's voice, and he gave orders for him to be taken out of the pit. Daniel's faith in his God had kept him from being harmed.


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And the king ordered the men who had brought charges against Daniel to be thrown into the pit, together with their wives and children. But before they even reached the bottom, the lions ripped them to pieces.


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King Darius then sent this message to all people of every nation and race in the world: "Greetings to all of you!


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I command everyone in my kingdom to worship and honor the God of Daniel. He is the living God, the one who lives forever. His power and his kingdom will never end.


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He rescues people and sets them free by working great miracles. Daniel's God has rescued him from the power of the lions."


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Daniel wrote: In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylonia, I had some dreams and visions while I was asleep one night, and I wrote them down. The four winds were stirring up the mighty sea,


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The first was like a lion with the wings of an eagle. As I watched, its wings were pulled off. Then it was lifted to an upright position and made to stand on two feet, just like a human, and it was given a human mind.


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The second beast looked like a bear standing on its hind legs. It held three ribs in its teeth, and it was told, "Attack! Eat all the flesh you want."


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The third beast was like a leopard--except that it had four wings and four heads. It was given authority to rule.


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The fourth beast was stronger and more terrifying than the others. Its huge teeth were made of iron, and what it didn't grind with its teeth, it smashed with its feet. It was different from the others, and it had horns on its head--ten of them.


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Just as I was thinking about these horns, a smaller horn appeared, and three of the other horns were pulled up by the roots to make room for it. This horn had the eyes of a human and a mouth that spoke with great pride.


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Thrones were set up while I was watching, and the Eternal God took his place. His clothing and his hair were white as snow. His throne was a blazing fire with fiery wheels,


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and flames were dashing out from all around him. Countless thousands were standing there to serve him. The time of judgment began, and the books were opened.


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I watched closely to see what would happen to this smaller horn because of the arrogant things it was saying. Then before my very eyes, the fourth beast was killed and its body destroyed by fire.


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The other three beasts had their authority taken from them, but they were allowed to live a while longer.


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As I continued to watch the vision that night, I saw what looked like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, and he was presented to the Eternal God.


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He was crowned king and given power and glory, so that all people of every nation and race would serve him. He will rule forever, and his kingdom is eternal, never to be destroyed.


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But God Most High will give his kingdom to his chosen ones, and it will be theirs forever and ever."


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I wanted to know more about the fourth beast, because it was so different and much more terrifying than the others. What was the meaning of its iron teeth and bronze claws and of its feet that smashed what the teeth and claws had not ground and crushed?


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I also wanted to know more about all ten of those horns on its head. I especially wanted to know more about the one that took the place of three of the others--the horn that had eyes and spoke with arrogance and seemed greater than the others.


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Then God Most High, the Eternal God, came and judged in favor of his chosen ones, because the time had arrived for them to be given the kingdom.


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Then I was told by the one standing there: "The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom to appear on earth. It will be different from all the others-- it will trample the earth and crush it to pieces.


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All ten of those horns are kings who will come from this kingdom, and one more will follow. This horn will be different from the others, and it will conquer three other kings.


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"This king will speak evil of God Most High, and he will be cruel to God's chosen ones. He will try to change God's Law and the sacred seasons. And he will be able to do this for a time, two times, and half a time.


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"Then the greatest kingdom of all will be given to the chosen ones of God Most High. His kingdom will be eternal, and all others will serve and obey him."


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when I looked up and saw a ram standing there with two horns on its head--both of them were long, but the second one was longer than the first.


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The ram went charging toward the west, the north, and the south. No other animals were strong enough to oppose him, and nothing could save them from his power. So he did as he pleased and became even more powerful.


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I kept on watching and saw a goat come from the west and charge across the entire earth, without even touching the ground. Between his eyes was a powerful horn,


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The goat was so fierce that its attack broke both horns of the ram, leaving him powerless. Then the goat stomped on the ram, and no one could do anything to help.


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After this, the goat became even more powerful. But at the peak of his power, his mighty horn was broken, and four other mighty horns took its place--one pointing to the north and one to the east, one to the south and one to the west.


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A little horn came from one of these, and its power reached to the south, the east, and even to the holy land.


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It became so strong that it attacked the stars in the sky, which were heaven's army. Then it threw some of them down to the earth and stomped on them.


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It humiliated heaven's army and dishonored its leader by keeping him from offering the daily sacrifices. In fact, it was so terrible that it even disgraced the temple and wiped out true worship. It also did everything else it wanted to do.


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Then one of the holy angels asked another, "When will the daily sacrifices be offered again? What about this horrible rebellion? When will the temple and heaven's army no longer be trampled in the dust?"


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The other answered, "It will be two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings before the temple is dedicated and in use again."


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Daniel wrote: I was trying to figure out the meaning of the vision, when someone suddenly appeared there beside me.


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And from beside the Ulai River, a voice like that of a human said, "Gabriel, help him understand the vision."


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Gabriel came over, and I fell to the ground in fear. Then he said, "You are merely a human, but you need to understand that this vision is about the end of time."


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and said: Listen, and I will tell you what will happen at the end of time, when God has chosen to show his anger.


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the goat is the kingdom of Greece, and the powerful horn between his eyes is the first of its kings.


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When these rulers have become as evil as possible, their power will end, and then a king who is dangerous and cannot be trusted will appear.


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He will gain strength, but not on his own, and he will cause terrible destruction. He will wipe out powerful leaders and God's people as well.


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His deceitful lies will make him so successful, that he will think he is really great. Suddenly he will kill many people, and he will even attack God, the Supreme Ruler. But God will crush him!


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This vision about the evenings and mornings is true, but these things won't happen for a long time, so don't tell it to others.


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After this, I was so worn out and weak that it was several days before I could get out of bed and go about my duties for the king. I was disturbed by this vision that made no sense to me.


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Daniel wrote: Some years later, Darius the Mede, who was the son of Xerxes, had become king of Babylonia. And during his first year as king, I found out from studying the writings of the prophets that the LORD had said to Jeremiah, "Jerusalem will lie in ruins for seventy years."


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Then, to show my sorrow, I went without eating and dressed in sackcloth and sat in ashes. I confessed my sins and earnestly prayed to the LORD my God: Our Lord, you are a great and fearsome God, and you faithfully keep your agreement with those who love and obey you.


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We have ignored the message your servants the prophets spoke to our kings, our leaders, our ancestors, and everyone else.


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Everything you do is right, our Lord. But still we suffer public disgrace because we have been unfaithful and have sinned against you. This includes all of us, both far and near--the people of Judah, Jerusalem, and Israel, as well as those you dragged away to foreign lands,


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Everyone in Israel has stubbornly refused to obey your laws, and so those curses written by your servant Moses have fallen upon us.


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You warned us and our leaders that Jerusalem would suffer the worst disaster in human history, and you did exactly as you had threatened.


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We have not escaped any of the terrible curses written by Moses, and yet we have refused to beg you for mercy and to remind ourselves of how faithful you have always been.


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And when you finally punished us with this horrible disaster, that was also the right thing to do, because we deserved it so much.


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Our Lord God, with your own mighty arm you rescued us from Egypt and made yourself famous to this very day, but we have sinned terribly.


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In the past, you treated us with such kindness, that we now beg you to stop being so terribly angry with Jerusalem. After all, it is your chosen city built on your holy mountain, even though it has suffered public disgrace because of our sins and those of our ancestors.


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I am your servant, Lord God, and I beg you to answer my prayers and bring honor to yourself by having pity on your temple that lies in ruins.


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Please show mercy to your chosen city, not because we deserve it, but because of your great kindness.


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Forgive us! Hurry and do something, not only for your city and your chosen people, but to bring honor to yourself.


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I was still confessing my sins and those of all Israel to the LORD my God, and I was praying for the good of his holy mountain,


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when Gabriel suddenly came flying in at the time of the evening sacrifice. This was the same Gabriel I had seen in my vision,


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God thinks highly of you, and at the very moment you started praying, I was sent to give you the answer.


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God has decided that for seventy weeks, your people and your holy city must suffer as the price of their sins. Then evil will disappear, and justice will rule forever; the visions and words of the prophets will come true, and a most holy place will be dedicated.


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You need to realize that from the command to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Chosen Leader, it will be seven weeks and another sixty-two weeks. Streets will be built in Jerusalem, and a trench will be dug around the city for protection, but these will be difficult times.


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At the end of the sixty-two weeks, the Chosen Leader will be killed and left with nothing. A foreign ruler and his army will sweep down like a mighty flood, leaving both the city and the temple in ruins, and war and destruction will continue until the end, just as God has decided.


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For one week this foreigner will make a firm agreement with many people, and halfway through this week, he will end all sacrifices and offerings. Then the "Horrible Thing" that causes destruction will be put there. And it will stay there until the time God has decided to destroy this one who destroys.


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In the third year of Cyrus the king of Persia, a message came to Daniel from God, and it was explained in a vision. The message was about a horrible war, and it was true.


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Then, on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was standing on the banks of the great Tigris River,


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His body was like a precious stone, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming fires, his arms and legs like polished bronze, and his voice like the roar of a crowd.


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Although the people who were with me did not see the vision, they became so frightened that they scattered and hid.


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and then said, "Daniel, your God thinks highly of you, and he has sent me. So stand up and pay close attention." I stood trembling, while the angel said:


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Daniel, don't be afraid! God has listened to your prayers since the first day you humbly asked for understanding, and he has sent me here.


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But the guardian angel of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, who is one of the strongest guardian angels, came to rescue me from the kings of Persia.


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Now I have come here to give you another vision about what will happen to your people in the future.


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Then he appeared in human form and touched my lips. I said, "Sir, this vision has brought me great pain and has drained my strength.


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I am merely your servant. How can I possibly speak with someone so powerful, when I am almost too weak to get my breath?"


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The angel touched me a second time and said, "Don't be frightened! God thinks highly of you, and he intends this for your good, so be brave and strong." At this, I regained my strength and replied, "Please speak! You have already made me feel much better."


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Then the angel said: Now do you understand why I have come? Soon I must leave to fight against the guardian angel of Persia. Then after I have defeated him, the guardian angel of Greece will attack me.


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I will tell you what is written in The Book of Truth. But first, you must realize that no one except Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, is on my side.


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What I am going to tell you is certain to happen. Four kings will rule Persia, one after the other, but the fourth one will become much richer than the others. In fact, his wealth will make him so powerful that he will turn everyone against the kingdom of Greece.


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But suddenly his kingdom will be crushed and scattered to the four corners of the earth, where four more kingdoms will rise. But these won't be ruled by his descendants or be as powerful as his kingdom.


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The king of the south will grow powerful. Then one of his generals will rebel and take over most of the kingdom.


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Years later the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom will make a treaty, and the daughter of the king of the south will marry the king of the north. But she will lose her power. Then she, her husband, their child, and the servants who came with her will all be killed. After this,


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one of her relatives will become the ruler of the southern kingdom. He will attack the army of the northern kingdom and capture its fortresses.


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Then he will carry their idols to Egypt, together with their precious treasures of silver and gold, but it will be a long time before he attacks the northern kingdom again. Some years later


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the king of the north will invade the southern kingdom, but he will be forced back to his own country.


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The sons of the king of the north will gather a huge army that will sweep down like a roaring flood, reaching all the way to the fortress of the southern kingdom.


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The king of the south will feel proud because of the many thousands he has killed. But his victories won't last long,


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because the king of the north will gather a larger and more powerful army than ever before. Then in a few years, he will start invading other countries.


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At this time many of your own people will try to make this vision come true by rebelling against the king of the south, but their rebellion will fail.


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Then the army from the north will surround and capture a fortress in the south, and not even the most experienced troops of the southern kingdom will be able to make them retreat.


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The king who invaded from the north will do as he pleases, and he will even capture and destroy the holy land.


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In fact, he will decide to invade the south with his entire army. Then he will attempt to make peace by giving the king of the south a bride from the northern kingdom, but this won't be successful.


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Afterwards, this proud king of the north will invade and conquer many of the nations along the coast, but a military leader will defeat him and make him lose his pride.


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He will retreat to his fortresses in his own country, but on the way he will be defeated and never again be seen.


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The next king of the north will try to collect taxes for the glory of his kingdom. However, he will come to a sudden end in some mysterious way, instead of in battle or because of someone's anger.


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The successor of this king of the north will be a worthless nobody, who doesn't come from a royal family. He will suddenly appear and gain control of the kingdom by treachery.


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He will make a treaty, but he will be deceitful and break it, even though he has only a few followers.


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Without warning, he will successfully invade a wealthy province, which is something his ancestors never did. Then he will divide among his followers all of its treasures and property. But none of this will last very long.


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He will gather a large and powerful army, and with great courage he will attack the king of the south. The king of the south will meet him with a much stronger army, but he will lose the battle, because he will be betrayed


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The two kings will meet around a table and tell evil lies to each other. But their plans will fail, because God has already decided what will happen.


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Then the king of the north will return to his country with great treasures. But on the way, he will attack the religion of God's people and do whatever else he pleases.


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At the time God has decided, the king of the north will invade the southern kingdom again, but this time, things will be different.


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Ships from the west will come to attack him, and he will be discouraged. Then he will start back to his own country and take out his anger on the religion of God's faithful people, while showing kindness to those who are unfaithful.


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He will send troops to pollute the temple and the fortress, and he will stop the daily sacrifices. Then he will set up that "Horrible Thing" that causes destruction.


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The king will use deceit to win followers from those who are unfaithful to God, but those who remain faithful will do everything possible to oppose him.


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Wise leaders will instruct many of the people. But for a while, some of these leaders will either be killed with swords or burned alive, or else robbed of their possessions and thrown into prison.


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They will receive only a little help in their time of trouble, and many of their followers will be treacherous.


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Some of those who are wise will suffer, so that God will make them pure and acceptable until the end, which will still come at the time he has decided.


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This king will do as he pleases. He will proudly claim to be greater than any god and will insult the only true God. Indeed, he will be successful until God is no longer angry with his people.


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This king will reject the gods his ancestors worshiped and the god preferred by women. In fact, he will put himself above all gods


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and worship only the so-called god of fortresses, who was unknown to his ancestors. And he will honor it with gold, silver, precious stones, and other costly gifts.


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With the help of this foreign god, he will capture the strongest fortresses. Everyone who worships this god will be put in a position of power and rewarded with wealth and land.


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At the time of the end, the king of the south will attack the kingdom of the north. But its king will rush out like a storm with war chariots, cavalry, and many ships. Indeed, his forces will flood one country after another,


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and when they reach the holy land, tens of thousands will be killed. But the countries of Edom and Moab and the ruler of Ammon will escape.


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But he will be alarmed by news from the east and the north, and he will become furious and cause great destruction.


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After this, he will set up camp between the Mediterranean Sea and Mount Zion. Then he will be destroyed, and no one will be able to save him.


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Michael, the chief of the angels, is the protector of your people, and he will come at a time of terrible suffering, the worst in all of history. And your people who have their names written in The Book will be protected.


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Many of those who lie dead in the ground will rise from death. Some of them will be given eternal life, and others will receive nothing but eternal shame and disgrace.


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Everyone who has been wise will shine as bright as the sky above, and everyone who has led others to please God will shine like the stars.


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Daniel, I now command you to keep the message of this book secret until the end of time, even though many people will go everywhere, searching for the knowledge to be found in it.


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Daniel wrote: I looked around and saw two other people--one on this side of the river and one on the other side.


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The angel who had spoken to me was dressed in linen and was standing upstream from them. So one of the two beside the river asked him, "How long before these amazing things happen?"


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The angel then raised both hands toward heaven and said, "In the name of the God who lives forever, I solemnly promise that it will be a time, two times, and half a time. Everything will be over, when the suffering of God's holy people comes to an end."


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I heard what the angel said, but I didn't understand. So I asked, "Sir, how will it all end?" The angel in my vision then replied:


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Daniel, go about your business, because the meaning of this message will remain secret until the end of time.


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Many people will have their hearts and lives made pure and clean, but those who are evil will keep on being evil and never understand. Only the wise will understand.


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There will be one thousand two hundred ninety days from the time that the daily sacrifices are stopped, until someone sets up the "Horrible Thing" that causes destruction.


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God will bless everyone who patiently waits until one thousand three hundred thirty-five days have gone by.


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So, Daniel, be faithful until the end! You will rest, and at the end of time, you will rise from death to receive your reward.


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I am Hosea son of Beeri. When Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah, and when Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, the LORD spoke this message to me.


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The LORD said, "Hosea, Israel has betrayed me like an unfaithful wife. Marry such a woman and have children by her."


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Then the LORD said, "Hosea, name your son Jezreel, because I will soon punish the descendants of King Jehu of Israel for the murders he committed in Jezreel Valley. I will destroy his kingdom,


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Later, Gomer had a daughter, and the LORD said, "Name her Lo-Ruhamah, because I will no longer have mercy and forgive Israel.


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But I am the LORD God of Judah, and I will have mercy and save Judah by my own power--not by wars and arrows or swords and cavalry."


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Someday it will be impossible to count the people of Israel, because there will be as many of them as there are grains of sand along the seashore. They are now called "Not My People," but in the future they will be called "Children of the Living God."


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Israel and Judah will unite and choose one leader. Then they will take back their land, and this will be a great day for Jezreel.


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Accuse! Accuse your mother! She is no longer my wife, and now I, the LORD, am not her husband. Beg her to give up prostitution and stop being unfaithful,


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or I will strip her naked like the day she was born. I will make her barren like a desert, and she will die of thirst.


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Your mother was unfaithful. She was disgraceful and said, "I'll run after my lovers. Everything comes from them-- my food and drink, my linen and wool, my olive oil and wine."


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She will run after her lovers, but not catch them; she will search, but not find them. Then she will say, "I'll return to my first husband. Life was better then."


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She didn't know that her grain, wine, and olive oil were gifts from me, as were the gold and silver she used in worshiping Baal.


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So I'll hold back the harvest of grain and grapes. I'll take back my wool and my linen that cover her body.


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She said, "My lovers gave me vineyards and fig trees as payment for sex." Now I, the LORD, will ruin her vineyards and fig trees; they will become clumps of weeds eaten by wild animals.


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I'll punish her for the days she worshiped Baal and burned incense to him. I'll punish her for the times she forgot about me and wore jewelry and rings to attract her lovers. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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I will return your vineyards, and then Trouble Valley will become Hopeful Valley. You will say "Yes" to me as you did in your youth, when leaving Egypt.


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And I will agree to let you live in peace--you will no longer be attacked by wild animals and birds or by weapons of war.


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I will accept you as my wife forever, and instead of a bride price I will give you justice, fairness, love, kindness,


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I will scatter the seeds and show mercy to Lo-Ruhamah. I will say to Lo-Ammi, "You are my people," and they will answer, "You are our God."


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Once again the LORD spoke to me. And this time he said, "Hosea, fall in love with an unfaithful woman who has a lover. Do this to show that I love the people of Israel, even though they worship idols and enjoy the offering cakes made with fruit."


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Then I said, "Now you are mine! You will have to remain faithful to me, though it will be a long time before we sleep together."


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It will also be a long time before Israel has a king or before sacrifices are offered at the temple or before there is any way to get guidance from God.


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But later, Israel will turn back to the LORD their God and to David their king. At that time they will come to the LORD with fear and trembling, and he will be good to them.


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Israel, listen as the LORD accuses everyone in the land! No one is faithful or loyal or truly cares about God.


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Cursing, dishonesty, murder, robbery, unfaithfulness-- these happen all the time. Violence is everywhere.


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And so your land is a desert. Every living creature is dying-- people and wild animals, birds and fish.


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You priests have rejected me, and my people are destroyed by refusing to obey. Now I'll reject you and forget your children, because you have forgotten my Law.


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By adding more of you priests, you multiply the number of people who sin. Now I'll change your pride into shame.


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Their food won't satisfy, and having sex at pagan shrines won't produce children. My people have rebelled


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and have been unfaithful to me, their LORD. My people, you are foolish because of too much pleasure and too much wine.


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You expect wooden idols and other objects of wood to give you advice. Lusting for sex at pagan shrines has made you unfaithful to me, your God.


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You offer sacrifices on mountaintops and hills, under oak trees, and wherever good shade is found. Your own daughters and daughters-in-law sell themselves for sex.


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But I won't punish them. You men are to blame, because you go to prostitutes and offer sacrifices with them at pagan shrines. Your own foolishness will lead to your ruin.


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Israel, you are unfaithful, but don't lead Judah to sin. Stop worshiping at Gilgal or at sinful Bethel. And quit making promises in my name-- the name of the living LORD.


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You are nothing more than a stubborn cow-- so stubborn that I, the LORD, cannot feed you like lambs in an open pasture.


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Listen, you priests! Pay attention, Israel! Listen, you members of the royal family. Justice was your duty. But at Mizpah and Mount Tabor you trapped the people.


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Your evil deeds are the reason you won't return to me, your LORD God. And your constant craving for sex keeps you from knowing me.


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You have been unfaithful to me, your LORD; you have had children by prostitutes. So at the New Moon Festival, you and your crops will be destroyed.


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Give a warning on the trumpet! Let it be heard in Gibeah, Ramah, and sinful Bethel. Benjamin, watch out!


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Judah's leaders are like crooks who move boundary markers; that's why I will flood them with my anger.


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When Israel and Judah saw their sickness and wounds, Israel asked help from Assyria and its mighty king. But the king cannot cure them or heal their wounds.


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So I'll become a fierce lion attacking Israel and Judah. I'll snatch and carry off what I want, and no one can stop me.


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Then I'll return to my temple until they confess their guilt and worship me, until they are desperate and beg for my help.


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Let's return to the LORD. He has torn us to shreds, but he will bandage our wounds and make us well.


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Let's do our best to know the LORD. His coming is as certain as the morning sun; he will refresh us like rain renewing the earth in the springtime.


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People of Israel and Judah, what can I do with you? Your love for me disappears more quickly than mist or dew at sunrise.


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That's why I slaughtered you with the words of my prophets. That's why my judgments blazed like the dawning sun.


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You priests are like a gang of robbers in ambush. On the road to Shechem you murder and commit other horrible crimes.


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and to heal its wounds. But then I see the crimes in Israel and Samaria. Everyone is deceitful; robbers roam the streets.


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The people of Israel have mixed with foreigners; they are a thin piece of bread scorched on one side.


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They don't seem to realize how weak and feeble they are; their hair has turned gray, while foreigners rule.


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But I will catch them in a net as hunters trap birds; I threatened to punish them, and indeed I will.


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Trouble and destruction will be their reward for rejecting me. I would have rescued them, but they told me lies.


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They don't really pray to me; they just howl in their beds. They have rejected me for Baal and slashed themselves, in the hope that Baal will bless their crops.


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and refuse to obey. They are more useless than a crooked arrow. Their leaders will die in war for saying foolish things. Egyptians will laugh at them.


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Sound a warning! Israel, you broke our agreement and ignored my teaching. Now an eagle is swooping down to attack my land.


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You chose kings and leaders without consulting me; you made silver and gold idols that led to your downfall.


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City of Samaria, I'm angry because of your idol in the shape of a calf. When will you ever be innocent again?


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Someone from Israel built that idol for you, but only I am God. And so it will be smashed to pieces.


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If you scatter wind instead of wheat, you will harvest a whirlwind and have no wheat. Even if you harvest grain, enemies will steal it all.


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You are like a wild donkey that goes its own way. You've run off to Assyria and hired them as allies.


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You can bargain with nations, but I'll catch you anyway. Soon you will suffer abuse by kings and rulers.


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Israel, you have built many altars where you offer sacrifices for sin. But these altars have become places for sin.


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You sacrifice your best animals and eat the sacrificial meals, but I, the LORD, refuse your offerings. I will remember your sins and punish you. Then you will return to Egypt.


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Israel, I created you, but you forgot me. You and Judah built palaces and many strong cities. Now I will send fire to destroy your towns and fortresses.


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Israel, don't celebrate or make noisy shouts like other nations. You have been unfaithful to your God. Wherever grain is threshed, you behave like prostitutes because you enjoy the money you receive.


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and you will have to leave the land of the LORD. Some of you will go to Egypt; others will go to Assyria and eat unclean food.


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You won't be able to offer sacrifices of wine to the LORD. None of your sacrifices will please him-- they will be unclean like food offered to the dead. Your food will only be used to satisfy your hunger; none of it will be brought to the LORD's temple.


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Even if you escape alive, you will end up in Egypt and be buried in Memphis. Your silver treasures will be lost among weeds; thorns will sprout in your tents.


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Israel, the time has come. You will get what you deserve, and you will know it. "Prophets are fools," you say. "And God's messengers are crazy." Your terrible guilt has filled you with hatred.


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Israel, the LORD sent me to look after you. But you trap his prophets and flood his temple with your hatred.


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You are brutal and corrupt, as were the men of Gibeah. But God remembers your sin, and you will be punished.


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Israel, when I, the LORD, found you long ago it was like finding grapes in a barren desert or tender young figs. Then you worshiped Baal Peor, that disgusting idol, and you became as disgusting as the idol you loved.


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And so, Israel, your glory will fly away like birds-- your women will no longer be able to give birth.


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Even if you do have children, I will take them all and leave you to mourn. I will turn away, and you will sink down in deep trouble.


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Israel, when I first met you, I thought of you as palm trees growing in fertile ground. Now you lead your people out, only to be slaughtered.


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Our LORD, do just one thing for your people-- make their women unable to have children or to nurse their babies.


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Israel, I first began to hate you because you did evil at Gilgal. Now I will chase you out of my house. No longer will I love you; your leaders betrayed me.


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Israel, you are a vine with dried-up roots and fruitless branches. Even if you had more children and loved them dearly, I would slaughter them all.


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You were a healthy vine covered with grapes. But the more grapes you grew, the more altars you built; the better off you became, the better shrines you set up for pagan gods.


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You are deceitful and disloyal. So you will pay for your sins, because the LORD will destroy your altars and images.


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Israel, you break treaties and don't keep promises; you turn justice into poisonous weeds where healthy plants should grow.


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All who live in Samaria tremble with concern for the idols at sinful Bethel. The idol there was the pride of the priests, but it has been put to shame; now everyone will cry.


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It will be taken to Assyria and given to the great king. Then Israel will be disgraced for worshiping that idol.


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The altars at sinful Bethel will be destroyed for causing Israel to sin; they will be grown over with thorns and thistles. Then everyone will beg the mountains and hills to cover and protect them.


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Israel, you have never stopped sinning since that time at Gibeah. That's why you will be attacked at Gibeah.


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Your sins have doubled, and you are rebellious. Now I have decided to send nations to attack and put you in chains.


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Once you were obedient like a calf that loved to thresh grain. But I will put a harness on your powerful neck; you and Judah must plow and cultivate the ground.


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Plow your fields, scatter seeds of justice, and harvest faithfulness. Worship me, the LORD, and I will send my saving power down like rain.


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You have planted evil, harvested injustice, and eaten the fruit of your lies. You trusted your own strength and your powerful forces.


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So war will break out, and your fortresses will be destroyed. Your enemies will do to you what Shalman did to the people of Beth-Arbel-- mothers and their children will be beaten to death against rocks.


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But as the saying goes, "The more they were called, the more they rebelled." They never stopped offering incense and sacrifices to the idols of Baal.


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I took Israel by the arm and taught them to walk. But they would not admit that I was the one who had healed them.


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I led them with kindness and with love, not with ropes. I held them close to me; I bent down to feed them.


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Israel, I can't let you go. I can't give you up. How could I possibly destroy you as I did the towns of Admah and Zeboiim? I just can't do it. My feelings for you are much too strong.


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Israel, I won't lose my temper and destroy you again. I am the Holy God-- not merely some human, and I won't stay angry.


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They will come back, fluttering like birds from Egypt or like doves from Assyria. Then I will bring them back to their homes. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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Israel is deceitful to me, their loyal and holy God; they surround me with lies, and Judah worships other gods.


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All day long Israel chases wind from the desert; deceit and violence are found everywhere. Treaties are made with Assyria; olive oil is taken to Egypt.


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The LORD also brings charges against the people of Judah, the descendants of Jacob. He will punish them for what they have done.


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At Bethel, Jacob wrestled with an angel and won; then with tears in his eyes, he asked for a blessing, and God spoke to us there.


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Israel, I, the LORD, am still your God, just as I have been since the time you were in Egypt. Now I will force you to live in tents once again, as you did in the desert.


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I spoke to the prophets-- often I spoke in visions. And so, I will send my prophets with messages of doom.


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Gilead is terribly sinful and will end up ruined. Bulls are sacrificed in Gilgal on altars made of stones, but those stones will be scattered in every field.


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When your leaders spoke, everyone in Israel trembled and showed great respect. But you sinned by worshiping Baal, and you were destroyed.


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Now you continue to sin by designing and making idols of silver in the shape of calves. You are told to sacrifice to these idols -- yes, even to kiss them.


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And so, all of you will vanish like the mist or the dew of early morning, or husks of grain in the wind or smoke from a chimney.


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I, the LORD, have been your God since the time you were in Egypt. I am the only God you know, the only one who can save.


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and rip you apart like a bear robbed of her cubs. I will gnaw on your bones, as though I were a lion or some other wild animal.


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Should I, the LORD, rescue you from death and the grave? No! I call death and the grave to strike you like a plague. I refuse to show mercy.


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No matter how much you prosper more than the other tribes, I, the LORD, will wipe you out, just as a scorching desert wind dries up streams of water. I will take away your precious treasures.


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Samaria will be punished for turning against me. It will be destroyed in war-- children will be beaten against rocks, and pregnant women will be ripped open.


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Return to the LORD and say, "Please forgive our sins. Accept our good sacrifices of praise instead of bulls.


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Assyria can't save us, and chariots can't help. So we will no longer worship the idols we have made. Our LORD, you show mercy to orphans."


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You will rest in my shade, and your grain will grow. You will blossom like a vineyard and be famous as the wine from Lebanon.


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Israel, give up your idols! I will answer your prayers and take care of you. I am that glorious tree, the source of your fruit.


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If you are wise, you will know and understand what I mean. I am the LORD, and I lead you along the right path. If you obey me, we will walk together, but if you are wicked, you will stumble.


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A powerful nation with countless troops has invaded our land. They have the teeth and jaws of powerful lions.


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Offerings of grain and wine are no longer brought to the LORD's temple. His servants, the priests, are deep in sorrow.


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Grapevines have dried up and so has every tree-- figs and pomegranates, date palms and apples. All happiness has faded away.


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Mourn, you priests who serve at the altar of my God. Spend your days and nights wearing sackcloth. Offerings of grain and wine are no longer brought to the LORD's temple.


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Tell the leaders and people to come together at the temple. Order them to go without eating and to pray sincerely.


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Seeds dry up in the ground; no harvest is possible. Our barns are in bad shape, with no grain to store in them.


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Sound the trumpet on Zion, the LORD's sacred hill. Warn everyone to tremble! The judgment day of the LORD is coming soon.


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It will be dark and gloomy with storm clouds overhead. Troops will cover the mountains like thunderclouds. No army this powerful has ever been gathered before or will ever be again.


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Fiery flames surround them; no one escapes. Before they invaded, the land was like Eden; now only a desert remains.


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They roar over mountains like noisy chariots, or a mighty army ready for battle. They are a forest fire that feasts on straw.


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They charge straight ahead, without pushing each other; even arrows and spears cannot make them retreat.


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They make the earth tremble and the heavens shake; the sun and moon turn dark, and stars stop shining.


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The LORD God leads this army of countless troops, and they obey his commands. The day of his judgment is so terrible that no one can stand it.


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The LORD said: It isn't too late. You can still return to me with all your heart. Start crying and mourning! Go without eating.


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Don't rip your clothes to show your sorrow. Instead, turn back to me with broken hearts. I am merciful, kind, and caring. I don't easily lose my temper, and I don't like to punish.


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I am the LORD your God. Perhaps I will change my mind and treat you with mercy. Then you will be blessed with enough grain and wine for offering sacrifices to me.


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Make sure that everyone is fit to worship me. Bring adults, children, babies, and even bring newlyweds from their festivities.


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Tell my servants, the priests, to cry inside the temple and to offer this prayer near the altar: "Save your people, LORD God! Don't let foreign nations make jokes about us. Don't let them laugh and ask, 'Where is your God?' "


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In answer to their prayers he said, "I will give you enough grain, wine, and olive oil to satisfy your needs. No longer will I let you be insulted by the nations.


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An army attacked from the north, but I will chase it into a scorching desert. There it will rot and stink from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean." The LORD works wonders


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and wild animals to stop being afraid. Grasslands are green again; fruit trees and fig trees are loaded with fruit. Grapevines are covered with grapes.


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People of Zion, celebrate in honor of the LORD your God! He is generous and has sent the autumn and spring rains in the proper seasons.


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I, the LORD your God, will make up for the losses caused by those swarms and swarms of locusts I sent to attack you.


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My people, you will eat until you are satisfied. Then you will praise me for the wonderful things I have done. Never again will you be put to shame.


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Israel, you will know that I stand at your side. I am the LORD your God-- there are no other gods. Never again will you be put to shame.


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Later, I will give my Spirit to everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions.


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I will work wonders in the sky above and on the earth below. There will be blood and fire and clouds of smoke.


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The sun will turn dark, and the moon will be as red as blood before that great and terrible day when I appear.


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Then the LORD will save everyone who faithfully worships him. He has promised there will be survivors on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and among them will be his chosen ones.


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Then in Judgment Valley I will bring together the nations that scattered my people Israel everywhere in the world, and I will bring charges against those nations. They divided up my land


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and gambled to see who would get my people; they sold boys and girls to pay for prostitutes and wine.


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You people of Tyre and Sidon and you Philistines, why are you doing this? Are you trying to get even with me? I'll strike back before you know what's happened.


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You've taken my prized possessions, including my silver and gold, and carried them off to your temples.


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But I'll make the people of Judah determined to come home, and what happened to them will happen to you.


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I'll hand over your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, who live far away. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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Say to the nations: "Get ready for war! Be eager to fight. Line up for battle and prepare to attack.


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They are a field of ripe crops. Bring in the harvest! They are grapes piled high. Start trampling them now! If our enemy's sins were wine, every jar would overflow.


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From the heart of Jerusalem the LORD roars like a lion, shaking the earth and sky. But the LORD is a fortress, a place of safety for his people Israel.


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I am the LORD your God. And you will know I live on Zion, my sacred hill, because Jerusalem will be sacred, untouched by foreign troops.


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On that day, fruitful vineyards will cover the mountains. And your cattle and goats that graze on the hills will produce a lot of milk. Streams in Judah will never run dry; a stream from my house will flow in Acacia Valley.


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Egypt and Edom were cruel and brutal to Judah, without a reason. Now their countries will become a barren desert,


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I am Amos. And I raised sheep near the town of Tekoa when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. Two years before the earthquake, the LORD gave me several messages about Israel,


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and I said: When the LORD roars from Jerusalem, pasturelands and Mount Carmel dry up and turn brown.


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The LORD said: I will punish Syria for countless crimes, and I won't change my mind. They dragged logs with spikes over the people of Gilead.


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I will break through the gates of Damascus. I will destroy the people of Wicked Valley and the ruler of Beth-Eden. Then the Syrians will be dragged as prisoners to Kir. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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The LORD said: I will punish Philistia for countless crimes, and I won't change my mind. They dragged off my people from town after town to sell them as slaves to the Edomites.


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I will destroy the king of Ashdod and the ruler of Ashkelon. I will strike down Ekron, and that will be the end of the Philistines. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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The LORD said: I will punish Phoenicia for countless crimes, and I won't change my mind. They broke their treaty and dragged off my people from town after town to sell them as slaves to the Edomites.


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The LORD said: I will punish Edom for countless crimes, and I won't change my mind. They killed their own relatives and were so terribly furious that they showed no mercy.


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The LORD said: I will punish Ammon for countless crimes, and I won't change my mind. In Gilead they ripped open pregnant women, just to take the land.


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Now I will send fire to destroy the walls and fortresses of Rabbah. Enemies will shout and attack like a whirlwind.


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The LORD said: I will punish Moab for countless crimes, and I won't change my mind. They made lime from the bones of the king of Edom.


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Now I will send fire to destroy the fortresses of Kerioth. Battle shouts and trumpet blasts will be heard as I destroy Moab


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The LORD said: I will punish Judah for countless crimes, and I won't change my mind. They have rejected my teachings and refused to obey me. They were led astray by the same false gods their ancestors worshiped.


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The LORD said: I will punish Israel for countless crimes, and I won't change my mind. They sell honest people for money, and the needy are sold for the price of sandals.


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They smear the poor in the dirt and push aside those who are helpless. My holy name is dishonored, because fathers and sons sleep with the same young women.


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They lie down beside altars on clothes taken as security for loans. And they drink wine in my temple, wine bought with the money they received from fines.


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Israel, the Amorites were there when you entered Canaan. They were tall as cedars and strong as oaks. But I wiped them out-- I destroyed their branches and their roots.


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I had rescued you from Egypt, and for forty years I had led you through the desert. Then I gave you the land of the Amorites.


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I chose some of you to be prophets and others to be Nazirites. People of Israel, you know this is true. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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But you commanded the prophets not to speak their message, and you pressured the Nazirites into drinking wine.


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No matter how fast you run, you won't escape. No matter how strong you are, you will lose your strength and your life.


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Even if you are an expert with a bow and arrow, you will retreat. And you won't get away alive, not even if you run fast or ride a horse.


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Of all nations on earth, you are the only one I have chosen. That's why I will punish you because of your sins.


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Does a lion roar in the forest unless it has caught a victim? Does it growl in its den unless it is eating?


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How can anyone catch a bird without using a net? Does a trap spring shut unless something is caught?


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Isn't the whole city frightened when the trumpet signals an attack? Isn't it the LORD who brings disaster on a city?


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Everyone is terrified when a lion roars-- and ordinary people become prophets when the LORD God speaks.


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Here is a message for the leaders of Philistia and Egypt-- tell everyone to come together on the hills of Samaria. Let them see the injustice and the lawlessness in that city.


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The LORD has said that they don't even know how to do right. They have become rich from violence and robbery.


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And so the LORD God has sworn that they will be surrounded. Enemies will break through their defenses and steal their treasures.


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The LORD has promised that only a few from Samaria will escape with their lives and with some broken pieces of their beds and couches. It will be like when a shepherd rescues two leg bones and part of a sheep's ear from the jaws of a lion.


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When I, the LORD, punish Israel for their sins, I will destroy the altars at Bethel. Even the corners of the altar will be left in the dirt.


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I will tear down winter homes and summer homes. Houses decorated with ivory and all other mansions will be gone forever. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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You women of Samaria are fat cows! You mistreat and abuse the poor and needy, then you say to your husbands, "Bring us more drinks!"


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I, the LORD God, have sworn by my own name that your time is coming. Not one of you will be left-- you will be taken away by sharp hooks.


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You will be dragged through holes in your city walls, and you will be thrown toward Harmon. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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Come to Bethel and Gilgal. Sin all you want! Offer sacrifices the next morning and bring a tenth of your crops on the third day.


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Bring offerings to show me how thankful you are. Gladly bring more offerings than I have demanded. You really love to do this. I, the LORD God, have spoken!


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Three months before harvest, I kept back the rain. Sometimes I would let it fall on one town or field but not on another, and pastures dried up.


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People from two or three towns would go to a town that still had water, but it wasn't enough. Even then you rejected me. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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I dried up your grain fields; your gardens and vineyards turned brown. Locusts ate your fig trees and olive orchards, but even then you rejected me. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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I did terrible things to you, just as I did to Egypt-- I killed your young men in war; I let your horses be stolen, and I made your camp stink with dead bodies. Even then you rejected me. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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I destroyed many of you, just as I did the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. You were a burning stick I rescued from the fire. Even then you rejected me. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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I created the mountains and the wind. I let humans know what I am thinking. I bring darkness at dawn and step over hills. I am the LORD God All-Powerful!


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You, dearest Israel, have fallen, never to rise again-- you lie deserted in your own land, with no one to help you up.


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The LORD God has warned, "From every ten soldiers only one will be left; from a thousand troops, only a hundred will survive."


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Don't go to Gilgal or Bethel or even to Beersheba. Gilgal will be dragged away, and Bethel will end up as nothing."


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Turn back to the LORD, you descendants of Joseph, and you will live. If you don't, the LORD will attack like fire. Bethel will burn to the ground, and no one can save it.


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But the LORD created the stars and put them in place. He turns darkness to dawn and daylight to darkness; he scoops up the ocean and empties it on the earth.


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you abuse the poor and demand heavy taxes from them. You have built expensive homes, but you won't enjoy them; you have planted vineyards, but you will get no wine.


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I am the LORD, and I know your terrible sins. You cheat honest people and take bribes; you rob the poor of justice.


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If you really want to live, you must stop doing wrong and start doing right. I, the LORD God All-Powerful, will then be on your side, just as you claim I am.


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Choose good instead of evil! See that justice is done. Maybe I, the LORD All-Powerful, will be kind to what's left of your people.


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This is what the LORD has sworn: Noisy crying will be heard in every town and street. Even farmers will be told to mourn for the dead, together with those who are paid to mourn.


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Your vineyards will be filled with crying and weeping, because I will punish you. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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You look forward to the day when the LORD comes to judge. But you are in for trouble! It won't be a time of sunshine; all will be darkness.


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You will run from a lion, only to meet a bear. You will escape to your house, rest your hand on the wall, and be bitten by a snake.


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Now you will have to carry the two idols you made-- Sakkuth, the one you call king, and Kaiwan, the one you built in the shape of a star.


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Do you rulers in Jerusalem and in the city of Samaria feel safe and at ease? Everyone bows down to you, and you think you are better than any other nation. But you are in for trouble!


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Look what happened to the cities of Calneh, powerful Hamath, and Gath in Philistia. Are you greater than any of those kingdoms?


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You rich people lounge around on beds with ivory posts, while dining on the meat of your lambs and calves.


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You drink all the wine you want and wear expensive perfume, but you don't care about the ruin of your nation.


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The LORD God All-Powerful has sworn by his own name: "You descendants of Jacob make me angry by your pride, and I hate your fortresses. And so I will surrender your city and possessions to your enemies."


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As you carry out a corpse to prepare it for burial, your relative in the house will ask, "Are there others?" You will answer, "No!" Then your relative will reply, "Be quiet! Don't dare mention the name of the LORD."


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Horses can't gallop on rocks; oceans can't be plowed. But you have turned justice and fairness into bitter poison.


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But the LORD God All-Powerful will send a nation to attack you people of Israel. They will capture Lebo-Hamath in the north, Arabah Creek in the south, and everything in between.


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The LORD God showed me that he is going to send locusts to attack your crops. It will happen after the king has already been given his share of the grain and before the rest of the grain has been harvested.


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In my vision the locusts ate every crop in the land, and I said to the LORD, "Forgive me for asking, but how can the nation survive? It's so weak."


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The LORD showed me that he is going to send a ball of fire to burn up everything on earth, including the ocean.


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The LORD showed me a vision of himself standing beside a wall and holding a string with a weight tied to the end of it. The string and weight had been used to measure the straightness of the wall.


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Then he asked, "Amos, what do you see?" "A measuring line," I answered. The LORD said, "I'm using this measuring line to show that my people Israel don't measure up, and I won't forgive them any more.


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Amaziah the priest at Bethel sent this message to King Jeroboam of Israel, "Amos is plotting against you in the very heart of Israel. Our nation cannot put up with his message for very long.


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Here is what he is saying: 'Jeroboam will be put to death, and the people will be taken to a foreign country.' "


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Then Amaziah told me, "Amos, take your visions and get out! Go back to Judah and earn your living there as a prophet.


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I answered: I'm not a prophet! And I wasn't trained to be a prophet. I am a shepherd, and I take care of fig trees.


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Now, listen to what the LORD says about you: Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, your sons and daughters will be killed in war, and your land will be divided among others. You will die in a country of foreigners, and the people of Israel will be dragged from their homeland.


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and asked, "Amos, what do you see?" "A basket of ripe fruit," I replied. Then he said, "This is the end for my people Israel. I won't forgive them again.


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Instead of singing in the temple, they will cry and weep. Dead bodies will be everywhere. So keep silent! I, the LORD, have spoken!"


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You say to yourselves, "How much longer before the end of the New Moon Festival? When will the Sabbath be over? Our wheat is ready, and we want to sell it now. We can't wait to cheat and charge high prices for the grain we sell. We will use dishonest scales


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and mix dust in the grain. Those who are needy and poor don't have any money. We will make them our slaves for the price of a pair of sandals."


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Your country will tremble, and you will mourn. It will be like the Nile River that rises and overflows, then sinks back down.


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On that day, I, the LORD God, will make the sun go down at noon, and I will turn daylight into darkness.


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Your festivals and joyful singing will turn into sorrow. You will wear sackcloth and shave your heads, as you would at the death of your only son. It will be a horrible day.


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I, the LORD, also promise you a terrible shortage, but not of food and water. You will hunger and thirst to hear my message.


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You will search everywhere-- from north to south, from east to west. You will go all over the earth, seeking a message from me, the LORD. But you won't find one.


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You made promises in the name of Ashimah, the goddess of Samaria. And you made vows in my name at the shrines of Dan and Beersheba. But you will fall and never get up.


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I saw a vision of the LORD standing by the temple altar, and he said, "Shake the columns until the tops fall loose, and the doorposts crumble. Then make the pieces fall on the people below. I will take a sword and kill anyone who escapes.


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If they escape to the peaks of Mount Carmel, I'll search and find them. And if they hide from me at the bottom of the ocean, I'll command a sea monster to bite them.


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I'll send a sword to kill them, wherever their enemies drag them off as captives. I'm determined to hurt them, not to help them."


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When the LORD God All-Powerful touches the earth, it melts, and its people mourn. God makes the earth rise and then fall, just like the Nile River.


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He built his palace in the heavens and let its foundations rest on the earth. He scoops up the ocean and empties it on the earth. His name is the LORD.


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Israel, I am the LORD God, and the Ethiopians are no less important to me than you are. I brought you out of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Crete and the Arameans from Kir.


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My eyes have seen what a sinful nation you are, and I'll wipe you out. But I will leave a few of Jacob's descendants. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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At my command, all of you will be sifted like grain. Israelites who remain faithful will be scattered among the nations. And the others will be trapped like trash in a sifter.


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In the future, I will rebuild David's fallen kingdom. I will build it from its ruins and set it up again, just as it used to be.


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Then you will capture Edom and the other nations that are mine. I, the LORD, have spoken, and my words will come true.


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You will have such a harvest that you won't be able to bring in all of your wheat before plowing time. You will have grapes left over from season to season; your fruitful vineyards will cover the mountains.


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I'll make Israel prosper again. You will rebuild your towns and live in them. You will drink wine from your own vineyards and eat the fruit you grow.


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I'll plant your roots deep in the land I have given you, and you won't ever be uprooted again. I, the LORD God, have spoken!


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The LORD God gave Obadiah a message about Edom, and this is what we heard: "I, the LORD, have sent a messenger with orders for the nations to attack Edom."


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You live in a mountain fortress, because your pride makes you feel safe from attack, but you are mistaken.


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I will still bring you down, even if you fly higher than an eagle or nest among the stars. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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If thieves break in at night, they steal only what they want. And people who harvest grapes always leave some unpicked. But, Edom, you are doomed!


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Your allies can't be trusted. They will force you out of your own country. Your best friends will trick and trap you, even before you know it.


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You were cruel to your relatives, the descendants of Jacob. Now you will be destroyed, disgraced forever.


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You stood there and watched as foreigners entered Jerusalem and took what they wanted. In fact, you were no better than those foreigners.


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Why did you celebrate when such a dreadful disaster struck your relatives? Why were you so pleased when everyone in Judah was suffering?


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They are my people, and you were cruel to them. You went through their towns, sneering and stealing whatever was left.


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The day is coming when I, the LORD, will judge the nations. And, Edom, you will pay in full for what you have done.


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I forced the people of Judah to drink the wine of my anger on my sacred mountain. Soon the neighboring nations must drink their fill-- then vanish without a trace.


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The LORD's people who escape will go to Mount Zion, and it will be holy. Then Jacob's descendants will capture the land of those who took their land.


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The people of Israel who live in the Southern Desert will take the land of Edom. Those who live in the hills will capture Philistia, Ephraim, and Samaria. And the tribe of Benjamin will conquer Gilead.


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Those who return from captivity will control Phoenicia as far as Zarephath. Captives from Jerusalem who were taken to Sepharad will capture the towns of the Southern Desert.


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Those the LORD has saved will live on Mount Zion and rule over Edom. Then the kingdom will belong to the LORD.


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to go to the great city of Nineveh and say to the people, "The LORD has seen your terrible sins. You are doomed!"


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Instead, Jonah ran from the LORD. He went to the seaport of Joppa and bought a ticket on a ship that was going to Spain. Then he got on the ship and sailed away to escape.


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But the LORD made a strong wind blow, and such a bad storm came up that the ship was about to be broken to pieces.


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The sailors were frightened, and they all started praying to their gods. They even threw the ship's cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. All this time, Jonah was down below deck, sound asleep.


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The ship's captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep at a time like this? Get up and pray to your God! Maybe he will have pity on us and keep us from drowning."


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Finally, the sailors got together and said, "Let's ask our gods to show us who caused all this trouble." It turned out to be Jonah.


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They started asking him, "Are you the one who brought all this trouble on us? What business are you in? Where do you come from? What is your country? Who are your people?"


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Jonah answered, "I'm a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."


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When the sailors heard this, they were frightened, because Jonah had already told them he was running from the LORD. Then they said, "Do you know what you have done?"


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The storm kept getting worse, until finally the sailors asked him, "What should we do with you to make the sea calm down?"


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Jonah told them, "Throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. I'm the cause of this terrible storm."


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The sailors tried their best to row to the shore. But they could not do it, and the storm kept getting worse every minute.


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So they prayed to the LORD, "Please don't let us drown for taking this man's life. Don't hold us guilty for killing an innocent man. All of this happened because you wanted it to."


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The sailors were so terrified that they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made all kinds of promises.


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The LORD sent a big fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.


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When I was in trouble, LORD, I prayed to you, and you listened to me. From deep in the world of the dead, I begged for your help, and you answered my prayer.


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You threw me down to the bottom of the sea. The water was churning all around; I was completely covered by your mighty waves.


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I had sunk down below the underwater mountains; I knew that forever, I would be a prisoner there. But, you, LORD God, rescued me from that pit.


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But with shouts of praise, I will offer a sacrifice to you, my LORD. I will keep my promise, because you are the one with power to save.


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Jonah obeyed the LORD and went to Nineveh. The city was so big that it took three days just to walk through it.


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They believed God's message and set a time when they would go without eating to show their sorrow. Then everyone in the city, no matter who they were, dressed in sackcloth.


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When the king of Nineveh heard what was happening, he also dressed in sackcloth; he left the royal palace and sat in dust.


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Then he and his officials sent out an order for everyone in the city to obey. It said: None of you or your animals may eat or drink a thing. Each of you must wear sackcloth, and you must even put sackcloth on your animals. You must also pray to the LORD God with all your heart and stop being sinful and cruel. Maybe God will change his mind and have mercy on us, so we won't be destroyed.


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When God saw that the people had stopped doing evil things, he had pity and did not destroy them as he had planned.


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So he prayed: Our LORD, I knew from the very beginning that you wouldn't destroy Nineveh. That's why I left my own country and headed for Spain. You are a kind and merciful God, and you are very patient. You always show love, and you don't like to punish anyone, not even foreigners.


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Jonah then left through the east gate of the city and made a shelter to protect himself from the sun. He sat under the shelter, waiting to see what would happen to Nineveh.


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The LORD made a vine grow up to shade Jonah's head and protect him from the sun. Jonah was very happy to have the vine,


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During the day the LORD sent a scorching wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head, making him feel faint. Jonah was ready to die, and he shouted, "I wish I were dead!"


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But the LORD asked, "Jonah, do you have the right to be angry about the vine?" "Yes, I do," he answered, "and I'm angry enough to die."


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But the LORD said: You are concerned about a vine that you did not plant or take care of, a vine that grew up in one night and died the next.


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In that city of Nineveh there are more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot tell right from wrong, and many cattle are also there. Don't you think I should be concerned about that big city?


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I am Micah from Moresheth. And this is the message about Samaria and Jerusalem that the LORD gave to me when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah.


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Listen, all of you! Earth and everything on it, pay close attention. The LORD God accuses you from his holy temple.


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Mountains will melt beneath his feet like wax beside a fire. Valleys will vanish like water rushing down a ravine.


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This will happen because of the terrible sins of Israel, the descendants of Jacob. Samaria has led Israel to sin, and pagan altars at Jerusalem have made Judah sin.


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So the LORD will leave Samaria in ruins-- merely an empty field where vineyards are planted. He will scatter its stones and destroy its foundations.


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Samaria's idols will be smashed, and the wages of temple prostitutes will be destroyed by fire. Silver and gold from those idols will then be used by foreigners as payment for prostitutes.


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Because of this tragedy, I go barefoot and naked. My crying and weeping sound like howling wolves or ostriches.


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Depart naked and ashamed, you people of Shaphir. The town of Bethezel mourns because no one from Zaanan went out to help.


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Now you will have to give a going-away gift to Moresheth. Israel's kings will discover that they cannot trust the town of Achzib.


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People of Mareshah, the LORD will send someone to capture your town. Then Israel's glorious king will be forced to hide in Adullam Cave.


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Judah, shave your head as bald as a buzzard and start mourning. Your precious children will be dragged off to a foreign country.


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Doomed! You're doomed! At night you lie in bed, making evil plans. And when morning comes, you do what you've planned because you have the power.


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But here is what the LORD says: "I am planning trouble for you. Your necks will be caught in a noose, and you will be disgraced in this time of disaster."


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When that happens, this sorrowful song will be sung about you: "Ruined! Completely ruined! The LORD has taken our land and given it to traitors."


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Descendants of Jacob, is it right for you to claim that the LORD did what he did because he was angry? Doesn't he always bless those who do right?


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My people, you have even stolen clothes right off the backs of your unsuspecting soldiers returning home from battle.


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You take over lovely homes that belong to the women of my nation. Then you cheat their children out of the inheritance that comes from the LORD.


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Get out of here, you crooks! You'll find no rest here. You're not fit to belong to the LORD's people, and you will be destroyed.


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I, the LORD, promise to bring together the people of Israel who have survived. I will gather them, just as a shepherd brings sheep together, and there will be many.


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but you prefer to do evil instead of what is right. You skin my people alive. You strip off their flesh,


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You lying prophets promise security for anyone who gives you food, but disaster for anyone who refuses to feed you. Here is what the LORD says to you prophets:


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But the LORD has filled me with power and his Spirit. I have been given the courage to speak about justice and to tell you people of Israel that you have sinned.


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You leaders accept bribes for dishonest decisions. You priests and prophets teach and preach, but only for money. Then you say, "The LORD is on our side. No harm will come to us."


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And so, because of you, Jerusalem will be plowed under and left in ruins. Thorns will cover the mountain where the temple now stands.


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In the future, the mountain with the LORD's temple will be the highest of all. It will reach above the hills, and every nation will rush to it.


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People of many nations will come and say, "Let's go up to the mountain of the LORD God of Jacob and worship in his temple." The LORD will teach us his Law from Jerusalem, and we will obey him.


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He will settle arguments between distant and powerful nations. They will pound their swords and their spears into rakes and shovels; they will never again make war or attack one another.


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Everyone will find rest beneath their own fig trees or grape vines, and they will live in peace. This is a solemn promise of the LORD All-Powerful.


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The LORD said: At that time I will gather my people-- the lame and the outcasts, and all into whose lives I have brought sorrow.


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Then the lame and the outcasts will belong to my people and become a strong nation. I, the LORD, will rule them from Mount Zion forever.


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Jerusalem, why are you crying? Don't you have a king? Have your advisors gone? Are you suffering like a woman in childbirth?


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Keep on groaning with pain, you people of Jerusalem! If you escape from your city to the countryside, you will still be taken as prisoners to Babylonia. But later I will rescue you from your enemies.


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Zion, because of your sins you are surrounded by many nations who say, "We can hardly wait to see you disgraced."


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Smash them to pieces, Zion! I'll let you be like a bull with iron horns and bronze hoofs. Crush those nations and bring their wealth to me, the LORD of the earth.


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Jerusalem, enemy troops have surrounded you; they have struck Israel's ruler in the face with a stick.


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Bethlehem Ephrath, you are one of the smallest towns in the nation of Judah. But the LORD will choose one of your people to rule the nation-- someone whose family goes back to ancient times.


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The LORD will abandon Israel only until this ruler is born, and the rest of his family returns to Israel.


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Like a shepherd taking care of his sheep, this ruler will lead and care for his people by the power and glorious name of the LORD his God. His people will live securely, and the whole earth will know his true greatness,


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because he will bring peace. Let Assyria attack our country and our palaces. We will counterattack, led by a number of rulers


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whose strong army will defeat the nation of Assyria. Yes, our leaders will rescue us, if those Assyrians dare to invade our land.


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A few of Jacob's descendants survived and are scattered among the nations. But the LORD will let them cover the earth like dew and rain that refreshes the soil.


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At present they are scattered, but later they will attack, as though they were fierce lions pouncing on sheep. Their enemies will be torn to shreds, with no one to save them;


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Israel, I am bringing charges against you-- I call upon the mountains and the earth's firm foundation to be my witnesses.


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I rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to be your leaders.


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Don't forget the evil plans of King Balak of Moab or what Balaam son of Beor said to him. Remember how I, the LORD, saved you many times on your way from Acacia to Gilgal.


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What offering should I bring when I bow down to worship the LORD God Most High? Should I try to please him by sacrificing calves a year old?


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Will thousands of sheep or rivers of olive oil make God satisfied with me? Should I sacrifice to the LORD my first-born child as payment for my terrible sins?


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The LORD God has told us what is right and what he demands: "See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God."


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I am the LORD, and it makes sense to respect my power to punish. So listen to my message for the city of Jerusalem:


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You will eat, but still be hungry; you will store up goods, but lose everything-- I, the LORD, will let it all be captured in war.


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You won't harvest what you plant or use the oil from your olive trees or drink the wine from grapes you grow.


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Jerusalem, this will happen because you followed the sinful example of kings Omri and Ahab. Now I will destroy you and your property. Then the people of every nation will make fun and insult you.


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I feel so empty inside-- like someone starving for grapes or figs, after the vines and trees have all been picked clean.


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The most honest of them is worse than a thorn patch. Your doom has come! Lookouts sound the warning, and everyone panics.


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Sons refuse to respect their own fathers, daughters rebel against their own mothers, and daughters-in-law despise their mothers-in-law. Your family is now your enemy.


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My enemies, don't be glad because of my troubles! I may have fallen, but I will get up; I may be sitting in the dark, but the LORD is my light.


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I have sinned against the LORD. And so I must endure his anger, until he comes to my defense. But I know that I will see him making things right for me and leading me to the light.


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You, my enemies, said, "The LORD God is helpless." Now each of you will be disgraced and put to shame. I will see you trampled like mud in the street.


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Lead your people, LORD! Come and be our shepherd. Grasslands surround us, but we live in a forest. So lead us to Bashan and Gilead, and let us find pasture as we did long ago.


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Nations will see this and be ashamed because of their helpless armies. They will be in shock, unable to speak or hear,


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because of their fear of me, your LORD and God. Then they will come trembling, crawling out of their fortresses like insects or snakes, lapping up the dust.


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Our God, no one is like you. We are all that is left of your chosen people, and you freely forgive our sin and guilt. You don't stay angry forever; you're glad to have pity


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You will keep your word and be faithful to Jacob and to Abraham, as you promised our ancestors many years ago.


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The LORD is powerful, yet patient; he makes sure that the guilty are always punished. He can be seen in storms and in whirlwinds; clouds are the dust from his feet.


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At the LORD's command, oceans and rivers dry up. Bashan, Mount Carmel, and Lebanon wither, and their flowers fade.


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At the sight of the LORD, mountains and hills tremble and melt; the earth and its people shudder and shake.


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But the LORD says, "Assyria, no matter how strong you are, you are doomed! My people Judah, I have troubled you before, but I won't do it again.


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Assyria, this is what else the LORD says to you: "Your name will be forgotten. I will destroy every idol in your temple, and I will send you to the grave, because you are worthless."


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Look toward the mountains, people of Judah! Here comes a messenger with good news of peace. Celebrate your festivals. Keep your promises to God. Your evil enemies are destroyed and will never again invade your country.


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Nineveh, someone is coming to attack and scatter you. Guard your fortresses! Watch the road! Be brave! Prepare for battle!


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Judah and Israel are like trees with branches broken by their enemies. But the LORD is going to restore their power and glory. *


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An officer gives a command. But his soldiers stumble, as they hasten to build a shelter to protect themselves against rocks thrown down from the city wall.


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Nineveh is disgraced. The queen is dragged off. Her servant women mourn; they sound like doves, and they beat their breasts in sorrow.


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Nineveh is like a pond with leaking water. Shouts of "Stop! Don't go!" can be heard everywhere. But everyone is leaving.


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Enemy soldiers shout, "The city is full of treasure and all kinds of wealth. Steal her silver! Grab her gold!"


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What happened to this city? They were safer there than powerful lions in a den, with no one to disturb them.


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These are the same lions that ferociously attacked their victims, then dragged away the flesh to feed their young.


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The LORD All-Powerful is against you, Nineveh. God will burn your chariots and send an army to kill those young lions of yours. You will never again make victims of others or send messengers to threaten everyone on this earth.


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You were nothing more than a prostitute using your magical charms and witchcraft to attract and trap nations.


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But I, the LORD All-Powerful, am now your enemy. I will pull up your skirt and let nations and kingdoms stare at your nakedness.


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Everyone who sees you will turn away and shout, "Nineveh is done for! Is anyone willing to mourn or to give her comfort?"


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Thebes trusted the mighty power of Ethiopia and Egypt; the nations of Put and Libya were her allies.


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But she was captured and taken to a foreign country. Her children were murdered at every street corner. The members of her royal family were auctioned off, and her high officials were bound in chains.


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Your fortresses are fig trees with ripe figs. Merely shake the trees, and fruit will fall into every open mouth.


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Your army is weak. Fire has destroyed the crossbars on your city gates; now they stand wide open to your enemy.


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Your city is under attack. Haul in extra water! Strengthen your defenses! Start making bricks! Stir the mortar!


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You will still go up in flames and be cut down by swords that will wipe you out like wheat attacked by grasshoppers. So, go ahead and increase like a swarm of locusts!


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More merchants are in your city than there are stars in the sky-- but they are like locusts that eat everything, then fly away.


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Your guards and your officials are swarms of locusts. On a chilly day they settle on a fence, but when the sun comes out, they take off to who-knows-where.


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King of Assyria, your officials and leaders sleep the eternal sleep, while your people are scattered in the mountains. Yes, your people are sheep without a shepherd.


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You're fatally wounded. There's no hope for you. But everyone claps when they hear this news, because your constant cruelty has caused them pain.


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Our LORD, how long must I beg for your help before you listen? How long before you save us from all this violence?


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Why do you make me watch such terrible injustice? Why do you allow violence, lawlessness, crime, and cruelty to spread everywhere?


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Laws cannot be enforced; justice is always the loser; criminals crowd out honest people and twist the laws around.


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Look and be amazed at what's happening among the nations! Even if you were told, you would never believe what's taking place now.


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I am sending the Babylonians. They are fierce and cruel-- marching across the land, conquering cities and towns.


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Their cavalry troops are faster than leopards, more ferocious than wolves hunting at sunset, and swifter than hungry eagles suddenly swooping down.


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They make fun of rulers and laugh at fortresses, while building dirt mounds so they can capture cities.


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Then suddenly they disappear like a gust of wind-- those sinful people who worship their own strength.


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Holy LORD God, mighty rock, you are eternal, and we are safe from death. You are using those Babylonians to judge and punish others.


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But you can't stand sin or wrong. So don't sit by in silence while they gobble down people who are better than they are.


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While standing guard on the watchtower, I waited for the LORD's answer, before explaining the reason for my complaint.


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Then the LORD told me: "I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance.


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At the time I have decided, my words will come true. You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting-- it will happen!


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"I, the LORD, refuse to accept anyone who is proud. Only those who live by faith are acceptable to me."


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Wine is treacherous, and arrogant people are never satisfied. They are no less greedy than death itself-- they open their mouths as wide as the world of the dead and swallow everyone.


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But they will be mocked with these words: You're doomed! You stored up stolen goods and cheated others of what belonged to them.


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You robbed cities and nations everywhere on earth and murdered their people. Now those who survived will be as cruel to you.


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You're doomed! You made your family rich at the expense of others. You even said to yourself, "I'm above the law."


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Now you will be disgraced instead of praised. The LORD will make you drunk, and when others see you naked, you will lose their respect.


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You destroyed trees and animals on Mount Lebanon; you were ruthless to towns and people everywhere. Now you will be terrorized.


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What is an idol worth? It's merely a false god. Why trust a speechless image made from wood or metal by human hands?


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What can you learn from idols covered with silver or gold? They can't even breathe. Pity anyone who says to an idol of wood or stone, "Get up and do something!"


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I know your reputation, LORD, and I am amazed at what you have done. Please turn from your anger and be merciful; do for us what you did for our ancestors.


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You are the same Holy God who came from Teman and Paran to help us. The brightness of your glory covered the heavens, and your praises were heard everywhere on earth.


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When you stopped, the earth shook; when you stared, nations trembled; when you walked along your ancient paths, eternal mountains and hills crumbled and collapsed.


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Our LORD, were you angry with the monsters of the deep? You attacked in your chariot and wiped them out.


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to rescue your people and save your chosen one. You crushed a nation's ruler and stripped his evil kingdom of its power.


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His troops had come like a storm, hoping to scatter us and glad to gobble us down. To them we were refugees in hiding-- but you smashed their heads with their own weapons.


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When I heard this message, I felt weak from fear, and my lips quivered. My bones seemed to melt, and I stumbled around. But I will patiently wait. Someday those vicious enemies will be struck by disaster.


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Fig trees may no longer bloom, or vineyards produce grapes; olive trees may be fruitless, and harvest time a failure; sheep pens may be empty, and cattle stalls vacant--


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The LORD gives me strength. He makes my feet as sure as those of a deer, and he helps me stand on the mountains. To the music director: Use stringed instruments.


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I am Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, the great-grandson of Amariah, and the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah. When Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah, the LORD gave me this message.


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people and animals, birds and fish. Everyone who is evil will crash to the ground, and I will wipe out the entire human race.


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I will reach out to punish Judah and Jerusalem-- nothing will remain of the god Baal; nothing will be remembered of his pagan priests.


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Not a trace will be found of those who worship stars from their rooftops, or bow down to the god Milcom, while claiming loyalty to me, the LORD.


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Be silent! I am the LORD God, and the time is near. I am preparing to sacrifice my people and to invite my guests.


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On that day I will punish national leaders and sons of the king, along with all who follow foreign customs.


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I, the LORD, promise that on that day noisy crying will be heard from Fish Gate, New Town, and Upper Hills.


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I'll search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those people who sit there unworried while thinking, "The LORD won't do anything, good or bad."


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Their possessions will be taken, their homes left in ruins. They won't get to live in the houses they build, or drink wine from the grapes in their own vineyards.


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The great day of the LORD is coming soon, very soon. On that terrible day, fearsome shouts of warriors will be heard everywhere.


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It will be a time of anger-- of trouble and torment, of disaster and destruction, of darkness and despair, of storm clouds and shadows,


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The LORD warns everyone who has sinned against him, "I'll strike you blind! Then your blood and your insides will gush out like vomit.


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Not even your silver or gold can save you on that day when I, the LORD, am angry. My anger will flare up like a furious fire scorching the earth and everyone on it."


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before it's too late. The LORD has set a time when his fierce anger will strike like a storm and sweep you away.


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If you humbly obey the LORD, then come and worship him. If you do right and are humble, perhaps you will be safe on that day when the LORD turns loose his anger.


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Gaza and Ashkelon will be deserted and left in ruins. Ashdod will be emptied in broad daylight, and Ekron uprooted.


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To you people of Philistia who live along the coast, the LORD has this to say: "I am now your enemy, and I'll wipe you out!"


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The LORD God hasn't forgotten those survivors in Judah, and he will help them-- his people will take your land to use for pasture. And when evening comes, they will rest in houses at Ashkelon. *


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The LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, said: I've heard Moab and Ammon insult my people and threaten their nation.


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And so, I swear by my very life that Moab and Ammon will end up like Sodom and Gomorrah-- covered with thornbushes and salt pits forever. Then my people who survive will take their land.


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This is how Moab and Ammon will at last be repaid for their pride-- and for sneering at the nation that belongs to me, the LORD All-Powerful.


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I will fiercely attack. Then every god on this earth will shrink to nothing, and everyone of every nation will bow down to me, right where they are.


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Herds of wild animals will live in its rubble; all kinds of desert owls will perch on its stones and hoot in the windows. Noisy ravens will be heard inside its buildings, stripped bare of cedar.


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This is the glorious city that felt secure and said, "I am the only one!" Now it's merely ruins, a home for wild animals. Every passerby simply sneers and makes vulgar signs.


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Its officials are roaring lions, its judges are wolves; in the evening they attack, by morning nothing is left.


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Jerusalem's prophets are proud and not to be trusted. The priests have disgraced the place of worship and abused God's Law.


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All who do evil are shameless, but the LORD does right and is always fair. With the dawn of each day, God brings about justice.


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The LORD wiped out nations and left fortresses crumbling in the dirt. Their streets and towns were reduced to ruins and emptied of people.


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God felt certain that Jerusalem would learn to respect and obey him. Then he would hold back from punishing the city and not wipe it out. But everyone there was eager to start sinning again.


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The LORD said: Just wait for the day when I accuse you nations. I have decided on a day, when I will bring together every nation and kingdom and punish them all in my fiery anger. I will become furious and destroy the earth.


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I will purify each language and make those languages acceptable for praising me. Then, with hearts united, everyone will serve only me, the LORD.


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From across the rivers of Ethiopia, my scattered people, my true worshipers, will bring offerings to me.


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When that time comes, you won't rebel against me and be put to shame. I'll do away with those who are proud and arrogant. Never will any of them strut around on my holy mountain.


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The people of Israel who survive will live right and refuse to tell lies. They will eat and rest with nothing to fear.


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Zion, your punishment is over. The LORD has forced your enemies to turn and retreat. Your LORD is King of Israel and stands at your side; you don't have to worry about any more troubles.


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Jerusalem, the time is coming, when it will be said to you: "Don't be discouraged or grow weak from fear!


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The LORD your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love."


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I will punish those who mistreat you. I will bring together the lame and the outcasts, then they will be praised, instead of despised, in every country on earth.


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I will lead you home, and with your own eyes you will see me bless you with all you once owned. Then you will be famous everywhere on this earth. I, the LORD, have spoken!


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On the first day of the sixth month of the second year that Darius was king of Persia, the LORD told Haggai the prophet to speak his message to the governor of Judah and to the high priest. So Haggai told Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua


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that the LORD All-Powerful had said to them and to the people: You say this isn't the right time to build a temple for me. But is it right for you to live in expensive houses, while my temple is a pile of ruins? Just look at what's happening.


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You harvest less than you plant, you never have enough to eat or drink, your clothes don't keep you warm, and your wages are stored in bags full of holes.


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But first, go to the hills and get wood for my temple, so I can take pride in it and be worshiped there.


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You expected much, but received only a little. And when you brought it home, I made that little disappear. Why have I done this? It's because you hurry off to build your own houses, while my temple is still in ruins.


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And so, at my command everything will become barren--your farmland and pastures, your vineyards and olive trees, your animals and you yourselves. All your hard work will be for nothing.


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Zerubbabel and Joshua, together with the others who had returned from exile in Babylonia, obeyed the LORD's message spoken by his prophet Haggai, and they started showing proper respect for the LORD.


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So the LORD God All-Powerful made everyone eager to work on his temple, especially Zerubbabel and Joshua.


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On the twenty-first day of the next month, the LORD told Haggai the prophet to speak this message to Governor Zerubbabel, High Priest Joshua, and everyone else:


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just as I promised your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. Don't worry. My Spirit is right here with you.


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I will shake the nations, and their treasures will be brought here. Then the brightness of my glory will fill this temple.


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and I promise that this new temple will be more glorious than the first one. I will also bless this city with peace.


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Suppose meat ready to be sacrificed to God is being carried in the folds of someone's clothing, and the clothing rubs against some bread or stew or wine or olive oil or any other food. Would those foods that were touched then become acceptable for sacrifice? "Of course not," the priests answered.


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Then Haggai said, "Suppose someone has touched a dead body and is considered unacceptable to worship God. If that person touches these foods, would they become unclean?" "Of course they would," the priests answered.


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So the LORD told Haggai to say: That's how it is with this entire nation. Everything you do and every sacrifice you offer is unacceptable to me.


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you recalled what life was like in the past. When you wanted twenty bushels of wheat, there were only ten, and when you wanted fifty jars of wine, there were only twenty.


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I made all of your hard work useless by sending mildew, mold, and hail--but you still did not return to me, your LORD.


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Although you have not yet harvested any grain, grapes, figs, pomegranates, or olives, I will richly bless you in the days ahead.


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and wipe out kings and their kingdoms. I will overturn war chariots, and then cavalry troops will start slaughtering each other.


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But tell my servant Zerubbabel that I, the LORD All-Powerful, have chosen him, and he will rule in my name.


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I am the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah and the grandson of Iddo. In the eighth month of the second year that Darius was king of Persia, the LORD told me to say:


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Israel, I, the LORD All-Powerful, was very angry with your ancestors. But if you people will return to me, I will turn and help you.


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Don't be stubborn like your ancestors. They were warned by the earlier prophets to give up their evil and turn back to me, but they paid no attention.


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But my warnings and my words spoken by the prophets caught up with your ancestors. So they turned back to me and said, "LORD All-Powerful, you have punished us for our sins, just as you had planned."


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On the twenty-fourth day of Shebat, which was the eleventh month of that same year, the LORD spoke to me in a vision during the night: In a valley among myrtle trees, I saw someone on a red horse, with riders on red, brown, and white horses behind him.


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An angel was there to explain things to me, and I asked, "Sir, who are these riders?" "I'll tell you," the angel answered.


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Right away, the man standing among the myrtle trees said, "These are the ones the LORD has sent to find out what's happening on earth."


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Then the riders spoke to the LORD's angel, who was standing among the myrtle trees, and they said, "We have gone everywhere and have discovered that the whole world is at peace."


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At this, the angel said, "LORD All-Powerful, for seventy years you have been angry with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. When are you ever going to have mercy on them?"


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For a while I was angry at the nations, but now I am furious, because they have made things worse for Jerusalem and are not the least bit concerned.


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And so, I will have pity on Jerusalem. The city will be completely rebuilt, and my temple will stand again.


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I also promise that my towns will prosper--Jerusalem will once again be my chosen city, and I will comfort the people of Zion.


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The angel who was sent to explain was there, and so I asked, "What do these mean?" His answer was, "These horns are the nations that scattered the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, and took away their freedom." Then the LORD showed me four blacksmiths, and I asked, "What are they going to do?" He replied, "They are going to terrify and crush those horns."


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and I asked, "Where are you going?" "To measure Jerusalem," was the answer. "To find out how wide and long it is."


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and said, "Hurry! Tell that man with the measuring line that Jerusalem won't have any boundaries. It will be too full of people and animals even to have a wall.


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The LORD himself has promised to be a protective wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem, and he will be its shining glory in the heart of the city."


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The LORD says to his people, "Run! Escape from the land in the north, where I scattered you to the four winds.


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Then the glorious LORD All-Powerful ordered me to say to the nations that had raided and robbed Zion: Zion is as precious to the LORD as are his eyes. Whatever you do to Zion, you do to him.


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And so, he will put you in the power of your slaves, and they will raid and rob you. Then you will know that I am a prophet of the LORD All-Powerful.


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When he does, many nations will turn to him and become his people. At that time you will know that I am a prophet of the LORD All-Powerful.


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I was given another vision. This time Joshua the high priest was standing in front of the LORD's angel. And there was Satan, standing at Joshua's right side, ready to accuse him.


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But the LORD said, "Satan, you are wrong. Jerusalem is my chosen city, and this man was rescued like a stick from a flaming fire."


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So the angel told some of the people to remove Joshua's filthy clothes. Then he said to Joshua, "This means you are forgiven. Now I will dress you in priestly clothes."


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I spoke up and said, "Also put a clean priestly turban on his head." Then they dressed him in priestly clothes and put the turban on him, while the LORD's angel stood there watching.


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If you truly obey me, I will put you in charge of my temple, including the courtyard around it, and you will be allowed to speak at any time with the angels standing beside me.


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Listen carefully, High Priest Joshua and all of you other priests. You are a sign of things to come, because I am going to bring back my servant, the Chosen King.


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Joshua, I have placed in front of you a stone with seven sides. I will engrave something on that stone, and in a single day I will forgive this guilty country.


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Then each of you will live at peace and entertain your friends in your own vineyard and under your own fig trees.


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Then he asked, "What do you see?" "A solid gold lampstand with an oil container above it," I answered. "On the stand are seven lamps, each with seven flames.


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So the angel explained that it was the following message of the LORD to Zerubbabel: I am the LORD All-Powerful. So don't depend on your own power or strength, but on my Spirit.


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Zerubbabel, that mountain in front of you will be leveled to the ground. Then you will bring out the temple's most important stone and shout, "God has been very kind."


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Zerubbabel laid the foundation for the temple, and he will complete it. Then everyone will know that you were sent by me, the LORD All-Powerful.


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Those who have made fun of this day of small beginnings will celebrate when they see Zerubbabel holding this important stone. Those seven lamps represent my eyes--the eyes of the LORD--and they see everything on this earth.


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Then I asked the angel, "What about the olive trees on each side of the lampstand? What do they represent?


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And what is the meaning of the two branches from which golden olive oil flows through the two gold pipes?"


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Then he told me, "These branches are the two chosen leaders who stand beside the Lord of all the earth."


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and the angel asked, "What do you see?" "A flying scroll," I answered. "About thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide."


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Then he told me: This scroll puts a curse on everyone in the land who steals or tells lies. The writing on one side tells about the destruction of those who steal, while the writing on the other side tells about the destruction of those who lie.


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The LORD All-Powerful has said, "I am sending this scroll into the house of everyone who is a robber or tells lies in my name, and it will remain there until every piece of wood and stone in that house crumbles."


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Now the angel who was there to explain the visions came over and said, "Look up and tell me what you see coming."


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"I don't know what it is," was my reply. "It's a big basket," he said. "And it shows what everyone in the land has in mind."


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"This woman represents evil," the angel explained. Then he threw her back into the basket and slammed the heavy cover down tight.


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Right after this I saw two women coming through the sky like storks with wings outstretched in the wind. Suddenly they lifted the basket into the air,


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Then he explained, "These are the four winds of heaven, and now they are going out, after presenting themselves to the Lord of all the earth.


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The chariot with black horses goes toward the north, the chariot with white horses goes toward the west, and the one with spotted horses goes toward the south."


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The horses came out eager to patrol the earth, and the angel told them, "Start patrolling the earth." When they had gone on their way,


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he shouted to me, "Those that have gone to the country in the north will do what the LORD's Spirit wants them to do there."


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Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah have returned from Babylonia. Collect enough silver and gold from them to make a crown. Then go with them to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah and put the crown on the head of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak.


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Tell him that I, the LORD All-Powerful, say, "Someone will reach out from here like a branch and build a temple for me. I will name him 'Branch,' and he will rule with royal honors. A priest will stand beside his throne, and the two of them will be good friends.


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This crown will be kept in my temple as a reminder and will be taken care of by Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah."


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When people from distant lands come and help build the temple of the LORD All-Powerful, you will know that the LORD is the one who sent me. And this will happen, if you truly obey the LORD your God.


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On the fourth day of Chislev, the ninth month of the fourth year that Darius was king of Persia, the LORD again spoke to me.


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It happened after the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer with Regem-Melech and his men to ask the priests in the LORD's temple and the prophets to pray for them. So they prayed, "Should we mourn and go without eating during the fifth month, as we have done for many years?"


