Study Desk

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.

Then my enemies will see that the Lord is on my side. They will be ashamed that they taunted me, saying, "So where is the Lord — that God of yours?" With my own eyes I will see their downfall; they will be trampled like mud in the streets.

Like snakes crawling from their holes, they will come out to meet the Lord our God. They will fear him greatly, trembling in terror at his presence.

Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love.

The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and continues to rage against his enemies!

They sweep past like the wind and are gone. But they are deeply guilty, for their own strength is their god."

O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal— surely you do not plan to wipe us out? O Lord , our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us, to punish us for our many sins.

"Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.

"What good is an idol carved by man, or a cast image that deceives you? How foolish to trust in your own creation— a god that can't even talk!

I see God moving across the deserts from Edom, the Holy One coming from Mount Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with his praise.

yet I will rejoice in the Lord ! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

The remnant of the tribe of Judah will pasture there. They will rest at night in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon. For the Lord their God will visit his people in kindness and restore their prosperity again.

Now, as surely as I live," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, "Moab and Ammon will be destroyed— destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah. Their land will become a place of stinging nettles, salt pits, and eternal desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them and take their land."

No one can tell it anything; it refuses all correction. It does not trust in the Lord or draw near to its God.

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs."

Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God's people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord .

So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God's people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven's Armies,

Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel's way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!'"

People will come from distant lands to rebuild the Temple of the Lord . And when this happens, you will know that my messages have been from the Lord of Heaven's Armies. All this will happen if you carefully obey what the Lord your God says.