Study Desk

So the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says, "As surely as I live, Moab will be destroyed like Sodom, and Ammon will be destroyed like Gomorrah— a heap of weeds, a pit of salt, and a ruin forever. Those of my people who are left alive will take whatever they want from them; those who are left from my nation will take their land."

"I have destroyed nations; their towers were ruined. I made their streets empty so no one goes there anymore. Their cities are ruined; no one lives there at all.

"Then I will give the people of all nations pure speech so that all of them will speak the name of the Lord and worship me together.

The Lord stirred up Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the rest of the people who were left alive. So they came and worked on the Temple of their God, the Lord All-Powerful.

‘I made a promise to you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit is still with you. So don't be afraid.'

So tell the people: This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘Return to me, and I will return to you,' says the Lord All-Powerful.

So the Lord answered the angel who was talking with me, and his words were comforting and good.

And I am very angry with the nations that feel so safe. I was only a little angry at them, but they made things worse.'

"So this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy. My Temple will be rebuilt,' says the Lord All-Powerful, ‘and the measuring line will be used to rebuild Jerusalem.'

I asked, "What are they coming to do?" He answered, "They have come to scare and throw down the horns. These horns scattered the people of Judah so that no one could even lift up his head. These horns stand for the nations that attacked the people of Judah and scattered them."

The second angel said to him, "Run and tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will become a city without walls, because there will be so many people and cattle in it.

I will shake my hand against them so that their slaves will rob them." Then you will know that the Lord All-Powerful sent me.

Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and dressed him while the Lord 's angel stood there.

So he said, "They are symbols of the two who have been appointed to serve the Lord of all the earth."

When the powerful horses went out, they were eager to go through all the earth. So he said, "Go through all the earth," and they did.

They made their hearts as hard as rock and would not listen to the teachings of the Lord All-Powerful. And they would not hear the words he sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord All-Powerful became very angry.

"‘When I called to them, they would not listen. So when they called to me, I would not listen,' says the Lord All-Powerful.

‘I scattered them like a hurricane to other countries they did not know. This good land was left so ruined behind them that no one could live there. They had made the desired land a ruin.'"

Judah and Israel, your names have been used as curses in other nations. But I will save you, and you will become a blessing. So don't be afraid; work hard."

"But now I will do something different. I am planning to do good to Jerusalem and Judah. So don't be afraid.