Study Desk

Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of the stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.

When the strong ones went out, they were eager to go to patrol the earth. And He said, "Go, patrol the earth." So they patrolled the earth.

"Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah; and you shall go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon.

"But they refused to pay attention, and turned a stubborn shoulder and plugged their ears from hearing.

"They also made their hearts as hard as a diamond so that they could not hear the Law and the words which the LORD of armies had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of armies.

"And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen," says the LORD of armies;

"but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, since they made the pleasant land desolate."

and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.'

And Hamath also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

And I will remove their blood from their mouth And their detestable things from between their teeth. Then they also will be a remnant for our God, And be like a clan in Judah, And Ekron will be like a Jebusite.

The LORD of armies will protect them. And they will devour and trample on the slingstones; And they will drink and be boisterous as with wine; And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin, Drenched like the corners of the altar.

And the LORD their God will save them on that day As the flock of His people; For they are like the precious stones of a crown, Sparkling on His land.

For the household idols speak deception, And the diviners see an illusion And tell deceitful dreams; They comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep, They are wretched because there is no shepherd.

"And they will be like warriors, Trampling down the enemy in the mud of the streets in battle; And they will fight, because the LORD will be with them; And the riders on horses will be put to shame.

"And I will strengthen the house of Judah, And I will save the house of Joseph, And I will bring them back, Because I have had compassion on them; And they will be as though I had not rejected them, For I am the LORD their God and I will answer them.

"I will whistle for them and gather them together, For I have redeemed them; And they will be as numerous as they were before.

"When I scatter them among the peoples, They will remember Me in distant countries, And they with their children will live and come back.

"And they will pass through the sea of distress And He will strike the waves in the sea, So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up; And the pride of Assyria will be brought down, And the scepter of Egypt will depart.

"And I will strengthen them in the LORD, And in His name they will walk," declares the LORD.

"For I will no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land," declares the LORD; "but behold, I will let the people fall, each into another's power and into the power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will not rescue them from their power."