Study Desk

Too bad for that disgusting, corrupt, and lawless city!

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.

I will purify each language and make those languages acceptable for praising me. Then, with hearts united, everyone will serve only me, the Lord .

But I, the Lord , won't destroy any of your people who are truly humble and turn to me for safety.

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.

But first, go to the hills and get wood for my temple, so I can take pride in it and be worshiped there.

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.

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 .

to ask the priests for their opinion on the following matter:

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.

But from now on, things will get better. Before you started laying the foundation for the temple,

Today you have completed the foundation for my temple, so listen to what your future will be like.

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."

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?"

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.

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.

"To Babylonia," he answered, "where they will build a house for the basket and set it down inside."

"Sir," I asked the angel. "What do these stand for?"

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.

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?"