Study Desk

I said, "I don't know. What is it?" He said, "That is a measuring bucket." He also said, "That bucket is for measuring the sins of the people in this country."

The angel told me, "They are going to build a house for it in Babylonia. After they build that house, they will put the bucket there."

People living far away will come and build the Lord 's Temple. Then you will know for sure that the Lord All-Powerful sent me to you people. All these things will happen if you do what the Lord your God says.

They went to the prophets and to the priests at the Temple of the Lord All-Powerful. They asked them this question: "For many years we have shown our sadness for the destruction of the Temple. In the fifth month of each year, we have had a special time of crying and fasting. Should we continue to do this?"

"Tell the priests and the other people in this country this: ‘For seventy years you fasted and showed your sadness in the fifth month and in the seventh month. But was that fasting really for me?

And when you ate and drank, was that for me? No, it was for your own good.

The Lord All-Powerful says, "I have a very strong love for Mount Zion. I love her so much that I became angry when she was not faithful to me."

Before that time, people didn't have the money to hire workers or to rent animals. And it was not safe for people to come and go. There was no relief from all the troubles. I had turned everyone against their neighbor.

But it is not like that now. It will not be like that for the survivors." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.

This is the Lord 's message against the land of Hadrach and against the city of Damascus. The tribes of Israel are not the only people who know about the Lord . Everyone looks to him for help.

Prisoners, go home! Now you have something to hope for. I am telling you now, I am coming back to you.

Pray to the Lord for rain in the springtime. The Lord will send the lightning and the rain will fall, and he will make the plants grow in each person's field.

People use their little statues and magic to learn what will happen in the future, but that is useless. They see visions and tell about their dreams, but it is nothing but worthless lies. So the people are like sheep wandering here and there crying for help, but there is no shepherd to lead them.

The Lord says, "I am very angry with the shepherds. I made them responsible for what happens to my sheep." (The people of Judah are his flock, and the Lord All-Powerful really does take care of his flock. He cares for them as a soldier cares for his beautiful war horse.)

"I will whistle for them and call them all together. I really will save them. There will be many people.

I, the Lord , will make my people strong, and they will live for me." This is what the Lord said.

The cypress trees will cry because the cedar trees have fallen. Those powerful trees will be taken away. Oak trees in Bashan will cry for the forest that was cut down.

The Lord my God says, "Care for the sheep that have been raised to be killed.

Buyers kill their sheep and are not punished. Those who sell the sheep say, ‘Praise the Lord , I am rich!' The shepherds don't feel sorry for their sheep.

And I don't feel sorry for the people who live in this country." This is what the Lord said: "Look, I will let everyone be under the control of their neighbor and king. I will let them destroy the country—I will not stop them!"