Zephaniah 3

New King James Version

The Wickedness of Jerusalem

3 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted,
To the oppressing city!
²She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the Lord,
She has not drawn near to her God.

³^(A)Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are ^(B)evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
⁴Her ^(C)prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have ^[a]polluted the sanctuary,
They have done ^(D)violence to the law.
⁵The Lord is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.
^[b]Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He never fails,
But ^(E)the unjust knows no shame.

⁶“I have cut off nations,
Their fortresses are devastated;
I have made their streets desolate,
With none passing by.
Their cities are destroyed;
There is no one, no inhabitant.
⁷^(F)I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me,
You will receive instruction’—
So that her dwelling would not be cut off,
Despite everything for which I punished her.
But ^[c]they rose early and ^(G)corrupted all their deeds.

A Faithful Remnant^(H)

⁸“Therefore ^(I)wait for Me,” says the Lord,
“Until the day I rise up ^[d]for plunder;
My determination is to ^(J)gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth ^(K)shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.

⁹“For then I will restore to the peoples ^(L)a pure ^[e]language,
That they all may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him with one accord.
¹⁰^(M)From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers,
The daughter of My dispersed ones,
Shall bring My offering.
¹¹In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds
In which you transgress against Me;
For then I will take away from your midst
Those who ^(N)rejoice in your pride,
And you shall no longer be haughty
In My holy mountain.
¹²I will leave in your midst
^(O)A meek and humble people,
And they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
¹³^(P)The remnant of Israel ^(Q)shall do no unrighteousness
^(R)And speak no lies,
Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;
For ^(S)they shall feed their flocks and lie down,
And no one shall make them afraid.”

Joy in God’s Faithfulness

¹⁴^(T)Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
¹⁵The Lord has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.
^(U)The King of Israel, the Lord, ^(V)is in your midst;
You shall ^[f]see disaster no more.

¹⁶In that day ^(W)it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, ^(X)let not your hands be weak.
¹⁷The Lord your God ^(Y)in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
^(Z)He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

¹⁸“I will gather those who ^(AA)sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden.
¹⁹Behold, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you;
I will save the ^(AB)lame,
And gather those who were driven out;
I will appoint them for praise and fame
In every land where they were put to shame.
²⁰At that time ^(AC)I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you ^[g]fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.

Footnotes

Zephaniah 3:4 Or profaned
Zephaniah 3:5 Lit. Morning by morning
Zephaniah 3:7 They were eager
Zephaniah 3:8 LXX, Syr. for witness; Tg. for the day of My revelation for judgment; Vg. for the day of My resurrection that is to come
Zephaniah 3:9 Lit. lip
Zephaniah 3:15 So with Heb. mss., LXX, Bg.; MT, Vg. fear
Zephaniah 3:20 Lit. a name

Haggai 1-2

New King James Version

The Command to Build God’s House^(A)

1 In ^(B)the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by ^(C)Haggai the prophet to ^(D)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^(E)Joshua the son of ^(F)Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, ²“Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” ’ ”

³Then the word of the Lord ^(G)came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁴“Is it ^(H)time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this ^[a]temple to lie in ruins?” ⁵Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(I)“Consider your ways!

⁶“You have ^(J)sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And ^(K)he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! ⁸Go up to the ^(L)mountains and bring wood and build the ^[b]temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. ⁹^(M)“You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, ^(N)I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. ¹⁰Therefore ^(O)the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. ¹¹For I ^(P)called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on ^(Q)all the labor of your hands.”

The People’s Obedience

¹²^(R)Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the Lord. ¹³Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people, saying, ^(S)“I am with you, says the Lord.” ¹⁴So ^(T)the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(U)governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; ^(V)and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, ¹⁵on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

The Coming Glory of God’s House

2 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the Lord came ^[c]by Haggai the prophet, saying: ²“Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: ³^(W)‘Who is left among you who saw this ^[d]temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, ^(X)is this not in your eyes as nothing? ⁴Yet now ^(Y)be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁵^(Z)‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so ^(AA)My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’

⁶“For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AB)‘Once more (it is a little while) ^(AC)I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; ⁷and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to ^(AD)the ^[e]Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this ^[f]temple with ^(AE)glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁸‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ⁹^(AF)‘The glory of this latter ^[g]temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give ^(AG)peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

The People Are Defiled

¹⁰On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ¹¹“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Now, ^(AH)ask the priests concerning the law, saying, ¹²“If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?” ’ ”

Then the priests answered and said, “No.”

¹³And Haggai said, “If one who is ^(AI)unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?”

So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.”

¹⁴Then Haggai answered and said, ^(AJ)“ ‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.

Promised Blessing

¹⁵‘And now, carefully ^(AK)consider from this day forward: from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the Lord— ¹⁶since those days, ^(AL)when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty. ¹⁷^(AM)I struck you with blight and mildew and hail ^(AN)in all the labors of your hands; ^(AO)yet you did not turn to Me,’ says the Lord. ¹⁸‘Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from ^(AP)the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid—consider it: ¹⁹^(AQ)Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will ^(AR)bless you.’ ”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

²⁰And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, ²¹“Speak to Zerubbabel, ^(AS)governor of Judah, saying:

^(AT)‘I will shake heaven and earth.
²²^(AU)I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms;
I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms.
^(AV)I will overthrow the chariots
And those who ride in them;
The horses and their riders shall come down,
Every one by the sword of his brother.

²³‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, ^(AW)‘and will make you like a signet ring; for ^(AX)I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

Footnotes

Haggai 1:4 Lit. house
Haggai 1:8 Lit. house
Haggai 2:1 Lit. by the hand of
Haggai 2:3 Lit. house
Haggai 2:7 Or desire of all nations
Haggai 2:7 Lit. house
Haggai 2:9 Lit. house

Zechariah 1-2

New King James Version

A Call to Repentance^(A)

1 In the eighth month ^(B)of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came ^(C)to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of ^(D)Iddo the prophet, saying, ²“The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. ³Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return ^(E)to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. ⁴“Do not be like your fathers, ^(F)to whom the former prophets preached, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(G)“Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not hear nor heed Me,” says the Lord.

⁵“Your fathers, where are they?
And the prophets, do they live forever?
⁶Yet surely ^(H)My words and My statutes,
Which I commanded My servants the prophets,
Did they not overtake your fathers?

“So they returned and said:

^(I)‘Just as the Lord of hosts determined to do to us,
According to our ways and according to our deeds,
So He has dealt with us.’ ” ’ ”

Vision of the Horses

⁷On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet: ⁸I saw by night, and behold, ^(J)a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were ^(K)horses: red, sorrel, and white. ⁹Then I said, ^(L)“My lord, what are these?” So the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”

¹⁰And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, ^(M)“These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.”

¹¹^(N)So they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is ^[a]resting quietly.”

The Lord Will Comfort Zion

¹²Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, ^(O)how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry ^(P)these seventy years?”

¹³And the Lord answered the angel who talked to me, with ^(Q)good and comforting words. ¹⁴So the angel who spoke with me said to me, ^[b]“Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“I am ^(R)zealous^[c] for Jerusalem
And for Zion with great ^[d]zeal.
¹⁵I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease;
For ^(S)I was a little angry,
And they helped—but with evil intent.”

¹⁶‘Therefore thus says the Lord:

^(T)“I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy;
My ^(U)house ^(V)shall be built in it,” says the Lord of hosts,
“And ^(W)a surveyor’s line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.” ’

¹⁷“Again proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“My cities shall again ^[e]spread out through prosperity;
^(X)The Lord will again comfort Zion,
And ^(Y)will again choose Jerusalem.” ’ ”

Vision of the Horns

¹⁸Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four ^(Z)horns. ¹⁹And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?”

So he answered me, ^(AA)“These are the ^[f]horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

²⁰Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. ²¹And I said, “What are these coming to do?”

So he said, “These are the ^(AB)horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but ^[g]the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that ^(AC)lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

Vision of the Measuring Line

2 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, ^(AD)a man with a measuring line in his hand. ²So I said, “Where are you going?”

And he said to me, ^(AE)“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”

³And there was the angel who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to meet him, ⁴who said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying: ^(AF)‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. ⁵For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be ^(AG)a wall of fire all around her, ^(AH)and I will be the glory in her midst.’ ”

Future Joy of Zion and Many Nations

⁶“Up, up! Flee ^(AI)from the land of the north,” says the Lord; “for I have ^(AJ)spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven,” says the Lord. ⁷“Up, Zion! ^(AK)Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.”

⁸For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who ^(AL)touches you touches the ^[h]apple of His eye. ⁹For surely I will ^(AM)shake My hand against them, and they shall become ^[i]spoil for their servants. Then ^(AN)you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me.

¹⁰^(AO)“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I ^(AP)will dwell in your midst,” says the Lord. ¹¹^(AQ)“Many nations shall be joined to the Lord ^(AR)in that day, and they shall become ^(AS)My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then ^(AT)you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. ¹²And the Lord will ^(AU)take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. ¹³^(AV)Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused ^(AW)from His holy habitation!”