Historical
The Lord’s Judgment
1 This is the message of the Lord that came through Zephaniah. It came while Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, who was the son of Gedaliah. Gedaliah was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Hezekiah.
2 “I will destroy everything
on earth,” says the Lord.
3 “I will destroy the people and animals.
I will destroy the birds in the air
and the fish of the sea.
I will ruin the evil people.
I will remove all the people from the earth,” says the Lord.
The Future of Judah
4 “I will punish Judah
and all the people living in Jerusalem.
I will remove from this place
all signs of Baal and his priests.
5 I will destroy those who worship
the stars from the roofs.[a]
I will destroy those who worship and make promises
by both the Lord and the god Molech.
6 I will destroy those who turned away from the Lord.
They quit following the Lord and consulting him.
7 Be silent before the Lord God.
His day for judging people is coming soon.
The Lord has prepared to sacrifice Judah.
He has appointed the invited guests to feast on Judah.
8 On that day the Lord will sacrifice Judah.
I, the Lord, will punish the princes and the king’s sons.
And I will punish all
those who wear foreign clothes.
9 On that day I will punish those who worship Dagon.
I will punish those who hurt others
and tell lies in the temples of their gods.
10 “On that day this will happen,” says the Lord.
“A cry will be heard at the Fish Gate.
A wail will come from the new area of the city.
A loud crash will echo from the hills.
11 The people living in the market area will wail.
All the merchants will be dead.
All the silver traders will be gone.
12 At that time I, the Lord, will search Jerusalem with lamps.
I will punish those who are settled and satisfied with themselves.
They are like wine left to settle.
They think, ‘The Lord never does anything.
He won’t help us or punish us.’
13 Their wealth will be stolen.
Their houses will be destroyed.
They may build houses,
but they will never live in them.
They may plant vineyards,
but they will never drink any wine from them.
The Lord’s Day of Judging
14 “The Lord’s day of judging is coming soon.
That great day is near and coming fast.
The cry will be very sad on that day.
Even soldiers will cry.
15 That day will be a day of anger.
It will be a day of terror and trouble.
It will be a day of destruction and ruin.
It will be a day of darkness and gloom.
It will be a day of clouds and blackness.
16 It will be a day of alarms and battle cries.
‘Attack the strong, walled cities!
Attack the corner towers!’
17 I will make life hard on the people.
They will walk around like blind men.
This is because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust.
And their bodies will be dumped like trash.
18 On that day God will show his anger.
Then neither their silver nor gold will save them.
The Lord’s anger will be like fire.
And the whole world will be burned up.
Suddenly he will bring an end
to everyone on earth.”
God Asks People to Change
2 Gather together,
you unwanted people.
2 Do it before it’s too late.
Do it before you are blown away like chaff.
Do it before the Lord’s terrible anger reaches you.
Do it before the day of the Lord’s anger comes to you.
3 All you who are not proud, come to the Lord.
You who obey his laws, come to him.
Do what is right. Learn to be humble.
Maybe you will escape
on the day the Lord shows his anger.
Philistia Will Be Punished
4 No one will be left in the city of Gaza.
The city of Ashkelon will be destroyed.
Ashdod will be empty by noon.
And the people of Ekron will be chased away.
5 How terrible it will be for you who live by the Mediterranean Sea,
you Philistines!
This message from the Lord is for you,
people of Canaan, land of the Philistines.
“I will destroy you.
No one will be left.”
6 You live in the land by the Mediterranean Sea.
It will be a place for shepherds and sheep.
7 Your land will belong to the descendants of Judah who are left alive.
There they will let their sheep eat grass.
At night they will sleep
in the houses of Ashkelon.
The Lord their God will come to be with them.
He will give them back their riches.
Moab and Ammon Will Be Punished
8 “I heard the country of Moab insult my people.
The country of Ammon threatened to take their land.”
9 So the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says,
“As surely as I live,
Moab will be destroyed like Sodom.
Ammon will be destroyed like Gomorrah.[b]
Their land will be covered with weeds and salt.
It will be destroyed 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.”
10 This is what Moab and Ammon get for being proud.
This will happen because they insulted and made fun of the people of the Lord of heaven’s armies.
11 Those people will be afraid of the Lord.
He will destroy all the gods of the earth.
Then those people in faraway places
will worship the Lord in their own countries.
Cush and Assyria Will Be Destroyed
12 “You Cushites also
will be killed by my sword.”
13 Then the Lord will turn against the north
and punish Assyria.
He will destroy Nineveh.
It will be dry like a desert.
14 Sheep and goats will lie down there.
Wild animals will live there.
The owls and crows will sit
on the stone pillars that are left standing.
Their calls will be heard through the windows.
Trash will be in the doorways.
The wooden boards of the buildings will be gone.
15 This is the happy and safe city.
It thinks there is no one else as strong as it is.
But that city will be destroyed.
Only animals will stay there.
Those who pass by will make fun
and shake their fists.
Jerusalem Will Be Punished
3 How terrible it will be for Jerusalem that hurts its own people.
It’s a wicked, stubborn city.
2 Her people don’t listen.
They can’t be taught to do right.
They don’t trust the Lord.
They don’t worship their God.
3 Their officers are like roaring lions.
Their rulers are like hungry wolves that attack in the evening.
In the morning nothing is left of those they attacked.
4 Their prophets are proud.
They cannot be trusted.
Their priests don’t respect holy things.
They break God’s teachings.
5 But the Lord is good, and he is there in that city.
He does no wrong.
Every morning he governs the people fairly.
Every day he can be trusted by his people.
But evil people are not ashamed of the bad things they do.
6 “I have destroyed other nations.
Their towers have fallen.
I made their streets empty.
No one goes there anymore.
Their cities are ruined.
No one lives there anymore.
7 I said, ‘Maybe now Jerusalem will respect me.
Maybe now my people will let me teach them to do right.’
Then the place where they lived would not be destroyed.
Then I would not have punished them.
They got up early in order to do evil.
Everything they did was bad.
8 Just wait,” says the Lord.
“Some day I will hold court and be the judge.
I will gather nations.
I will assemble kingdoms.
I will pour out my anger on them.
My anger will be very strong.
My anger will be like fire.
And the whole world will be burned up.
A New Day for God’s People
9 “Then I will make the people of all nations speak a pure language.
All of them will speak the name of the Lord.
And they will worship me together.
10 People will come from where the Nile River begins.
My scattered people will come with gifts for me.
11 Then Jerusalem will not be ashamed
of the wrongs done against me.
I will remove from this city
those who like to brag.
There will never be any more proud people
on my holy mountain in Jerusalem.
12 Only the meek and humble will
stay in my city.
And they will trust in the Lord.
13 Those who are left alive of Israel won’t do wrong.
They won’t tell lies.
They won’t trick people with their words.
They will be like sheep that eat and lie down.
No one will bother them.”
A Happy Song
14 Sing, Jerusalem.
Israel, shout for joy!
Jerusalem, be happy.
Rejoice with all your heart.
15 The Lord has stopped punishing you.
He has sent your enemies away.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is with you.
You will never again be afraid of being harmed.
16 On that day Jerusalem will be told,
“Don’t be afraid, city of Jerusalem.
Don’t be so discouraged that you can’t do anything.
17 The Lord your God is with you.
The mighty One will save you.
The Lord will be happy with you.
You will rest in his love.
He will sing and be joyful about you.”
18 “I will take away the sadness planned for you.
It would have made you very ashamed.
19 At that time I will punish
all those who harmed you.
I will save my people who are hurt.
I will gather my people who are scattered.
I will give them praise and honor
in every place where they were disgraced.
20 At that time I will gather you.
At that time I will bring you back home.
I will give you honor and praise
from people everywhere.
That will happen when I give you back your riches.
You will see this with your own eyes,” says the Lord.
It Is Time to Build the Temple
1 The prophet Haggai spoke the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel and to Joshua. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel was governor of Judah. Joshua son of Jehozadak was high priest. This message came in the second year that Darius was king of Persia. It came on the first day of the sixth month of that year. This was the message:
2 “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘The people say the right time has not come to rebuild the Temple of the Lord.’”
3 Then Haggai the prophet spoke the word of the Lord: 4 “The Temple is still in ruins. Is it right for you to be living in fancy houses?”
5 This is why the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “Think about what you have done. 6 You have planted much, but you harvest little. You eat, but you do not become full. You drink, but you are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but you are not warm enough. You earn money, but then you lose it all. It is as if you put it into a purse full of holes.”
7 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “Think about what you have done. 8 Go up to the mountains. Bring back wood and build the Temple. Then I will be pleased with it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 The Lord of heaven’s armies says: “You look for much, but you find little. When you bring it home, I destroy it. Why? Because you are busy working on your own houses. But my house is still in ruins! 10 Because of what you have done, the sky holds back its rain. And the ground holds back its crops. 11 I have called for a dry time in the land. There will be no rain in the mountains for the grain, new wine and olive oil. It will be a dry time for the plants which the earth produces. It will be a dry time for men and farm animals. The dry time will make your hard work useless.”
12 Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel. And Joshua, the high priest, was the son of Jehozadak. Zerubbabel and Joshua obeyed the Lord their God. And they obeyed the message from Haggai the prophet. All the rest of the people who were left alive also obeyed. This was because they realized that the Lord their God had sent Haggai. And they feared the Lord.
13 The Lord sent a message to Haggai, the Lord’s messenger. Haggai gave this message to the people. He said: “The Lord says, ‘I am with you.’” 14 The Lord made Zerubbabel and Joshua excited about building the Temple. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel was the governor of Judah. Joshua son of Jehozadak was the high priest. The Lord made all the rest of the people who were left alive excited, too. They came and worked on the Temple of their God, the Lord of heaven’s armies. 15 They began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. This was in the second year that Darius was king of Persia.
The Beauty of the Temple
2 The Lord spoke his word through Haggai the prophet on the twenty-first day of the seventh month. This is what the Lord said: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah. Speak also to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And speak to the rest of the people who were left alive. Say: 3 ‘Do any of you who are still alive remember how beautiful the Temple was before it was destroyed? What does it look like now? The truth is it means nothing to you!’ 4 But the Lord says: ‘Zerubbabel, be brave. Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, be brave. And all you people who live in the land, be brave,’ says the Lord. ‘Work, because I am with you,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. 5 ‘I made a promise to you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit is still with you. So don’t be afraid.’
6 “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘In a short time I will shake the heavens and earth once again. And I will shake the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations. All the nations will bring their wealth. Then I will fill this Temple with glory,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. 8 ‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. 9 ‘The new Temple will be more beautiful than the one that was destroyed,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies. ‘And in this place I will give peace to the people,’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies.”
10 The Lord spoke his word to Haggai the prophet. This was on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. It was in the second year that Darius was king of Persia. This is what the Lord said: 11 “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘Ask the priests what the teachings say. 12 A person might carry meat made holy for the Lord in the fold of his clothes. And that fold might touch bread, cooked food, wine, olive oil or some other food. Will the thing the fold touches be made holy for the Lord, too?’”
The priests answered, “No.”
13 Then Haggai said, “A person who touches a dead body will become unclean. If he touches any of these foods, will it become unclean, too?”
The priests answered, “Yes. It would become unclean.”
14 Then Haggai answered, “The Lord says this: ‘This is also true for the people of this nation. They are unclean, and everything they do with their hands is unclean to me. If these people offer something at the altar to me, it is also unclean.
15 “‘Think about this from now on! Think about how it was before you started piling stones on top of stones. Think about how it was before you started building the Temple of the Lord. 16 A person used to come to a pile of grain expecting to find 20 basketfuls. But there were only 10. And a person used to come to the wine vat to take out 50 jarfuls. But only 20 were there. 17 I destroyed your work with diseases, mildew and hail. But you still did not come to me.’ The Lord says this. 18 ‘It is the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. On this day the people finished working on the foundation of the Temple of the Lord. From now on, think about these things: 19 Do you have seeds for your crops already in the barn? No! Your vines and trees are not giving fruit yet, either. You don’t have any figs, pomegranates or olives yet. But from now on I will bless you!’”
The Lord Makes a Promise to Zerubbabel
20 Then the Lord spoke his word a second time to Haggai. It was on the twenty-fourth day of the month. This is what the Lord said: 21 “Tell Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah: ‘I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will destroy the foreign kingdoms. I will take away the power of the kingdoms of the nations. I will destroy the chariots and their riders. The horses will fall with their riders. People will kill each other with swords.’ 23 The Lord of heaven’s armies says this: ‘On that day I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant.’ The Lord says this: ‘I will make you important like my signet ring. This is because I have chosen you!’ says the Lord of heaven’s armies.”
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