אֶ֫רֶץ

Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you, and no one will be left.”

The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then the nations of every shore will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place.

Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation—all My burning anger. For all the earth will be consumed by the fire of My jealousy.

Behold, at that time, I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame and gather the scattered; and I will appoint praise and fame for the disgraced throughout the earth.

At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you. For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your captives before your very eyes,” says the LORD.

Therefore, on account of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth has withheld its crops.

I have summoned a drought on the fields and on the mountains, on the grain, new wine, and oil, and on whatever the ground yields, on man and beast, and on all the labor of your hands.”

But now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work! For I am with you, declares the LORD of Hosts.

For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.

“Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth:

Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.”

And the riders answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and tranquil.”

“What are these coming to do?” I asked. And He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head; but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations that have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

“Get up! Get up! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven,” declares the LORD.

See the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave on it an inscription, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.

For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

So he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”

Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.

“What is it?” I asked. And he replied, “A measuring basket is going forth.” Then he continued, “This is their iniquity in all the land.”

Then I lifted up my eyes and saw two women approaching, with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.

“To build a house for it in the land of Shinar,” he told me. “And when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its pedestal.”

And the angel told me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth from their station before the Lord of all the earth.

The one with the black horses is going toward the land of the north, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

As the strong horses went out, they were eager to go and patrol the earth; and the LORD said, “Go and patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth.

Then the LORD summoned me and said, “Behold, those going to the land of the north have given rest to My Spirit in the land of the north.”

“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known, and the land was left desolate behind them so that no one could come or go. Thus they turned the pleasant land into a desolation.”

This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west.

“For the seed will be prosperous, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will yield its produce, and the skies will give their dew. To the remnant of this people I will give all these things as an inheritance.

This is the burden of the word of the LORD against the land of Hadrach and Damascus its resting place—for the eyes of men and of all the tribes of Israel are upon the LORD—

And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon until no more room is found for them.

For I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land, declares the LORD, but behold, I will cause each man to fall into the hands of his neighbor and his king, who will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from their hands.”

For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves.

This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:

On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured.

The land will mourn, each clan on its own: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives,

And on that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will erase the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.

And in all the land, declares the LORD, two-thirds will be cut off and perish, but a third will be left in it.

On that day the LORD will become King over all the earth—the LORD alone, and His name alone.