be spilled like dust, And their fatk like dung. 18Moreover, their silver and gold Shall not avail to save them. On the day of the LORD’s wrath, In the fire of His passion, The whole land shall be consumed; For He will make a terrible end Of all who dwell in the land. 2 Gather together, gather, a-O nation without shame, 2Before the day the decree is born— The day flies by like chaff-a— Before the fierce anger Of the LORD overtakes you, Before the day of anger Of the LORD overtakes you. 3Seek the LORD, All you humble of the land Who have fulfilled His law; Seek righteousness, Seek humility. Perhaps you will find shelter On the day of the LORD’s anger. 4Indeed, Gaza shall be deserted And Ashkelon desolate; Ashdod’s people shall be expelled in broad daylight, And Ekron shall be uprooted. 5Ah, nation of Cherethites Who inhabit the seacoast! There is a word of the LORD against you, O Canaan,b land of the Philistines: I will lay you waste Without inhabitants. 6The seacoast Cherothc shall become An abode for shepherds and folds for flocks, 7And shall be a portion for the remnant of the House of Judah; On these [pastures] they shall graze [their flocks], They shall d-lie down-d at eventide In the houses of Ashkelon. For the LORD their God will take note of them And restore their fortunes. 8I have heard the insults of Moab And the jeers of the Ammonites, Who have insulted My people And gloated over their country. 9Assuredly, as I live — declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel— Moab shall become like Sodom And the Ammonites like Gomorrah: Clumpsc of weeds and patchesc of salt, And desolation evermore. The remnant of My people shall plunder them, The remainder of My nation shall possess them. 10That is what they’ll get for their haughtiness, For insulting and jeering At the people of the LORD of Hosts. 11The LORD will show Himself terrible against them, Causing all the gods on earth to shrivel;c And all the coastlands of the nations Shall bow down to Him— Every man in his own home. 12You Cushites too— e-They shall be slain by My sword.-e 13And He will stretch out His arm against the north And destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, Arid as the desert. 14In it flocks shall lie down, Every a c-species of beast, While jackdaws and owls roost on its capitals, The great owl hoots in the window, And the raven [croaks] on the threshold. For he has stripped its cedarwork bare.-c 15Is this the gay city That dwelt secure, That thought in her heart, I am, and there is none but me’’?
Alas, she is become a waste,
A lair of wild beasts!
Everyone who passes by her
Hisses and gestures with his hand.f
3
Ah, sullied, polluted,
Overbearinga city!
2She has been disobedient,
Has learned no lesson;
She has not trusted in the LORD,
Has not drawn near to her God.
3The officials within her
Are roaring lions;
Her judges are wolves b-of the steppe,
They leave no bone until morning.-b
4Her prophets are reckless,
Faithless fellows;
Her priests profane what is holy,
They give perverse rulings.
5But the LORD in her midst is righteous,
He does no wrong;
He issues judgment every morning,
As unfailing as the light.
The wrongdoer knows no shame!
6I wiped out nations:
Their corner towers are desolate;
I turned their thoroughfares into ruins,
With none passing by;
Their towns lie waste without people,
Without inhabitants.
7And I thought that shec would fear Me,
Would learn a lesson,
And that the punishment I brought on themd
Would not be e-lost on her.-e
Instead, all the more eagerly
They have practiced corruption in all their deeds.
8But wait for Me—says the LORD—
For the day when I arise as an accuser;f
When I, decide to gather nations,
To bring kingdoms together,
To pour out My indignation on them,
All My blazing anger.
Indeed, by the fire of My passion
All the earth shall be consumed.
9For then I will make the peoples pure of speech,
So that they all invoke the LORD by name
And serve Him with one accord.g
10From beyond the rivers of Cush, My suppliantsb
Shall bring offerings to Me in Fair Puzai.h
11In that day,
You will no longer be shamed for all the deeds
By which you have defied Me.
For then I will remove
The proud and exultant within you,
And you will be haughty no more
On My sacred mount.i
12But I will leave within you
A poor, humble folk,
And they shall find refuge
In the name of the LORD.
13The remnant of Israel
Shall do no wrong
And speak no falsehood;
A deceitful tongue
Shall not be in their mouths.
Only such as these shall graze and lie down,
With none to trouble them.
14Shout for joy, Fair Zion,
Cry aloud, O Israel!
Rejoice and be glad with all your heart,
Fair Jerusalem!
15The LORD has annulled the judgment against you,
He has swept away your foes.
Israel’s Sovereign the LORD is within you;
You need fear misfortune no more.
16In that day,
This shall be said to Jerusalem:
Have no fear, O Zion;
Let not your hands droop!
17Your God the LORD is in your midst,
A warrior who brings triumph.
He will rejoice over you and be glad,
He will shout over you with jubilation.
He will j-soothe with His love
18Those long disconsolate.-j
I will take away from you b-the woe
Over which you endured mockery.-b
19At that time I will make [an end]
Of all who afflicted you.
And I will rescue the lame [sheep]
And gather the strayed;
And I will exchange their disgrace
For fame and renown in all the earth.
20At that time I will gather you,
And at [that] time I will bring you [home];
For I will make you renowned and famous
Among all the peoples on earth,
When I restore your fortunes
Before theirk very eyes
— said the LORD.

a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Heb. kemarim, a term used only of priests of heathen gods.
c Apparently identical with “Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites’’; cf. 1 Kings 11.5.
d-d I.e., a slaughter of sinners.
e Apparently brothers of King Amon, who exercised influence during the minority of King Josiah (2 Kings 22.1).
f-f Apparently references to two customs of heathen worship; cf. 2 Kings 10.22 and 1 Sam. 5.5.
g I.e., King Josiah’s.
h A quarter of Jerusalem; cf. 2 Kings 22.14.
i Another quarter of Jerusalem.
j-j Emendation yields: “The day of the LORD is faster than a runner,/Fleeter than a warrior’’; cf. Ps. 19.6.
k Or “marrow’’; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields: “O straw [Aramaic gel] not gathered in,/Before you are driven like flying chaff’’; cf. Ps. 35.5.
b Or “Phoenicia,’’ of which Philistia is regarded as an extension southward.
c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d-d Change of vocalization yields “rest [them]’’; cf. Song of Songs 1.7.
e-e Emendation yields “shall be slain by the sword of the LORD.’’
f To ward off a like fate from himself; cf. Jer. 18.16 and note.
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “harlot’’; cf. Isa. 1.21.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c Heb. “you.’’
d Heb. “her.’’
e-e Lit. “cut off [from] her vision.’’
f Understanding ad as equivalent toed, with Septuagint and Syriac.
g Lit. “back,’’ i.e., like beasts of burden.
h Emendation yields “Zion.’’ For the thought, cf. Isa. 18.1, 7.
i I.e., in My holy land; cf. Isa. 11.9; 57.13; 65.25.
j-j Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “renew His love/As in the days of old.’’
k Heb. “your.’’

Haggai

1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, this word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak,the high priest:
2Thus said the LORD of Hosts: These people say, a-“The time has not yet come-a for rebuilding the House of the LORD.”
3And the word of the LORD through the prophet Haggai continued:
4Is it a time for you to dwell in your paneled houses, while this House is lying in ruins? 5Now thus said the LORD of Hosts: Consider how you have been faring! 6You have sowed much and brought in little; you eat without being satisfied; you drink without getting your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one gets warm; and he who earns anything earns it for a leaky purse.
7bThus said the LORD of Hosts: Consider how you have fared: 8Go up to the hills and get timber, and rebuild the House; then I will look on it with favor and I will c-be glorified-c—said the LORD.
9You have been expecting much and getting little; and when you brought it home, I would blow on it!d Because of what?—says the LORD of Hosts. Because of My House which lies in ruins, while you all hurry to your own houses! 10That is why the skies above you have withheld [their] moisture and the earth has withheld its yield, 11and I have summoned fierce heat upon the land—upon the hills, upon the new grain and wine and oil, upon all that the ground produces, upon man and beast, and upon all the fruits of labor.
12Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak and all the rest of the people gave heed to the summons of the LORD their God and to the words of the prophet Haggai, when the LORD their God sent him; the people feared the LORD. 13And Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, fulfilling the LORD’s mission, spoke to the people, “I am with you—declares the LORD.”
14Then the LORD roused the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and the spirit of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the spirit of all the rest of the people: They came and set to work 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
2 Darius, 1on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:
2Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the