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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Nancy: Welcome to immerse: the
daily bible reading experience.
day 200 and 80
Immersed in Zechariah.
After getting permission from
the Persians, the new power in
the region, a remnant of Judah's
exiled people had returned to their
homeland to rebuild the temple.
But nearly 20 years after King Cyrus's
decree, the temple still laying ruins.
New questions arise for God's people.
Will they still be able to rebuild
the temple after all this delay?
Is God still with them?
Does God still have a plan to use them to
bring about his purposes for the world?
In response, the Book of Zechariah
sets forth a series of visions and
prophecies revealing that God is still
concerned about Jerusalem and the
temple, and that he will continue to
work to bring his worldwide reign of
justice and peace through his people.
Israel.
God has punished his people and has now
rescued them, but what's next for them?
Zechariah was a member of a priestly
family, so it was natural for him
to be concerned for the temple.
His prophecies emphasized that
it's time for the people to finish
rebuilding the temple and to
move forward with their God-given
mission to be a light to the world.
The strange visions and vivid
prophecies of both judgment and
promise that we find in Zacharia.
Make it one of the more challenging
books in the Bible to understand, but
it provides a crucial link between
the story of Israel and the First
Testament and God's vision for his
people that will unfold in the future.
The book has two main parts, each
using a different kind of writing.
The first part focuses on the
immediate task in front of the people
to finish rebuilding the temple and
reinstitute true worship of God.
It consists of two series of
messages each presented in a highly
structured way, one of which contains
a set of symbolic vision reports.
The second main part of the book is
about an indefinite future revealing how
God will use judgment and restoration
to bring his saving purposes for Israel
and the world to glorious fulfillment.
In this section, the message is conveyed
through Oracles that are structured in the
classic parallel lines of Hebrew poetry.
The two sets of visions in the first
part of the book each fit into an
intricate pattern called a chiasm,
a literary device found in many
other places in the Hebrew Bible.
In this structure, the first and last
elements are paired, as are the second
and next to last elements and so forth.
Typically, whatever is found at the center
of a chiasm is the key point of emphasis.
Here's how the first set of
messages containing eight
symbolic visions is structured.
A riders on four differently
colored horses patrol the earth.
B four horns are knocked
down by four blacksmiths.
B Jerusalem is measured and
people scattered to the four
winds return to the city.
C.
The high priest is given new garments
and a jewel with seven facets.
See a lampstand with seven lamps
appears between two olive trees be
a scroll, flies through the air.
B two women fly through the
air and carry away a basket.
A rider on four chariots
drawn by differently colored
horses patrol the earth.
The visions reveal that the conditions
are now right for Israel to recommit
to finishing the new temple.
The earth is at peace.
Israel's sins have been dealt with,
and new leadership is in place.
The second set of six messages
is also structured as a chiasm.
This time, they are straightforward
messages about Israel's religious fasts
and about issues of justice and mercy.
Zacharia says It is time to end the
fasts and begin a new season filled
with festivals of joy and celebration.
While the first part of the book addresses
a present historical moment in Israel's
life, the second part looks ahead to a
time when God will strongly intervene.
To remove wrongdoing and establish his
reign in Jerusalem for the sake of the
world, Israel's story has not ended.
A new shepherd and king is
coming to fulfill God's purposes.
Even though there will be a dark time
of suffering and loss, the end result
will be the long awaited establishment
of God's rule of peace and the
arrival of his promised restoration.
The Prophet Zechariah
in November of the second year of
King Arias reign, the Lord gave this
message to the Prophet Zechariah son
of Barakah and grandson of Ido I, the
Lord was very angry with your ancestors.
Therefore, say to the people, this is
what the Lord of Heaven's army says.
Return to me and I will return to
you, says the Lord of heaven's.
Armies don't be like your ancestors
who would not listen or pay attention.
When the earlier prophets
said to them, this is what the
Lord of Heaven's armies says.
Turn from your evil ways and
stop all your evil practices.
Where are your ancestors now?
They and the prophets are long dead.
But everything I said through my servants,
the prophets happened to your ancestors.
Just as I said.
As a result, they repented and said,
we have received what we deserved
from the Lord of Heaven's armies.
He has done what he said he would do.
Three months later on February
15th, the Lord sent another message
to the Prophet Zechariah, son
of Barakah and grandson of Ito.
In a vision during the night, I saw a man
sitting on a red horse that was standing
among some myrtle trees in a small valley.
Behind him were riders on
red, brown, and white horses.
I asked the angel who was talking with
me, my Lord, what did these horses mean?
I will show you.
The angel replied.
The riders standing among the
myrtle trees then explained.
They are the ones the Lord has
sent out to patrol the earth.
Then the other riders reported
to the angel of the Lord who was
standing among the Myrtle trees.
We have been patrolling the earth
and the whole earth is at peace.
Upon hearing this, the angel
of the Lord prayed this prayer,
oh Lord of heaven's armies.
For 70 years now, you have been angry
with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah.
How long until you again
show mercy to them?
The Lord spoke kind and comforting
words to the angel who talked with me.
Then the angel said to me, shout
this message for all to hear.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's army says.
My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion
is passionate and strong, but I am
very angry with the other nations that
are now enjoying peace and security.
I was only a little angry with my
people, but the nation's inflicted
harm on them far beyond my intentions.
Therefore, this is what the Lord says.
I have returned to show
mercy to Jerusalem.
My temple will be rebuilt,
says the Lord of heaven's.
Armies and measurements will be taken
for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.
Say this also.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's army says.
The towns of Israel will again
overflow with prosperity, and
the Lord will again comfort Zion
and choose Jerusalem as his own.
Then I looked up and
saw four animal horns.
What are these?
I asked the angel who was talking with me.
He replied, these horns represent
the nations that scattered
Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.
Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths.
What are these men coming to do?
I asked the angel replied,
these four horns, these nations
scattered and humbled Judah.
Now these blacksmiths have come
to terrify those nations and
throw them down and destroy them.
When I looked again, I saw a man
with a measuring line in his hand.
Where are you going?
I asked.
He replied, I'm going to measure Jerusalem
to see how wide and how long it is.
Then the angel who was with
me went to meet a second angel
who was coming toward him.
The other angel said, hurry and say to
that young man, Jerusalem will someday
be so full of people and livestock that
there won't be room enough for everyone.
Many will live outside the city walls.
Then I myself will be a protective wall
of fire around Jerusalem, says the Lord
and I will be the glory inside the city.
The Lord says, come away, flee
from Babylon in the land of the
north for I have scattered you
to the four winds come away.
People of Zion, you who are exiled
in Babylon after a period of glory.
The Lord of Heaven's army sent me
against the nations who plundered you.
For, he said, anyone who harms you
harms my most precious possession.
I will raise my fist to crush them and
their own slaves will plunder them.
Then you will know that the Lord
of heaven's armies has sent me.
The Lord says, shout and rejoice.
Oh, beautiful Jerusalem, for
I am coming to live among you.
Many nations will join themselves
to the Lord on that day and
they too will be my people.
I will live among you and you
will know that the Lord of
Heaven's armies sent me to you.
The land of Judah will be the
Lord's special possession in the
holy land, and he will once again
choose Jerusalem to be his own city.
Be silent before the Lord all humanity.
For he is springing into
action from his holy dwelling.
Then the angel showed me Jesu,
the high priest, standing
before the angel of the Lord.
The accuser.
Satan was there at the Angel's right
hand making accusations against Jesu,
and the Lord said to Satan, I the
Lord reject your accusations, Satan.
Yes, the Lord who has chosen
Jerusalem rebukes you.
This man is like a burning stick
that has been snatched from the fire.
Joshua's clothing was filthy as
he stood there before the angel.
The angel said to the other,
standing there, take off his
filthy clothes and turning to Jesu.
He said, see, I have taken away
your sins and now I am giving
you these fine new clothes.
Then I said, they should also
place a clean turban on his head.
So they put a clean priestly turban on
his head and dressed him in new clothes
while the angel of the Lord stood by.
Then the angel of the Lord spoke very
solemnly to Jesu and said, this is
what the Lord of Heaven's army says.
If you follow my ways and carefully serve
me, then you will be given authority
over my temple and its courtyards.
I will let you walk among
these others standing here.
Listen to me o jehu with a high
priest and all you other priests,
you are symbols of things to come.
Soon I am going to bring
my servant the branch.
Now look at the jewel I have set before
Jesu, a single stone with seven facets.
I will engrave an inscription
on it says the Lord of heaven's
armies, and I will remove this
sins of this land in a single day.
And on that day says the
Lord of heaven's armies.
Each of you will invite your neighbor
to sit with you peacefully under
your own grape vine and fig tree.
Then the angel who had been
talking with me returned and woke
me as though I had been asleep.
What do you see now?
He asked.
I answered.
I see a solid gold lampstand
with a bowl of oil.
On top of it, around the bowl are
seven lamps, each having seven spouts
with wicks, and I see two olive
trees, one on each side of the bowl.
Then I ask the angel, what are these?
My Lord?
What do they mean?
Don't you know the angel asked?
No, my Lord, I replied.
Then he said to me, this is
what the Lord says to rebel.
It is not by force, nor by strength,
but by my spirit, says the Lord
of heaven's armies nothing.
Not even a mighty mountain
will stand in Abel's way.
It will become a level plane before him.
And when Rebel sets the final stone of the
temple in place, the people will shout.
May God bless it.
May God bless it.
Then another message
came to me from the Lord.
Rebel is the one who laid the foundation
of this temple, and he will complete it.
Then you will know that the Lord
of Heaven's armies has sent me.
Do not despise these small beginnings.
For the Lord rejoices to see
the work begin to see the
plumb line in rebel's hand.
The seven lamps represent the eyes of the
Lord that search all around the world.
That I ask the angel, what are these two
olive trees on each side of the lampstand?
And what are the two olive
branches that pour out golden
oil through two gold tubes?
Don't you know he asked?
No, my Lord, I replied.
Then he said to me, they represent
the two anointed ones who stand in the
court of the Lord of all the earth.
I looked up again and saw a
scroll flying through the air.
What do you see the angel asked.
I see a flying scroll.
I replied.
It appears to be about 30
feet long and 15 feet wide.
Then he said to me, this scroll
contains the curse that is
going out over the entire land.
One side of the scroll says that those
who steal will be banished from the land.
The other side says that those
who swear falsely will be banished
from the land, and this is what
the Lord of Heaven's army says.
I am sending this curse into the house
of every thief and into the house
of everyone who swears falsely using
my name and my curse will remain in
that house and completely destroy
it, even its timbers and stones.
Then the angel who was talking
with me came forward and said,
look up and see what's coming.
What is it?
I asked?
He replied, it is a basket
for measuring grain.
It's filled with the sins of
everyone throughout the land.
Then the heavy lead cover was
lifted off the basket and there
was a woman sitting inside it.
The angel said The woman's name is
wickedness, and he pushed her back into
the basket and closed the heavy lid again.
Then I looked up and saw two women
flying toward us gliding on the wind.
They had wings like a stork,
and they picked up the
basket and flew into the sky.
Where are they taking the basket?
I asked the angel, he replied to the
land of Babylonia where they will
build a temple for the basket, and
when the temple is ready, they will
set the basket there on its pedestal.
Then I looked up again and
saw four chariots coming from
between two bronze mountains.
The first chariot was pulled by
red horses, the second by black
horses, the third by white horses.
The fourth by powerful,
dabbled gray horses.
And what are these?
My Lord, I asked the angel who was
talking with me, the angel replied,
these are the four spirits of heaven who
stand before the Lord of all the earth.
They are going out to do his work.
The chariot with black
horses is going north.
The chariot with white horses is
going west, and the chariot with
dappled gray horses is going south.
The powerful horses were eager to
set out to patrol the earth, and the
Lord said, go and patrol the earth.
So they left it once on their patrol.
Then the Lord summoned me and said,
look, those who went north have
vented the anger of my spirit.
They're in the land of the north.
Then I received another message
from the Lord, held I to Baja.
Judiah will bring gifts of silver and
gold from the Jews exiled in Babylon.
As soon as they arrive.
Meet them at the home of
Josiah, son of Zephaniah.
Accept their gifts and make a
crown from the silver and gold.
Then put the crown on the head of
Jesu, son of Jihadi, the high priest.
Tell him this is what the
Lord of Heaven's army says.
Here is the man called the branch.
He will branch out from where he is
and build the temple of the Lord.
Yes, he will build the temple of the Lord.
Then he will receive royal honor and
will rule as king from his throne.
He will also serve as priests from
his throne and there will be perfect
harmony between his two roles.
The crown will be a memorial in
the temple of the Lord to honor
those who gave it held I to Baja.
Judiah and Josiah son of Zephaniah
people will come from distant lands
to rebuild the temple of the Lord.
And when this happens, you will
know that my messages have been
from the Lord of heaven's armies.
All this will happen if you carefully
obey what the Lord your God says.
On December 7th of the fourth year
of King Arias rain, another message
came to Zechariah from the Lord.
The people of Bethel had sent Sheer
and Regan Meek, along with their
attendance to seek the Lord's favor.
They were to ask this question of
the prophets and the priests at the
temple of the Lord of Heaven's armies.
Should we continue to mourn in
fast each summer on the anniversary
of the temple's destruction as
we have done for so many years?
The Lord of Heaven's army
sent me this message in reply.
Say to all your people and your
priests during these 70 years of exile.
When you fasted and mourned in the summer
and in early autumn, was it really for
me that you were fasting and even now in
your holy festivals, aren't you eating
and drinking just to please yourselves?
Isn't this the same message the Lord
proclaimed through the prophets in
years past when Jerusalem and the towns
of Judah were bustling with people,
and the Negev and the foothills of
Judah were well-populated, then this
message came to Zechariah from the Lord.
This is what the Lord of Heaven's
army says, judge fairly and show
mercy and kindness to one another.
Do not oppress widows, orphans,
foreigners, and the poor.
Do not scheme against each other.
Your ancestors refuse to
listen to this message.
They stubbornly turned away
and put their fingers in their
ears to keep from hearing.
They made their hearts as hard as stone
so they could not hear the instructions
or the messages that the Lord of
Heaven's armies had sent them by his
spirit through the earlier prophets.
That is why the Lord of Heaven's
armies was so angry with them.
Since they refused to listen.
When I called to them, I would not listen.
When they called to me says The Lord of
Heaven's armies, as with a whirlwind,
I scattered them among the distant
nations where they lived as strangers.
Their land became so desolate that
no one even traveled through it.
They turned their pleasant
land into a desert.
Then another message came to me
from the Lord of Heaven's armies.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's army says.
My love for Mount Zion
is passionate and strong.
I am consumed with passion for Jerusalem,
and now the Lord says, I am returning to
Mount Zion and I will live in Jerusalem.
Then Jerusalem will be
called the faithful city.
The mountain of the Lord of Heaven's
armies will be called the Holy Mountain.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's army says.
Once again, old men and women will walk
Jerusalem streets with their canes and
will sit together in the city squares,
and the streets of the city will be
filled with boys and girls at play.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's army says.
All this may seem impossible to
you now, a small remnant of God's
people, but is it impossible for me?
Says the Lord of heaven's armies.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's army says.
You can be sure that I will rescue my
people from the east and from the west.
I will bring them home again
to live safely in Jerusalem.
They will be my people, and
I will be faithful and just
toward them as their God.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's army says.
Be strong and finish the task.
Ever since the laying of the foundation of
the temple of the Lord of Heaven's armies,
you have heard what the prophets have
been saying about completing the building.
Before the work on the temple
began, there were no jobs and no
money to hire people or animals.
No traveler was safe from the enemy
for there were enemies on all sides.
I had turned everyone against each other,
but now I will not treat the remnant
of my people as I treated them before.
Says the Lord of Heaven's armies.
For I am planting seeds of peace
and prosperity among you, the
grapevines will be heavy with fruit.
The earth will produce its crops and
the heavens will release the dew.
Once more, I will cause the remnant
in Judah and Israel to inherit these
blessings among the other nations.
Judah and Israel became symbols
of a cursed nation, but no longer.
Now I will rescue you and make you
both a symbol and a source of blessing.
So don't be afraid, be strong, and get
on with rebuilding the temple for this
is what the Lord of Heaven's army says.
I was determined to punish you when your
ancestors angered me and I did not change
my mind, says the Lord of heaven's armies.
But now I am determined to bless
Jerusalem and the people of Judah.
So don't be afraid, but
this is what you must do.
Tell the truth to each other.
Render verdicts in your courts that
are just, and that lead to peace.
Don't scheme against each other.
Stop your love of telling lies
that you swear are the truth.
I hate all these things, says the Lord.
Here is another message that came to
me from the Lord of Heaven's armies.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's army says.
The traditional fasts and times
of mourning you have kept in
early summer midsummer, autumn
and winter are now ended.
They will become festivals of joy and
celebration for the people of Judah.
So love, truth, and peace.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's armies says.
People from nations and cities around
the world will travel to Jerusalem.
The people of one city will say to
the people of another, come with us to
Jerusalem, to ask the Lord to bless us.
Let's worship the Lord of heaven's armies.
I'm determined to go.
Many peoples and powerful nations
will come to Jerusalem to seek
the Lord of heaven's armies,
and to ask for his blessing.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's army says.
In those days, 10 men from different
nations and languages of the world will
clutch at the sleeve of one Jew and they
will say, please let us walk with you
for we have heard that God is with you.
This is the message from the Lord against
the land of Arum and the city of Damascus.
For the eyes of humanity, including all
the tribes of Israel are on the Lord Doom
is certain for Hamath, near Damascus,
and for the cities of Tyre and Seiden.
Though they are so clever, Tyre has built
a strong fortress and has made silver and
gold as plentiful as dust in the streets.
Now the Lord will strip away
tire's, possessions, and hurl.
Its fortifications into the sea and
it will be burned to the ground.
The city of Ashland will see tire
fall and will be filled with fear.
Gaza will shake with terror as will
Ekron, for their hopes will be dashed.
Gaza's King will be killed
and Ashland will be deserted.
Foreigners will occupy the city of Ashton.
I will destroy the pride
of the Philistines.
I will grab the bloody meat from
their mouths and snatch the detestable
sacrifices from their teeth.
Then the surviving Philistines
will worship our God and
become like a clan in Judah.
The Philistines of Akron will join my
people as the ancient Jebusites once did.
I will guard my temple and
protect it from invading armies.
I am watching closely to ensure
that no more foreign oppressors
overrun my people's land.
Rejoice o people of Zion.
Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem.
Look, your king is coming to you.
He is righteous and victorious.
Yet he is humble.
Riding on a donkey,
riding on a donkey's cult.
I will remove the battle chariots from
Israel and the war horses from Jerusalem.
I will destroy all the weapons
used in battle, and your king
will bring peace to the nations.
His realm will stretch from sea
to sea, and from the Euphrates
river to the ends of the earth.
Because of the covenant I made
with you sealed with blood, I
will free your prisoners from
death in a waterless dungeon.
Come back to the place of safety.
All you prisoners who still have hope, I
promise this very day that I will repay
two blessings for each of your troubles.
Judah is my bow, and Israel is my arrow.
Jerusalem is my sword, and like a warrior,
I will brandish it against the Greeks.
The Lord will appear above his people.
His arrows will fly like lightning.
The sovereign Lord will sound
the rams horn and attack like a
whirlwind from the southern desert.
The Lord of heaven's armies will
protect his people and they will defeat
their enemies by hurling great stones.
They will shout in battle as though
drunk with wine, they will be filled
with blood like a bowl drenched with
blood like the corners of the altar.
On that day, the Lord, there
God will rescue his people.
Just as a shepherd rescues his sheep.
They will sparkle in his
land like jewels in a crown.
How wonderful and beautiful they will be.
The young men will thrive on
abundant grain and the young
women will flourish on new wine.
Ask the Lord for rain in the spring
for He makes the storm clouds.
And he will send showers of rain.
So every field becomes a lush pasture.
Household.
Gods give worthless advice.
Fortune tellers predict only lies
and interpreters of dreams pronounce
falsehoods that give no comfort.
So my people are
wandering like lost sheep.
They're attacked because
they have no shepherd.
My anger burns against your shepherds,
and I will punish these leaders.
For the Lord of Heaven's armies has
arrived to look after Judah, his flock.
He will make them strong and glorious
like a proud warhorse in battle from Judah
will come the cornerstone, the tent peg
the bow for battle and all the rulers.
They will be like mighty warriors
in battle, trampling their enemies
in the mud under their feet.
Since the Lord is with them as
they fight, they will overthrow
even the enemy's horsemen.
I will strengthen Judah and save Israel.
I will restore them because of
my compassion, it will be as
though I had never rejected them.
For I am the Lord their God,
who will hear their cries.
The people of Israel will become
like mighty warriors and their hearts
will be made happy as if by wine.
Their children too will see it and be glad
their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.
When I whistle to them, they will
come running for, I have redeemed
them from the few who are left.
They will grow as numerous
as they were before.
Though I have scattered them
like seeds among the nations.
They will still remember
me in distant lands.
They and their children will
survive and return again to Israel.
I will bring them back from Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.
I will resettle them in Gilead and Lebanon
until there is no more room for them all.
They will pass safely through the
sea of distress for the waves of
the sea will be held back and the
waters of the Nile will dry up.
The pride of assy will be crushed and
the rule of Egypt will end by my power.
I will make my people strong and by my
authority they will go wherever they wish.
I, the Lord have spoken.
Open your doors Lebanon so
that fire may devour Your cedar
forests weep you Cyprus trees.
For all the ruined cedars, the
most majestic ones have fallen,
weep you oaks of basin for the
thick forests have been cut down.
Listen to the wailing of the shepherds
for their rich pastures are destroyed.
Hear the young lions roaring.
For their thickets in the
Jordan Valley are ruined.
This is what the Lord my God
says, go and care for the flock
that is intended for slaughter.
The buyers slaughter their
sheep without remorse.
The sellers say, praise the Lord.
Now I'm rich.
Even the shepherds have
no compassion for them.
Likewise, I will no longer have pity on
the people of the land, says the Lord.
I will let them fall into each other's
hands and into the hands of their king.
They will turn the land into a
wilderness and I will not rescue them.
So I cared for the flock, intended for
slaughter, the flock that was oppressed.
Then I took two shepherd staffs
and named one Favor and the other
union, I got rid of their three
evil shepherds in a single month.
I became impatient with these
sheep and they hated me too.
So I told them, I won't be
your shepherd any longer.
If you die, you die.
If you are killed, you are killed, and
let those who remain devour each other.
Then I took my staff called favor and cut
it in two showing that I had revoked the
covenant I had made with all the nations.
That was the end of my covenant with them.
The suffering flock was watching me,
and they knew that the Lord was speaking
through my actions and I said to them,
if you like, give me my wages, whatever
I am worth, but only if you want to.
So they counted out for my wages, 30
pieces of silver, and the Lord said
to me, throw it to the potter, this
magnificent sum at which they valued me.
So I took the 30 coins and threw them
to the potter in the temple of the Lord.
Then I took my other staff union and cut
it in two, showing that the bond of unity
between Judah and Israel was broken.
Then the Lord said to me, go again and
play the part of a worthless shepherd.
This illustrates how I will give
this nation a shepherd who will
not care for those who are dying,
nor look after the young, nor heal
the injured, nor feed the healthy.
Instead, this shepherd will eat
the meat of the fattest sheep
and tear off their hooves.
What sorrow awaits this worthless shepherd
who abandons the flock, the sword, will
cut his arm and pierce his right eye.
His arm will become useless.
And his right eye completely blind.
This message concerning the fate
of Israel came from the Lord.
This message is from the Lord
who stretched out the heavens,
laid the foundations of the earth
and formed the human spirit.
I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating
drink that makes the nearby nations
stagger when they send their armies
to Besiege, Jerusalem and Judah.
On that day, I will make
Jerusalem an immovable rock.
All the nations will gather against it to
try to move it, but they will only hurt
themselves on that day, says the Lord.
I will cause every horse to panic
and every rider to lose his nerve.
I will watch over the people
of Judah, but I will blind all
the horses of their enemies.
The clans of Judah will say to
themselves, the people of Jerusalem
have found strength in the Lord
of heaven's armies, their God.
On that day, I will make the clans
of Judah, like a flame that sets
a wood pile, a blaze, or like a
burning torch among sheaths of grain.
They will burn up all the neighboring
nations right and left while the people
living in Jerusalem remain secure.
The Lord will give victory to the rest
of Judah first before Jerusalem, so that
the people of Jerusalem and the royal
line of David will not have greater
honor than the rest of Judah on that day.
The Lord will defend
the people of Jerusalem.
The weakest among them will be as
mighty as King David and the royal
descendants will be like God, like the
angel of the Lord who goes before them.
For on that day, I will begin
to destroy all the nations
that come against Jerusalem.
Then I will pour out a spirit of
grace and prayer on the family of
David and on the people of Jerusalem.
They will look on me whom they
have pierced and mourn for him.
As for and only son.
They will grieve bitterly for him.
As for a firstborn son who has died.
The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on
that day will be like the great mourning
for Hadad Riman in the valley of Megiddo.
All Israel will mourn each clan
by itself and with the husband
separate from their wives.
The clan of David will mourn alone,
as will the clan of Nathan, the
clan of Levi, and the clan of Shiia.
Each of the surviving clans from
Judah will mourn separately.
And with the husbands
separate from their wives.
On that day, a fountain will be opened
for the dynasty of David and for the
people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse
them from all their sins and impurity.
And on that day says the
Lord of heaven's armies.
I will erase idle worship throughout
the land so that even the names
of the idols will be forgotten.
I will remove from the land both
the false prophets and the spirit
of impurity that came with them.
If anyone continues to prophesy,
his own father and mother
will tell him, you must die.
For you have prophesied lies in
the name of the Lord and as he
prophesies his own father and
mother will stab him on that day.
People will be ashamed to
claim the prophetic gift.
No one will pretend to be a prophet
by wearing prophet's clothes.
He will say, I'm no prophet.
I'm a farmer.
I began working for a farmer as a
boy, and if someone asks, then what
about those wounds on your chest?
He will say, I was wounded at
my friend's house, awake, oh,
sword, against my shepherd.
The man who is my partner says The
lord of heaven's armies strike down the
shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
And I will turn against the lambs.
Two thirds of the people in the land
will be cut off and die, says the Lord,
but one third will be left in the land.
I will bring that group through
the fire and make them pure.
I will refine them like silver
and purify them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will answer them.
I will say, these are my people, and
they will say, the Lord is our God.
Watch for the day of the Lord is
coming when your possessions will
be plundered right in front of you.
I will gather all the nations
to fight against Jerusalem.
The city will be taken, the
houses looted and the women raped.
Half the population will be taken
into captivity and the rest will be
left among the ruins of the city.
Then the Lord will go out to
fight against those nations as
he has fought in times past.
On that day, his feet will stand on the
Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem, and the
Mount of Olives will split apart making
a wide valley running from east to west.
Half the mountain will move toward
the north and half toward the south.
You'll flee through this valley
for it will reach across to Azel.
Yes, you will flee as you did
from the earthquake in the
days of King Siah of Judah.
Then the Lord, my God will come
and all his holy ones with him.
On that day, the sources of light
will no longer shine, yet there
will be continuous day only.
The Lord knows how this could happen.
There will be no normal day
and night for at evening time.
It will still be light on that day.
Life-giving waters will flow out from
Jerusalem, half toward the dead Sea
and half toward the Mediterranean.
Flowing continuously in both summer
and winter, and the Lord will be
king over all the earth on that day.
There will be one Lord.
His name alone will be worshiped.
All the land from Giba north of
Judah, two women south of Jerusalem,
will become one vast plane.
Jerusalem will be raised up in its
original place and will be inhabited
all the way from the Benjamin Gate over
to the site of the old gate, then to
the corner gate, and from the tower of
Hanne to the king's wine presses and
Jerusalem will be filled safe at last,
never again to be cursed and destroyed.
And the Lord will send a plague on all
the nations that fought against Jerusalem.
Their people will become
like walking corpses.
Their flesh rotting away.
Their eyes will rot in their
sockets and their tongues will
rot in their mouths on that day.
They will be terrified, stricken
by the Lord with great panic.
They will fight their
neighbors hand to hand.
Judah too will be fighting at Jerusalem.
The wealth of all the neighboring nations
will be captured great quantities of
gold and silver and fine clothing.
This same plague will strike the
horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all
the other animals in the enemy camps.
In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem
who survive the plague will go up to
Jerusalem each year to worship the
king, the Lord of heaven's armies, and
to celebrate the festival of shelters.
Any nation in the world that refuses to
come to Jerusalem to worship the king, the
Lord of heaven's armies will have no rain.
If the people of Egypt refuse to attend
the festival, the Lord will punish
them with the same plague that he sends
on the other nations who refuse to go
Egypt and the other nations will all be
punished if they don't go to celebrate
the festival of shelters on that day.
Even the harness bells of the horses
will be inscribed with these words.
Holy to the Lord.
The cooking pots in the temple
of the Lord will be as sacred as
the basins used beside the altar.
In fact, every cooking pot in
Jerusalem and Judah will be
holy to the Lord of heaven's.
Armies.
All who come to worship will be free
to use any of these pots to boil their
sacrifices, and on that day, there
will no longer be traitors in the
temple of the Lord of Heaven's armies.
This concludes today's
Immerse Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.