Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 418
406
IMMERSE
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PROPHETS
1:13–2:9
to them?” And 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 Armies 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 nations 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 Ar
mies, and measurements will be taken for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.’
“Say this also: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies 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 am 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 Armies 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 Heav
en’s Armies has sent me.
