The first one said to the other, "Run and tell that young man with the measuring line that there are going to be so many people and so much livestock in Jerusalem that it will be too big to have walls.

The LORD has promised that he himself will be a wall of fire around the city to protect it and that he will live there in all his glory."

and I am very angry with the nations that enjoy quiet and peace. For while I was holding back my anger against my people, those nations made the sufferings of my people worse.

So I have come back to Jerusalem to show mercy to the city. My Temple will be restored, and the city will be rebuilt."

All the sheep of Kedar and Nebaioth Will be brought to you as sacrifices And offered on the altar to please the LORD. The LORD will make his Temple more glorious than ever.

They are ships coming from distant lands, Bringing God's people home. They bring with them silver and gold To honor the name of the LORD, The holy God of Israel, Who has made all nations honor his people.

Day and night your gates will be open, So that the kings of the nations May bring you their wealth.

"The wood of the pine, the juniper, and the cypress, The finest wood from the forests of Lebanon, Will be brought to rebuild you, Jerusalem, To make my Temple beautiful, To make my city glorious.

"The LORD himself will fight against you, and you will be plundered by the people who were once your servants." When this happens, everyone will know that the LORD Almighty sent me.

At that time many nations will come to the LORD and become his people. He will live among you, and you will know that he has sent me to you.

I am the one who spoke and called him; I led him out and gave him success.

"Now come close to me and hear what I say. From the beginning I have spoken openly and have always made my words come true." (Now the Sovereign LORD has given me his power and sent me.)

The LORD Almighty answers, "I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant."

Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and my Father and I will come to them and live with them.

Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching. And the teaching you have heard is not mine, but comes from the Father, who sent me.

The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.

But they will do all this to you because you are mine; for they do not know the one who sent me.

Whoever hates me hates my Father also.

I sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world.

And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him.

This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.

And we have seen and tell others that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

The LORD sent armed bands of Babylonians, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah, as the LORD had said through his servants the prophets that he would do.

The LORD says, "The people of Israel are like sheep, chased and scattered by lions. First, they were attacked by the emperor of Assyria, and then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia gnawed on their bones.

Because of this, I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, will punish King Nebuchadnezzar and his country, just as I punished the emperor of Assyria.

The king of Babylonia cut Jerusalem up and ate it. He emptied the city like a jar; like a monster he swallowed it. He took what he wanted and threw the rest away.

Let the people of Zion say, "May Babylonia be held responsible for the violence done to us!" Let the people of Jerusalem say, "May Babylonia be held responsible for what we have suffered!"

"This is what the Sovereign LORD is saying: You clapped your hands and jumped for joy. You despised the land of Israel.

Because you did, I will hand you over to other nations who will rob you and plunder you. I will destroy you so completely that you will not be a nation any more or have a country of your own. Then you will know that I am the LORD."

The Sovereign LORD said, "The people of Edom took cruel revenge on Judah, and that revenge has brought lasting guilt on Edom.

The Sovereign LORD said, "The Philistines have taken cruel revenge on their agelong enemies and destroyed them in their hate.

"Mortal man," he said, "this is what the people in the city of Tyre are cheering about. They shout, 'Jerusalem is shattered! Her commercial power is gone! She won't be our rival any more!'

"You were Israel's constant enemy and let her people be slaughtered in the time of her disaster, the time of final punishment for her sins.

I will gather all the nations and bring them to the Valley of Judgment. There I will judge them for all they have done to my people. They have scattered the Israelites in foreign countries and divided Israel, my land.

"What are you trying to do to me, Tyre, Sidon, and all of Philistia? Are you trying to pay me back for something? If you are, I will quickly pay you back!

You have taken the people of Judah and Jerusalem far from their own country and sold them to the Greeks.

I will let your sons and daughters be sold to the people of Judah; they will sell them to the far-off Sabeans. I, the LORD, have spoken.

The LORD says, "The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They treated the people of Gilead with savage cruelty.

I will smash the city gates of Damascus and remove the inhabitants of Aven Valley and the ruler of Betheden. The people of Syria will be taken away as prisoners to the land of Kir."

"Because you robbed and killed your relatives, the descendants of Jacob, you will be destroyed and dishonored forever.

You should not have gloated over the misfortune of your relatives in Judah. You should not have been glad on the day of their ruin. You should not have laughed at them in their distress.

You should not have stood at the crossroads to catch those trying to escape. You should not have handed them over to the enemy on the day of their distress.

My people have drunk a bitter cup of punishment on my sacred hill. But all the surrounding nations will drink a still more bitter cup of punishment; they will drink it all and vanish away.

Many nations have gathered to attack you. They say, "Jerusalem must be destroyed! We will see this city in ruins!"

By force of arms they will conquer Assyria, the land of Nimrod, and they will save us from the Assyrians when they invade our territory.

Then our enemies will see this and be disgraced---the same enemies who taunted us by asking, "Where is the LORD your God?" We will see them defeated, trampled down like mud in the streets.

You have plundered the people of many nations, but now those who have survived will plunder you because of the murders you have committed and because of your violence against the people of the world and its cities.

You have cut down the forests of Lebanon; now you will be cut down. You killed its animals; now animals will terrify you. This will happen because of the murders you have committed and because of your violence against the people of the world and its cities.

The LORD Almighty says, "I have heard the people of Moab and Ammon insulting and taunting my people, and boasting that they would seize their land.

God replied in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did it with a clear conscience; so I kept you from sinning against me and did not let you touch her.

They wandered from country to country, from one kingdom to another.

"Don't harm my chosen servants; do not touch my prophets."

He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?"

God will do what is right: he will bring suffering on those who make you suffer,

"He found them wandering through the desert, a desolate, wind-swept wilderness. He protected them and cared for them, as he would protect himself.

Protect me as you would your very eyes; hide me in the shadow of your wings

The King will reply, 'I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!'

The King will reply, 'I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.'