God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Foes

1Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. 2For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

6In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 7For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.

8And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

God Will Be King over All

9And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.

10All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. 11People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.

12Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. 13It will come about in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. 14Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. 15So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps.

16Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

20In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.

16Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

1) How do the Fall Feasts point toward final restoration?

2) What does worship “in spirit and truth” look like within these cycles?

3) How does Messiah fulfill yet sustain the rhythm of holiness?

Prophecy against Ammon

1Concerning the sons of Ammon. Thus says the Lord:

“Does Israel have no sons?

Or has he no heirs?

Why then has Malcam taken possession of Gad

And his people settled in its cities?

2Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“That I will cause a trumpet blast of war to be heard

Against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon;

And it will become a desolate heap,

And her towns will be set on fire.

Then Israel will take possession of his possessors,”

Says the Lord.

3“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed!

Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah,

Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament,

And rush back and forth inside the walls;

For Malcam will go into exile

Together with his priests and his princes.

4How boastful you are about the valleys!

Your valley is flowing away,

O backsliding daughter

Who trusts in her treasures, saying,

‘Who will come against me?’

5Behold, I am going to bring terror upon you,”

Declares the Lord God of hosts,

“From all directions around you;

And each of you will be driven out headlong,

With no one to gather the fugitives together.

6But afterward I will restore

The fortunes of the sons of Ammon,”

Declares the Lord.

Prophecy against Edom

7Concerning Edom.

Thus says the Lord of hosts,

“Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?

Has good counsel been lost to the prudent?

Has their wisdom decayed?

8Flee away, turn back, dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Dedan,

For I will bring the disaster of Esau upon him

At the time I punish him.

9If grape gatherers came to you,

Would they not leave gleanings?

If thieves came by night,

They would destroy only until they had enough.

10But I have stripped Esau bare,

I have uncovered his hiding places

So that he will not be able to conceal himself;

His offspring has been destroyed along with his relatives

And his neighbors, and he is no more.

11Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive;

And let your widows trust in Me.”

12For thus says the Lord, “Behold, those who were not sentenced to drink the cup will certainly drink it, and are you the one who will be completely acquitted? You will not be acquitted, but you will certainly drink it. 13For I have sworn by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.”

14I have heard a message from the Lord,

And an envoy is sent among the nations, saying,

“Gather yourselves together and come against her,

And rise up for battle!”

15“For behold, I have made you small among the nations,

Despised among men.

16As for the terror of you,

The arrogance of your heart has deceived you,

O you who live in the clefts of the rock,

Who occupy the height of the hill.

Though you make your nest as high as an eagle’s,

I will bring you down from there,” declares the Lord.

17“Edom will become an object of horror; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss at all its wounds. 18Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors,” says the Lord, “no one will live there, nor will a son of man reside in it. 19Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make him run away from it, and whoever is chosen I shall appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

20Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has planned against Edom, and His purposes which He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them. 21The earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall. There is an outcry! The noise of it has been heard at the Red Sea. 22Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle and spread out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the mighty men of Edom in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

Prophecy against Damascus

23Concerning Damascus.

“Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,

For they have heard bad news;

They are disheartened.

There is anxiety by the sea,

It cannot be calmed.

24Damascus has become helpless;

She has turned away to flee,

And panic has gripped her;

Distress and pangs have taken hold of her

Like a woman in childbirth.

25How the city of praise has not been deserted,

The town of My joy!

26Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets,

And all the men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord of hosts.

27“I will set fire to the wall of Damascus,

And it will devour the fortified towers of Ben-hadad.”

Prophecy against Kedar and Hazor

28Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the Lord,

“Arise, go up to Kedar

And devastate the men of the east.

29They will take away their tents and their flocks;

They will carry off for themselves

Their tent curtains, all their goods and their camels,

And they will call out to one another, ‘Terror on every side!’

30Run away, flee! Dwell in the depths,

O inhabitants of Hazor,” declares the Lord;

“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has formed a plan against you

And devised a scheme against you.

31Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease,

Which lives securely,” declares the Lord.

“It has no gates or bars;

They dwell alone.

32Their camels will become plunder,

And their many cattle for booty,

And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the corners of their hair;

And I will bring their disaster from every side,” declares the Lord.

33“Hazor will become a haunt of jackals,

A desolation forever;

No one will live there,

Nor will a son of man reside in it.”

Prophecy against Elam

34That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

35“Thus says the Lord of hosts,

‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam,

The finest of their might.

36I will bring upon Elam the four winds

From the four ends of heaven,

And will scatter them to all these winds;

And there will be no nation

To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.

37So I will shatter Elam before their enemies

And before those who seek their lives;

And I will bring calamity upon them,

Even My fierce anger,’ declares the Lord,

‘And I will send out the sword after them

Until I have consumed them.

38Then I will set My throne in Elam

And destroy out of it king and princes,’

Declares the Lord.

39‘But it will come about in the last days

That I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’ ”

Declares the Lord.

Fellow Workers

1Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.

2Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.

5Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

7As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. 8For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts; 9and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.

10Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas’s cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him); 11and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me. 12Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. 13For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas. 15Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house. 16When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea. 17Say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

18I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you.