Zephaniah
3:1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
2 She
obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD;
she drew not near to her God.
3 Her princes within her are roaring lions;
her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
4
Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the
sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
5 The just LORD is in the
midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment
to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.
6 I have cut off
the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none
passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is
none inhabitant.
7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction;
so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose
early, and corrupted all their doings.
8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith
the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to
gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation,
even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of
my jealousy.
9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they
may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
10
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed,
shall bring mine offering.
11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all
thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away
out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more
be haughty because of my holy mountain.
12 I will also leave in the midst
of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the
LORD.
13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither
shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie
down, and none shall make them afraid.
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout,
O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15 The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king
of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any
more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to
Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee
is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his
love, he will joy over thee with singing.
18 I will gather them that are
sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it
was a burden.
19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee:
and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will
get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.
20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for
I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn
back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.
Now, in case you get the idea that the Kingdom will be boring and dull anyway, let me show you what you rebels will miss if you refuse to accept the salvation offered you by Jesus Christ:
Zechariah 14:1 Behold,
the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city
shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the
city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be
cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against
those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall
stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east,
and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and
toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain
shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye
shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall
reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake
in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the
saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light
shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known
to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time
it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall
go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward
the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall
be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name
one.
10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south
of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's
gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower
of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses.
11 And men shall dwell in it, and
there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people
that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they
stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their
tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in
that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall
lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against
the hand of his neighbour.
14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and
the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and
silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
15 And so shall be the plague of
the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that
shall be in these tents, as this plague.
16 And it shall come to pass, that
every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even
go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the
feast of tabernacles.
17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of
all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of
hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
18 And if the family of Egypt go
not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith
the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations
that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
20 In that day shall there
be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S
house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem
and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice
shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be
no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
And...
Isa ah 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
your God.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her
warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received
of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain
and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough
places plain:
5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
6 The voice
said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness
thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand
for ever.
9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high
mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength;
lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for
him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11 He shall
feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry
them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12 Who
hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with
the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the
mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13 Who hath directed the
Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
14 With whom
took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment,
and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
15
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust
of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
16
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a
burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted
to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom then will ye liken God?
or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19 The workman melteth a graven
image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that
will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image,
that shall not be moved.
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it
not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations
of the earth?
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and
the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as
a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
23 That bringeth
the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
24 Yea,
they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall
not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither,
and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will ye
liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on
high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by
number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he
is strong in power; not one faileth.
27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest,
O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my
God?
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God,
the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?
there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint;
and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths
shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they
that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings
as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
It gets better...
Malachi
3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened,
and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared
the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
17 And they shall be mine, saith
the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them,
as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
18 Then shall ye return, and
discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and
him that serveth him not.
Malachi chapter 4
Malachi 1:1 For, behold, the day cometh,
that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly,
shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But unto you that
fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and
ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3 And ye shall tread
down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day
that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
4 Remember ye the law of Moses
my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes
and judgments.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming
of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart
of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.