Isa 29, Joe 3, Zec 12-14 | ESV | STEP | Ah , Ariel , Ariel , the city where David encamped ! Add year to year ; let the feasts run their round .

1 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city ^awhere David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel. ^{▼▼ Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)}
3 ^cAnd I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you ^dwith towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 ^eAnd you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like ^fthe voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like ^gsmall dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
^hAnd in an instant, suddenly,
6 ⁱyou will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And ^jthe multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be ^klike a dream, a vision of the night.
8 ^lAs when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves ^{▼▼Or Linger awhile} and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not with wine;
ⁿstagger, but not with strong drink!
10 ^oFor the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is ^psealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

13 And the Lord said:
“Because ^qthis people ^rdraw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, ^sI will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and ^tthe wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15 Ah, ^uyou who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are ^vin the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 ^wYou turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
^xuntil Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day ^ythe deaf shall hear
^zthe words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
^aathe eyes of the blind shall see.
19 ^abThe meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and ^acthe scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and ^adlay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea ^aeturn aside him who is in the right.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, ^afwho redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
^agthe work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
^ahthey will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those ^aiwho go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”

Joel 3

The Lord Judges the Nations

1 ^{▼▼Ch 4:1 in Hebrew} “For behold, ^akin those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 ^alI will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And ^amI will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and ^anhave cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.

4 “What are you to me, ^aoO Tyre and Sidon, and all ^apthe regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, ^aqI will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For ^aryou have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. ^{▼▼Or palaces} 6 You have sold ^atthe people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and ^auI will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the ^avSabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.”

9 Proclaim this among the nations:
^awConsecrate for war; ^{▼▼Or Consecrate a war}
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
10 ^ayBeat your plowshares into swords,
and ^azyour pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
11 ^baHasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
^bbBring down your warriors, O Lord.
12 Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to ^bcthe Valley of Jehoshaphat;
^bdfor there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.
13 ^bePut in the sickle,
^bffor the harvest is ripe.
^bgGo in, tread,
^bhfor the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For ^bithe day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
15 ^bjThe sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 ^bkThe Lord roars from Zion,
and ^blutters his voice from Jerusalem,
^bmand the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is ^bna refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.

The Glorious Future of Judah

17 ^bo“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
^bpwho dwells in Zion, ^bqmy holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and ^brstrangers shall never again pass through it.
18 “And in that day
^bsthe mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and ^btall the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
^buand a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord
and water the Valley of ^bvShittim.
19 ^bw“Egypt shall become a desolation
and ^bxEdom a desolate wilderness,
^byfor the violence done to the people of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 ^bzBut Judah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 ^caI will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged, ^{▼▼Or I will acquit their bloodguilt that I have not acquitted}
^ccfor the Lord dwells in Zion.”

Zechariah 12

The Lord Will Give Salvation

1 ^cdThe oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, ^cewho stretched out the heavens and ^cffounded the earth and ^cgformed the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem ^cha cup of staggering to ^ciall the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem ^cjwill also be against Judah. 3 ^ckOn that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. ^clAll who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And ^cmall the nations of the earth will gather against it. 4 ^cnOn that day, declares the Lord, ^coI will strike every horse ^cpwith panic, and its rider ^cqwith madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples ^crwith blindness. 5 Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.’

6 ^cs“On that day I will make the clans of Judah ^ctlike a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And ^cuthey shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while ^cvJerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

7 “And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. 8 ^cwOn that day ^cxthe Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that ^cythe feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, ^czlike the angel of the Lord, going before them. 9 ^daAnd on that day ^dbI will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Him Whom They Have Pierced

10 “And ^dcI will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and ^ddpleas for mercy, so that, ^dewhen they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, ^dfthey shall mourn for him, ^dgas one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 11 ^dhOn that day ^dithe mourning in Jerusalem will be as great ^djas the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land shall mourn, ^dkeach family ^{▼▼Or clan; also verses 13, 14} by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of ^dmNathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of ^dnthe Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Zechariah 13

1 ^do“On that day there shall be ^dpa fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

Idolatry Cut Off

2 “And ^dqon that day, declares the Lord of hosts, ^drI will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that ^dsthey shall be remembered no more. And also ^dtI will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. 3 And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ^du‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the Lord.’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.

4 “On that day ^dvevery prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, 5 but he will say, ^dw‘I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.’ ^{▼▼Or for the land has been my possession since my youth} 6 And if one asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your back?’ ^{▼▼Or on your chest; Hebrew wounds between your hands} he will say, ‘The wounds I received in the house of my friends.’

The Shepherd Struck

7 “Awake, O sword, against ^dzmy shepherd,
against the man who stands next to me,”

declares the Lord of hosts.
^ea“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;
I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8 In the whole land, declares the Lord,
two thirds shall be cut off and perish,
^eband one third shall be left alive.
9 And ^ecI will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
^edThey will call upon my name,
and ^eeI will answer them.
^efI will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

Zechariah 14

The Coming Day of the Lord

1 Behold, ^ega day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For ^ehI will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and ^eithe city shall be taken ^ejand the houses plundered ^ekand the women raped. ^elHalf of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 ^emThen the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 ^enOn that day his feet shall stand ^eoon ^epthe Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and ^eqthe Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by ^era very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from ^esthe earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

6 ^etOn that day ^euthere shall be ^evno light, cold, or frost. ^{▼▼Compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} 7 ^exAnd there shall be a unique ^{▼▼Hebrew one} day, ^ezwhich is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but ^faat evening time there shall be light.

8 ^fbOn that day ^fcliving waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to ^fdthe eastern sea ^{▼▼That is, the Dead Sea} and half of them to ^ffthe western sea. ^{▼▼That is, the Mediterranean Sea} ^fhIt shall continue in summer as in winter.

9 And ^fithe Lord will be king over all the earth. ^fjOn that day the Lord will be ^fkone and ^flhis name one.

10 ^fmThe whole land shall be turned into a plain from ^fnGeba to ^foRimmon south of Jerusalem. But ^fpJerusalem shall remain aloft ^fqon its site from ^frthe Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to ^fsthe Corner Gate, and from ^ftthe Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 And it shall be inhabited, for ^futhere shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. ^{▼▼The Hebrew term rendered decree of utter destruction refers to things devoted (or set apart) to the Lord (or by the Lord) for destruction} ^fwJerusalem shall dwell in security.

12 And this shall be ^fxthe plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

13 And ^fyon that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that ^fzeach will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. 14 Even ^gaJudah will fight at Jerusalem. And ^gbthe wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15 And ^gca plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.

16 Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem ^gdshall go up year after year to worship ^gethe King, the Lord of hosts, and ^gfto keep ^ggthe Feast of Booths. 17 And if ^ghany of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship ^githe King, the Lord of hosts, ^gjthere will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; ^{▼▼Hebrew lacks rain} there shall be ^glthe plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up ^gmto keep the Feast of Booths. 19 This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up ^gnto keep the Feast of Booths.

20 And ^goon that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ^gp“Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be ^gqholy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And ^grthere shall no longer be ^gsa trader ^{▼▼Or Canaanite} in the house of the Lord of hosts ^guon that day.