But one of those captured escaped and went and told Abram the Hebrew what had happened. Abram was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, whose brothers were Eshcol and Aner. All of them were Abram's allies.
“The Lord, the God of heaven, took me from my family home and my own country. He spoke to me and swore an oath to me in which he promised, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ He is the one who will send his angel ahead of you so that you can find a wife there for my son.
she shouted out to her servants, “Look at this! He brought this Hebrew slave here to dishonor us! This man came to try and rape me, but I screamed at the top of my voice.
“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, who has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, has given me the responsibility to build a Temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
This is the answer they gave us. ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the Temple built and completed many years ago by a great king of Israel.
They prayed, “Only you are the Lord. It was you who made the sky, the heavens with all their stars, the land and everything on it, the seas and everything in them. You give life to all of them, and all the heavenly beings worship you.
“Is it for nothing that Job respects God?” Satan answered. “You've placed a protective fence around him and his family—in fact around everything he has.
The following day he went back and he saw two Hebrews fighting with each other. He said to the one at fault, “Why are you beating one of your own people?”
During the time of these kings the God of heaven will set up an eternal kingdom that will never be destroyed or taken over by others. It will crush all these kingdoms, bringing them to an end, and it will last forever.
After this, the people of Israel will return and dedicate themselves to the Lord their God and to the line of David their king. In the last days they will come with awe and reverence for the Lord and his goodness.
“People, what are you doing? We are human beings with the same kind of nature as you. We came to bring you good news, so you could turn from these pointless things to a God who is truly alive. He is the one who made heaven, earth, and sea, and everything in them.
At the same time there was a huge earthquake, and one tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Who would not be in awe of you, Lord? Who would not glorify your name? For only you are holy. All nations will come and worship you because you have demonstrated by your actions that you do what is right!”