When you see these things, you will be happy, and you will grow like the grass. The Lord’s servants will see his power, but his enemies will see his anger.
Ezra had left Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, because God was helping him.
Our God was helping us, so Iddo’s relatives gave us Sherebiah, a wise man from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, who was the son of Israel. And they brought Sherebiah’s sons and brothers, for a total of eighteen men.
I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road. We had said to the king, “Our God helps everyone who obeys him, but he is very angry with all who reject him.”
On the twelfth day of the first month we left the Ahava Canal and started toward Jerusalem. Our God helped us and protected us from enemies and robbers along the way.
This army is coming from a faraway land, from the edge of the horizon. In anger the Lord is using this army like a weapon to destroy the whole country.
Your people have died, but they will live again; their bodies will rise from death. You who lie in the ground, wake up and be happy! The dew covering you is like the dew of a new day; the ground will give birth to the dead.
Look! The Lord comes from far away. His anger is like a fire with thick clouds of smoke. His mouth is filled with anger, and his tongue is like a burning fire.
Look at Jerusalem, the city of our festivals. Look at Jerusalem, that beautiful place of rest. It is like a tent that will never be moved; the pegs that hold her in place will never be pulled up, and her ropes will never be broken.
it will have many blooms. It will show its happiness, as if it were shouting with joy. It will be beautiful like the forest of Lebanon, as beautiful as the hill of Carmel and the Plain of Sharon. Everyone will see the glory of the Lord and the splendor of our God.
People will see these things and understand; they will think carefully about these things and learn that the Lord’s power did this, that the Holy One of Israel made these things.”
The Lord will march out like a strong soldier; he will be excited like a man ready to fight a war. He will shout out the battle cry and defeat his enemies.
The Lord will always lead you. He will satisfy your needs in dry lands and give strength to your bones. You will be like a garden that has much water, like a spring that never runs dry.
The Lord will pay back his enemies for what they have done. He will show his anger to those who were against him; he will punish the people in faraway places as they deserve.
You people who obey the words of the Lord, listen to what he says: “Your brothers hated you and turned against you because you followed me. Your brothers said, ‘Let the Lord be honored so we may see you rejoice,’ but they will be punished.
The people of Ephraim will be strong like soldiers; they will be glad as when they have drunk wine. Their children will see it and rejoice; they will be happy in the Lord.