Out of them will come thanksgiving and the sound of celebration. I will multiply them, so they will not decrease. I will also honor them, so they will not be insignificant.
“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts. They have put the stumbling block of their iniquity right before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?
“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel. Say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live’—it is a declaration of Adonai—‘I will not be inquired of by you.’
When offering your gifts, making your sons pass through the fire, you keep polluting yourselves with all your idols, up to this day. So should I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“I will not be inquired of by you.
Then the nations that are left all around you will know that I, Adonai, have rebuilt the ruined places, and replanted what was desolate. I, Adonai, have spoken it. So I will do it.”
Like the holy flock, like the flock of Jerusalem during her moadim, so the waste cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am Adonai.”
so they would request mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not perish along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
“I will surely gather Jacob—all of you! I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock within its pasture. They will be noisy with people.
I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back, for I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had never spurned them, for I am Adonai their God and I will answer them!
This third I will bring through the fire. I will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My Name and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will answer, ‘Adonai is my God.’
Adonai your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, and you will possess it; and He will do you good and multiply you more than your fathers.