“Then he said to me, ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts’” (Zechariah 4:6 ESV). Zechariah, writing to the returned Jewish remnant after the Babylonian exile, recorded the LORD’s message of encouragement to Zerubbabel, the governor charged with
“For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day” (Zechariah 3:9 ESV). Zechariah spoke to a returned, but discouraged, remnant in Judah, assuring
“Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 1:3 ESV). Zechariah, a prophet sent by the LORD in the post-exilic period, addressed a people who had already returned from Babylon to Jerusalem and
“On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts” (Haggai 2:23 ESV). Haggai, the prophet of Judah’s post-exilic period, wrote to the remnant who
“At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’” (Zephaniah 1:12 ESV). The prophet Zephaniah wrote to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem during the reign
“O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?” (Habakkuk 1:2 ESV). Habakkuk, a prophet of Judah, wrote during a time when God’s covenant people were marked by corruption, injustice, and violence. Though the nation was called by the LORD’s
“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him” (Nahum 1:7 ESV). Nahum, a prophet of the Lord, wrote this oracle to the people of Judah around 663–612 BC, amid Assyria’s brutal oppression after Nineveh’s temporary repentance in Jonah’s time. Though the book vividly describes
“For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17 ESV). John wrote the book of Revelation to believers who were suffering for their faith, recording visions that the risen
“And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem” (Micah 4:8 ESV). The prophet Micah wrote to the people of Judah during a time of moral decline and looming judgment, yet he spoke with hope
“Then the LORD said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’” (Jonah 4:4 ESV). Jonah, a Hebrew prophet sent by the LORD to warn the people of Nineveh, recorded that when God chose to relent and show mercy, he became deeply displeased and angry. Yet instead of rebuking Jonah harshly, the LORD met him