12. “Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ every time these people say the word.Don’t be afraid of what scares them; don’t be terrified.
13. You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies. He is the one you must respect; he is the one you must fear.
14. He will become a sanctuary,but a stone that makes a person trip, and a rock that makes one stumble – to the two houses of Israel.He will become a trap and a snareto the residents of Jerusalem.
15. Many will stumble over the stone and the rock,and will fall and be seriously injured,and will be ensnared and captured.”
16. Tie up the scroll as legal evidence,seal the official record of God’s instructions and give it to my followers.
17. I will wait patiently for the Lord,who has rejected the family of Jacob;I will wait for him.
18. Look, I and the sons whom the Lord has given me are reminders and object lessons in Israel, sent from the Lord who commands armies, who lives on Mount Zion.
19. They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?”
20. Then you must recall the Lord’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened.
21. They will pass through the land destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry, and they will curse their king and their God as they look upward.