Zechariah 8–14

Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,

²Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

^aI was jealous for Zion with great jealousy,

And I was jealous for her ^bwith great fury.

³Thus saith the Lord; ^cI am returned unto Zion,

And ^dwill dwell in the midst of Jerusalem:

And Jerusalem shall be called ^ea city of truth;

And ^fthe mountain of the Lord of hosts ^gthe holy mountain.

⁴Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

^hThere shall yet old men and old women dwell ⁱin the streets of Jerusalem,

And every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

⁵And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls

Playing in the streets thereof.

⁶Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

If it be marvellous in the eyes of ^kthe remnant of this people in these days,

^lShould it also be marvellous in my eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.

⁷Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

Behold, ^mI will save my people ⁿfrom the east country,

And ⁿfrom the west country;

⁸And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem:

And ^othey shall be my people, and I will be their God,

^pIn truth and in righteousness.

⁹Thus saith the Lord of hosts; ^qLet your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of ^rthe prophets, which were in ^sthe day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. ^10ssFor before these days there was no ^thire for man, nor any hire for beast; ^uneither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour. ¹¹But now I will not be unto ^kthe residue of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts. ¹²For ^vthe seed shall be ^wprosperous; ^xthe vine shall give ^zher fruit, and ^ythe ground shall give her increase, and ^zthe heavens shall give their dew; and I will ^acause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³And it shall come to pass, that as ye were ^ba curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so ^cwill I save you, and ^dye shall be a blessing: ^efear not, but let ^fyour hands be strong. ¹⁴For thus saith the Lord of hosts; ^gAs I thought to punish you, when your fathers ^hprovoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, ⁱand I repented not: ^15gso again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: ^efear ye not. ¹⁶These are the things that ye shall do; ^jSpeak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of ^ktruth and ^kpeace ^lin your gates: ¹⁷and ^mlet none of you ⁿimagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and ^olove no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.

¹⁸And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, ¹⁹Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The fast of ^pthe fourth month, and the fast of ^qthe fifth, and the fast of ^rthe seventh, and the fast of ^sthe tenth, shall be to the house of Judah ^tjoy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love ^kthe truth and ^kpeace.

²⁰Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people,

And the inhabitants of many cities:

²¹And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,

^uLet us go speedily to pray before the Lord,

And to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also.

²²Yea, ^vmany people and strong nations shall come

To seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem,

And to pray before the Lord.

²³Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

In those days it shall come to pass, that ^wten men ^xshall take hold out ^yof all languages of the nations,

Even ^xshall take hold of ^zthe skirt of him that is a Jew, saying,

We will go with you: for we have heard ^athat God is with you.

IX.^aThe burden of the word of the Lord in the land of ^bHadrach,

And ^cDamascus shall be the rest thereof:

When ^dthe eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the Lord.

²And ^eHamath also shall border thereby;

^fgTyrus, and ^fhZidon, though ⁱit be very wise.

³And Tyrus did build herself ^ka strong hold,

And ^lheaped up silver as the dust,

And ^mfine gold ⁿas the mire of the streets.

⁴Behold, the Lord will ^ocast her out,

And he will smite ^pher power in the sea;

And ^qshe shall be devoured with fire.

^5rAshkelon shall see it, and fear;

^rGaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful,

And ^rEkron; for her expectation ^rrshall be ashamed;

And the king shall perish from Gaza,

And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

⁶And ^sa bastard shall dwell in ^tAshdod,

And I will cut off the pride of ^tthe Philistines.

⁷And I will take away ^uhis blood out of his mouth,

And his abominations from between his teeth:

But he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God,

And he shall be as ^va governor in Judah,

And ^wEkron as ^xa Jebusite.

⁸And ^yI will encamp about mine house because of the army,

Because of ^zhim that passeth by, and because of ^zhim that returneth:

And ^ano ^boppressor shall pass through them any more:

For now ^chave I seen with mine eyes.

^9dRejoice greatly, O ^edaughter of Zion;

^eShout, O daughter of Jerusalem:

^fBehold, ^gthy King cometh unto thee:

^hHe is just, and having salvation;

^fiLowly, and ^kriding upon an ass,

^fAnd upon a colt the foal of an ass.

¹⁰And ^lI will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,

And ^lmthe horse from Jerusalem,

And the battle bow shall be cut off:

And ⁿhe shall speak ^opeace unto the heathen:

^pAnd his dominion shall be ^qfrom sea even to sea,

^pAnd from the river even to ^rthe ends of the earth.

¹¹As for thee also, by ^sthe blood of thy covenant

I ^thave sent forth thy ^tuprisoners out of ^vthe pit wherein is no water.

¹²Turn ye to the strong hold, ^tye prisoners ^wof hope:

^xEven to day do I declare that I will render ^ydouble unto thee;

^13yyWhen I have bent Judah for me, ^zfilled the bow with Ephraim,

And raised up thy sons, O Zion, against ^athy sons, ^bO Greece,

And made thee as the sword of a mighty man.

¹⁴And the Lord shall be seen over them,

And ^chis arrow shall go forth as ^dthe lightning:

And ^ethe Lord God shall blow the trumpet,

And shall go ^fwith whirlwinds of ^gthe south.

¹⁵The Lord of hosts ^hshall defend them; and ⁱthey shall devour,

And subdue with sling stones;

And they shall drink, and ^kmake a noise as through wine;

And they shall be filled like ^lbowls, and as ^mthe corners of the altar.

¹⁶And the Lord their God shall save them ⁿin that day as ^othe flock of his people:

For they shall be as ^pthe stones of a crown, ^qlifted up as an ensign upon his land.

¹⁷For ^rhow great is ^shis goodness, and how great is ^this beauty!

^suCorn shall make the young men cheerful, and ^swnew wine the maids.

X.Ask ye ^aof the Lord rain in the time of ^bthe latter rain;

So the Lord shall make bright clouds,

And ^cgive them showers of rain,

To every one grass in the field.

²For ^dthe idols have spoken vanity,

And ^ethe diviners have seen a lie,

And ^fhave told ^efalse dreams;

^gThey comfort ^din vain:

Therefore they went their way as a flock,

They were troubled, ^hbecause there was no shepherd.

³Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds,

And I punished ⁱthe goats:

For the Lord of hosts ^khath visited his flock the house of Judah,

And hath made them ^las his goodly horse in the battle.

⁴Out of him came forth ^mthe corner, out of him ⁿthe nail,

Out of him ^othe battle bow, out of him every ^poppressor together.

⁵And ^qthey shall be as mighty men, ^rwhich tread down their enemies

^rrIn the mire of the streets in the battle:

And they shall fight, ^sbecause the Lord is with them,

And ^ttthe riders on horses ^ushall be confounded.

⁶And ^vI will strengthen the house of Judah,

And ^vwI will save the house of Joseph,

And ^vwI will bring them again to place them; for I ^yhave mercy upon them:

And they shall be as though I had not cast them off:

For I am the Lord their God, and ^zwill hear them.

⁷And they of Ephraim shall be ^qlike a mighty man,

And ^atheir heart shall rejoice as through wine:

Yea, their children shall see it, and ^bbe glad;

Their heart ^bshall rejoice in the Lord.

^8cI will hiss for them, and ^dgather them; for ^dI have redeemed them:

And ^ethey shall increase ^fas they have increased.

⁹And ^gI will sow them among the people:

And ^hthey shall remember me in far countries;

And they shall live with their children, and turn again.

¹⁰I will bring them again also ⁱout of the land of Egypt,

And gather them ⁱout of Assyria;

And I will bring them into the land of ^jkGilead and ^jlLebanon;

And ^mplace shall not be found for them.

¹¹And ⁿhe shall pass through the sea with affliction,

And shall smite the waves in the sea,

And all the deeps of ^othe river shall dry up:

And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down,

And ^pthe sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.

¹²And ^qI will strengthen them in the Lord;

And ^rthey shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord.

XI.Open thy doors, ^aO Lebanon, that ^bthe fire may devour thy cedars.

^2cHowl, fir tree; ^bfor the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled:

^cHowl, ^dO ye oaks of Bashan; for ^ethe forest of ^gthe vintage is come down.

³There is a voice of ^chthe howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled:

A voice of the roaring of ⁱyoung lions; for ^jthe pride of Jordan is spoiled.

⁴Thus saith the Lord my God; ^kFeed the flock of ^lthe slaughter;

⁵Whose ^mpossessors ^lslay them, and ⁿhold themselves not guilty:

And they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord; for ^oI am rich:

And their own shepherds pity them not.

⁶For ^pI will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord:

But lo, I will deliver the men

Every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king:

And they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.

⁷And ^kI will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, ^rO poor of the flock.

And I took unto me two staves; the one I called ^sBeauty, and the other I called Bands; and ^ktI fed the flock. ⁸Three shepherds also ^uI cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me. ⁹Then said I, I will not feed you: ^vthat that dieth, let it die; and that that is to ^ube cut off, let it be ^ucut off; and let the rest ^weat every one the flesh of another. ¹⁰And I took my staff, …