Zechariah 8–14

OBEDIENCE AND FEASTING

8The word of the Lord of Armies came: ²The Lord of Armies says this: “I am extremely jealous^j for Zion; I am jealous for her with great wrath.” ³The Lord says this: “I will return to Zion and live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City;^k the mountain of the Lord of Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.” ⁴The Lord of Armies says this: “Old men and women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of advanced age. ⁵The streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in them.” ⁶The Lord of Armies says this: “Though it may seem impossible to the remnant of this people in those days, should it also seem impossible to me?”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. ⁷The Lord of Armies says this: “I will save my people from the land of the east and the land of the west.^{A 8}I will bring them back^l to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God.”^m

⁹The Lord of Armies says this: “Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words that the prophets spoke when the foundations were laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of the Lord of Armies. ¹⁰For prior to those days neither people nor animals had wages. There was no safety from the enemy for anyone who came or went, for I turned everyone against his neighbor. ¹¹But now, I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. ¹²“For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the skies will yield their dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.^{n 13}As you have been a curse among the nations,^o house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing.^p Don’t be afraid; let your hands be strong.” ¹⁴For the Lord of Armies says this: “As I resolved to treat you badly when your ancestors provoked me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the Lord of Armies, ¹⁵“so I have resolved again in these days to do what is good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah.^q Don’t be afraid. ¹⁶These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another; make true and sound decisions within your city gates. ¹⁷Do not plot evil^r in your hearts against your neighbor,^s and do not love perjury,^t for I hate all this”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

¹⁸Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to me: ¹⁹The Lord of Armies says this: “The fast of the fourth month,^u the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth^v will become times of joy, gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah. Therefore, love truth and peace.” ²⁰The Lord of Armies says this: “Peoples will yet come, the residents of many cities; ²¹the residents of one city will go to another, saying: Let’s go at once to plead for the Lord’s favor and to seek the Lord of Armies. I am also going. ²²Many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of Armies in Jerusalem and to plead for the Lord’s favor.”^{w 23}The Lord of Armies says this: “In those days, ten men from nations of every language will grab the robe of a Jewish man tightly, urging: Let us go with you,^x for we have heard that God is with you.”

JUDGMENT OF ZION’S ENEMIES

9A pronouncement:

The word of the Lord

is against the land of Hadrach,

and Damascus^a is its resting place—

for the eyes of humanity

and all the tribes of Israel

are on the Lord^A—

²and also against Hamath,^b which borders it,

as well as Tyre^c and Sidon,^d

though they are very shrewd.

³Tyre has built herself a fortress;

she has heaped up silver like dust

and gold like the dirt of the streets.

⁴Listen! The Lord will impoverish her

and cast her wealth into the sea;

she herself will be consumed by fire.^e

⁵Ashkelon will see it and be afraid;

Gaza too, and will writhe in great pain,

as will Ekron, for her hope will fail.

There will cease to be a king in Gaza,

and Ashkelon will become uninhabited.

⁶A mongrel people will live in Ashdod,

and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.^f

⁷I will remove the blood from their mouths

and the abhorrent things^g

from between their teeth.

Then they too will become a remnant for our God;

they will become like a clan in Judah

and Ekron like the Jebusites.^h

⁸I will encamp at my house as a guard,

against those who march back and forth,

and no oppressor will march against them again,

for now I have seen with my own eyes.

THE COMING OF ZION’S KING

⁹Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem!

Look, your King is coming to you;

he is righteous and victorious,^B

humble and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.ⁱ

¹⁰I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

and the horse from Jerusalem.

The bow of war will be removed,

and he will proclaim peace to the nations.

His dominion will extend from sea to sea,

from the Euphrates River

to the ends of the earth.^j

¹¹As for you,

because of the blood of your covenant,^k

I will release your prisoners

from the waterless cistern.^l

¹²Return to a stronghold,

you prisoners who have hope;

today I declare that I will restore double to you.^m

¹³For I will bend Judah as my bow;

I will fill that bow with Ephraim.

I will rouse your sons, Zion,

against your sons, Greece.^An

I will make you like a warrior’s sword.

¹⁴Then the Lord will appear over them,

and his arrow will fly like lightning.

The Lord God will sound the trumpet

and advance with the southern storms.^o

¹⁵The Lord of Armies will defend them.

They will consume and conquer with slingstones;

they will drink and be rowdy as if with wine.^p

They will be as full as the sprinkling basin,^q

like those at the corners of the altar.^r

¹⁶The Lord their God will save them on that day

as the flock of his people;^s

for they are like jewels in a crown,^t

sparkling over his land.

¹⁷How lovely and beautiful!

Grain will make the young men flourish,

and new wine, the young women.

THE LORD RESTORES HIS PEOPLE

10Ask the Lord for rain

in the season of spring rain.

The Lord makes the rain clouds,

and he will give them showers of rain

and crops in the field for everyone.^u

²For the idols speak falsehood,

and the diviners^v see illusions;

they relate empty dreams

and offer empty comfort.

Therefore the people wander like sheep;

they suffer affliction because there is no shepherd.

³My anger burns against the shepherds,

so I will punish the leaders.^B

For the Lord of Armies has tended his flock,

the house of Judah;

he will make them like his majestic steed in battle.

⁴The cornerstone^a will come from Judah.^B

The tent peg^b will come from them

and also the battle bow^c and every^C ruler.

Together ⁵they will be like warriors in battle

trampling down the mud of the streets.

They will fight because the Lord is with them,

and they will put horsemen to shame.

⁶I will strengthen the house of Judah

and deliver the house of Joseph.^C

I will restore^D them

because I have compassion on them,

and they will be

as though I had never rejected them.^d

For I am the Lord their God,

and I will answer them.

⁷Ephraim^e will be like a warrior,

and their hearts will be glad as if with wine.

Their children will see it and be glad;^f

their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.

⁸I will whistle^g and gather them

because I have redeemed^h them;

they will be as numerous as they once were.

⁹Though I sowⁱ them among the nations,

they will remember^j me in the distant lands;

they and their children will live and return.

¹⁰I will bring them back from the land of Egypt

and gather them from Assyria.

I will bring them to the land of Gilead^k

and to Lebanon,

but it will not be enough for them.

¹¹The Lord^A will pass through the sea of distress

and strike the waves of the sea;

all the depths of the Nile will dry up.^l

The pride of Assyria will be brought down,

and the scepter of Egypt will come to an end.

¹²I will strengthen^m them in the Lord,

and they will marchⁿ in his name—

this is the Lord’s declaration.

ISRAEL’S SHEPHERDS: GOOD AND BAD

11Open your gates, Lebanon,

and fire will consume your cedars.^o

²Wail, cypress,^p for the cedar has fallen;

the glorious trees are destroyed!

Wail, oaks of Bashan,^q

for the stately forest has fallen!

³Listen to the wail^r of the shepherds,^s

for their glory is destroyed.

Listen to the roar of young lions,^t

for the thickets of the Jordan^u are^B destroyed.

⁴The Lord my God says this: “Shepherd the flock intended for slaughter. ⁵Those who buy them slaughter them but are not punished.^v Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord because I have become rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion for them. ⁶Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Instead, I will turn everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue it from their hand.”^w

⁷So I shepherded the flock intended for slaughter, the oppressed of the flock.^C I took two staffs, calling one Favor^x and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. ⁸In one month I got rid of three shepherds. I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. ⁹Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let what is dying die, and let what is perishing perish; let the rest devour each other’s flesh.” ¹⁰Next I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, annulling the covenant I had made with all the peoples. ¹¹It was annulled on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock^A who were watching me knew that it was the word of the Lord. ¹²Then I said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed my wages, thirty pieces of silver.^y

¹³“Throw it to the potter,”^B the Lord said to me—this magnificent price I was valued by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw it into the house of the Lord, to the potter.^{Cz 14}Then I cut in two my second staff, Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵The Lord also…