Zechariah 8–14

The Promises to Restore Jerusalem

8The Lord Almighty gave this message to Zechariah: ²“I have longed to help Jerusalem because of my deep love for her people, a love which has made me angry with her enemies. ³I will return to Jerusalem, my holy city, and live there. It will be known as the faithful city, and the hill of the Lord Almightyⁱ will be called the sacred hill. ⁴Once again old men and women, so old that they use a stick when they walk, will be sitting in the city squares. ⁵And the streets will again be full of boys and girls playing.

⁶“This may seem impossible to those of the nation who are now left, but it’s not impossible for me. ⁷I will rescue my people from the lands where they have been taken, ⁸and will bring them back from east and west to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, ruling over them faithfully and justly.

⁹“Have courage! You are now hearing the same words the prophets spoke at the time the foundation was being laid for rebuilding my Temple. ¹⁰Before that time no one could afford to hire either men or animals, and no one was safe from his enemies. I turned people against one another. ¹¹But now I am treating the survivors of this nation differently. ¹²They will sow their crops in peace. Their vines will bear grapes, the earth will produce crops, and there will be plenty of rain. I will give all these blessings to the people of my nation who survive. ¹³People of Judah and Israel! In the past foreigners have cursed one another by saying, ‘May the same disasters fall on you that fell on Judah and Israel!’ But I will save you, and then those foreigners will say to one another, ‘May you receive the same blessings that came to Judah and Israel!’ So have courage and don’t be afraid.”

¹⁴The Lord Almighty says, “When your ancestors made me angry, I planned disaster for them and did not change my mind, but carried out my plans. ¹⁵But now I am planning to bless the people of Jerusalem and Judah. So don’t be afraid. ^16*These are the things you should do: speak the truth to one another. In the courts, give real justice—the kind that brings peace. ¹⁷Do not plan ways of harming one another. Do not give false testimony under oath. I hate lying, injustice, and violence.”

¹⁸The Lord Almighty gave this message to Zechariah: ¹⁹“The fasts held in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become festivals of joy and gladness for the people of Judah. You must love truth and peace.”

²⁰The Lord Almighty says, “The time is coming when people from many^j cities will come to Jerusalem. ²¹Those from one city will say to those from another, ‘We are going to worship the Lord Almighty and pray for his blessing. Come with us!’ ²²Many^k peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord Almighty, and to pray for his blessing. ²³In those days ten foreigners will come to one Jew and say, ‘We want to share in your destiny, because we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

Judgement on Neighboring Nations

9^*This is the Lord’s message:

He has decreed punishment for the land of Hadrach and for the city of Damascus. Not only the tribes of Israel, but also the capital of Syria belong to the Lord. ^2*Hamath, which borders on Hadrach, also belongs to him, and so do the cities of Tyre and Sidon, with all their skill. ^3*Tyre has built fortifications for herself and has piled up so much silver and gold that it is as common as dirt! ^4*But the Lord will take away everything she has. He will throw her wealth into the sea, and the city will be burnt to the ground.

^5*The city of Ashkelon will see this and be afraid. The city of Gaza will see it and suffer great pain. So will Ekron, and her hopes will be shattered. Gaza will lose her king, and Ashkelon will be left deserted. ^6*People of mixed race will live in Ashdod. The Lord says, “I will humble all these proud Philistines. ^7*They will no longer eat meat with blood in it, or other forbidden food. All the survivors will become part of my people and be like a clan in the tribe of Judah. Ekron will become part of my people, as the Jebusites^l did. ⁸I will guard my land and keep armies from passing through it. I will not allow tyrants to oppress my people any more. I have seen how my people have suffered.”

The Future King

⁹Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion!

Shout for joy, you people of Jerusalem!

Look, your king is coming to you!

He comes triumphant and victorious,

but humble and riding on a donkey—on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

^10*The Lord says,

“I will remove the war chariots from Israel

and take the horses from Jerusalem;

the bows used in battle will be destroyed.

Your king will make peace among the nations;

he will rule from sea to sea,

from the River Euphrates to the ends of the earth.”

The Restoration of God’s People

^11*The Lord says,

“Because of my covenant with you

that was sealed by the blood of sacrifices,

I will set your people free—

free from the waterless pit of exile.

¹²Return, you exiles who now have hope;

return to your place of safety.

I tell you now, I will repay you twice over

with blessing for all you have suffered.

¹³I will use Judah like a soldier’s bow

and Israel like the arrows.

I will use the men of Zion like a sword,

to fight the men of Greece.”

¹⁴The Lord will appear above his people;

he will shoot his arrows like lightning.

The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;

he will march in the storms from the south.

¹⁵The Lord Almighty will protect his people,

and they will destroy their enemies.

They will shout in battle like drunken men

and will shed the blood of their enemies;

it will flow like the blood of a sacrifice

poured on the altar from a bowl.^m

¹⁶When that day comes, the Lord will save his people,

as a shepherd saves his flock from danger.

They will shine in his land

like the jewels of a crown.

¹⁷How good and beautiful the land will be!

The young people will grow strong on its corn and wine.

The Promises Deliverance

10Ask the Lord for rain in the spring of the year. It is the Lord who sends rain clouds and showers, making the fields green for everyone. ^2*People consult idols and fortune tellers, but the answers they get are lies and nonsense. Some interpret dreams, but only mislead you; the comfort they give is useless. So the people wander about like lost sheep. They are in trouble because they have no leader.

³The Lord says, “I am angry with those foreigners who rule my people, and I am going to punish them. The people of Judah are mine, and I, the Lord Almighty, will take care of them. They will be my powerful war horses. ⁴From among them will come rulers, leaders, and commanders to govern my people.^{n 5}The people of Judah will be victorious like soldiers who trample their enemies into the mud of the streets. They will fight because the Lord is with them, and they will defeat even the enemy horsemen.

⁶“I will make the people of Judah strong;

I will rescue the people of Israel.

I will have compassion on them

and bring them all back home.

They will be as though I had never rejected them.

I am the Lord their God; I will answer their prayers.

⁷The people of Israel will be strong like soldiers,

happy like men who have been drinking wine.

Their descendants will remember this victory

and be glad because of what the Lord has done.

⁸“I will call my people

and gather them together.

I will rescue them

and make them as numerous as they used to be.

⁹Though I have scattered them among the nations,

yet in far-off places they will remember me.

They and their children will survive

and return home together.

¹⁰From Egypt and Assyria I will bring them home

and settle them in their own country.

I will settle them in Gilead and Lebanon also;

the whole land will be filled with people.

¹¹When they pass through their sea of trouble,

I, the Lord, will strike the waves,

and the depths of the Nile will go dry.

Proud Assyria will be humbled,

and mighty Egypt will lose her power.

¹²I will make my people strong;

they will worship and obey me.”

The Lord has spoken.

The Fall of the Tyrants

11Open your doors, Lebanon,

so that fire can burn down your cedar trees!^o

²Weep and wail, cypress trees—

the cedars have fallen;

those glorious trees have been destroyed!

Weep and wail, oaks of Bashan—

the dense forest has been cut down!

³The rulers cry out in grief;

their glory is gone!

Listen to the roaring of the lions;

their forest home along the Jordan is destroyed!

The Two Shepherds

⁴The Lord my God said to me, “Act the part of the shepherd^p of a flock of sheep that are going to be butchered. ⁵Their owners kill them and go unpunished. They sell the meat and say, ‘Praise the Lord! We are rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no pity on them.”

⁶(The Lord said, “I will no longer pity anyone on earth. I myself will put all the people in the power of their rulers. Those rulers will devastate the earth, and I will not save it from their power.”)

⁷Those who bought and sold the sheep hired me, and I became the shepherd of the sheep that were going to be butchered. I took two sticks: one I called “Favour”, and the other “Unity”. And I took care of the flock. ⁸I lost patience with three other shepherds, who hated me, and I got rid of them all in a single month. ⁹Then I said to the flock, “I will not be your shepherd any longer. Let those who are to die, die. Let those who are to be destroyed, be destroyed. Those who are left will destroy one another.” ¹⁰Then I took the stick called “Favour” and broke it, to cancel the covenant which the Lord had made with all the nations. ¹¹So the covenant was cancelled on that day. Those who bought and sold the sheep were watching me, and they knew that the Lord was speaking through what I did. ^12*I said to them, “If you are willing, give me my wages. But if not, keep them.” So they paid me 30 pieces of silver as my wages.

^13*The Lord said to me, “Put them in the temple treasury.”^q So I took the 30 pieces of silver—the magnificent sum they thought I was worth—and put them in the temple treasury. ¹⁴Then I broke…