Zechariah 10:1–12:9
10 Ask rain from Yahweh in the season of the spring rain—
Yahweh, who makes storm clouds,
and he gives showers of rain to them,
to everyone vegetation in the field.
2 Because the household godsa speak deceit,
and those who practice divination see a lie,
and the dreamers of vanity speak in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep;b
they are afflicted because there is no shepherd.
3 ⌊My anger burns⌋c against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders,d
because Yahweh of hosts watches over his flock,e
the house of Judah;
and he will make them like his majestic horse in war.
4 From themf the cornerstone will go out,
from themg the tent peg,
from themh the battle bow,
from themi every ruler,
all together.
5 And they will be like warriors,
trampling in the mud of the streets in the battle.
They will fight, because Yahweh is with them,
and they will put to shame the riders on horses.
6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah,
and the house of Joseph I will save.
And I will bring them back, because I have compassion on them,
and they will be as if I had not rejected them,
for I am Yahweh their God, and I will answer them.
7 And the people of Ephraim will be like a warrior,
and their heart will be glad as with wine.
And their children will see and rejoice;
their heart will shout in exultation in Yahweh.
8 I will whistle to them and gather them,
for I have redeemed them,
and they will become numerous as they have been numerous before.
9 Though I sowj them among the nations,
in the distant places they will remember me,
and they will stay alive with their children, and they will return.
10 And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt,
and from Assyria I will gather them.
To the land of Gilead and Lebanon I will bring them,
until no room will be found for them there.
11 And hek will pass through the sea of distress,
and he will strike the waves of the sea,
and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
The pride of Assyria will be brought low,
and the scepter of Egypt will depart.
12 I will make them strong in Yahweh,
and in his name they will walk,
⌊declares⌋l Yahweh.
11 Open your doors, O Lebanon,
so that fire will devour your cedars!
2 Wail, O juniper,a for the cedar has fallen,
for the magnificent trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
for the impenetrable forest has come down!
3 Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,
for their splendor is ruined!
Listen to the roar of the young lions,
for the thickets of the Jordan are ruined!
4 Thus says Yahweh my God: “Shepherd the flockb doomed to slaughter. 5 The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I have become rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 For I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land,” ⌊declares⌋c Yahweh. “Look, I am going to cause humankind to fall, each into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they will devastate the land, and I will not deliver anyone from their hand.”
7 And I shepherded the flockd doomed to slaughter, evene the afflictedf of the flock.g I took two staffs, one I called Kindness, and the other I called Unity, and I shepherded the flock.h 8 And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for ⌊I grew impatient⌋i with them, and ⌊they also became tired of me⌋.j 9 So I said, “I will not shepherd you! The one dying will die, and the one to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the ones remaining, let them devour ⌊the flesh of each other⌋.”k 10 And I took my staff Kindness and broke it, to break my covenant that I ⌊had made⌋l with all the peoples. 11 And it was broken on that day. Then the afflictedm of the flock,n the ones who were watching me, knew that it was the word of Yahweh. 12 And I said to them, “If ⌊it seems right to you⌋,o give me my wages, but if not, ⌊keep them⌋.”p And they weighed out my wages, thirty silver shekels. 13 And Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter,”q ⌊this noble price⌋r at which I was valued by them!” So I took the thirty silver shekels and I threw them to the potters in the house of Yahweh. 14 Then I broke my second staff Unity to break the family ties between Judah and Israel.
15 And Yahweh said to me, “Take again the implementst of a foolish shepherd. 16 For look, I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the ones that are perishing; he will not seek the young man,u he will not heal the ones that are crushed and he will not sustain the healthy ones; he will devour the flesh of the ⌊fattened ones⌋v and tear apart even their hoofs.
17 “Woe, my worthless shepherd
who deserts the flock!w
May a sword fall on his arm
and on ⌊his right eye⌋!x
May his arm wither completely
and ⌊his right eye⌋y be utterly blinded!”
12 An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. “⌊Thus declares⌋a Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, founds the earth, and forms the spirit of humankind in its midst:b 2 ‘Look, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding nations; it will also be against Judah in the siege against Jerusalem. 3 ⌊And then⌋c on that day I will make Jerusalem a stone weightd for all the peoples. All those lifting it up will grievously hurt themselves, and all the nations of the earth will assemble against it. 4 On that day,’ ⌊declares⌋e Yahweh, ‘I will strike every horse with confusion, and the one riding it with madness; but over the house of Judah ⌊I will keep my eyes open⌋,f and I will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the clans of Judah will say ⌊to themselves⌋,g “The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a strength to us,h through Yahweh of hosts, their God.”
6 “ ‘On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a pan of fire among sticks of wood, and like a torch of fire among stalksi of grain, and they will devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, and Jerusalem will be inhabited again in its place, in Jerusalem. 7 And Yahweh will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitantsj of Jerusalem may not be exalted over Judah. 8 On that day Yahweh will put a shield around the inhabitantsk of Jerusalem, and the one who stumbles among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh, ⌊before them⌋.l 9 ⌊And then⌋m on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations coming against Jerusalem.