Zechariah 7–9

Chapter 7

Hearts like Flint

¹In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^aChislev.

²Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ¹their men to ^2aseek the favor of the Lord,

³speaking to the ^apriests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^bfifth month ¹and abstain, as I have done these many years?”

⁴Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,

⁵“Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months ¹these ^aseventy years, was it actually for ^bMe that you fasted?

⁶‘When you eat and drink, ¹do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?

⁷‘Are not these the words which the Lord ^aproclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^1bprosperous along with its cities around it, and the ^2cNegev and the ³foothills were inhabited?’ ”

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying,

⁹“Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘^aDispense true justice and practice ^bkindness and compassion each to his brother;

¹⁰and ^ado not oppress the widow or the ¹orphan, the ²stranger or the poor; and do ^bnot devise evil in your hearts against one another.’

¹¹“But they ^arefused to pay attention and ^1bturned a stubborn shoulder and ^2cstopped their ears from hearing.

¹²“They made their ^ahearts like ^1bflint ²so that they could not hear the law and the ^cwords which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the ^dformer prophets; therefore great ^ewrath came from the Lord of hosts.

¹³“And just as ^aHe called and they would not listen, so ^bthey called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts;

¹⁴“but I ^1ascattered them with a ^bstorm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is ^cdesolated behind them ²so that ^dno one went back and forth, for they ^emade the pleasant land desolate.”

Chapter 8

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

¹Then the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying,

²“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I am ^aexceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’

³“Thus says the Lord, ‘I will return to Zion and will ^adwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of ^bTruth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’

⁴“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘^aOld men and old women will again sit in the ¹streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of ²age.

⁵‘And the ¹streets of the city will be filled with ^aboys and girls playing in its streets.’

⁶“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If it is ^1atoo difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be ^btoo difficult in My sight?’ declares the Lord of hosts.

⁷“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the ^1aeast and from the land of the ²west;

⁸and I will ^abring them back and they will ^blive in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be ^cMy people, and I will be their God in ¹truth and righteousness.’

⁹“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Let your hands be ^astrong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the ^bprophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built.

¹⁰‘For before those days there was ^ano wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no ^1bpeace because of ²his enemies, and I ^cset all men one against another.

¹¹‘But now I will ^anot ¹treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the Lord of hosts.

¹²‘For there will be ^apeace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their ^bdew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit ^call these things.

¹³‘It will come about that just as you were a ^acurse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a ^bblessing. Do not fear; let your ^chands be strong.’

¹⁴“For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Just as I ^apurposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I have not ^brelented,

¹⁵so I have again purposed in these days to ^ado good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ^bDo not fear!

¹⁶‘These are the things which you should do: speak the ^atruth to one another; ^bjudge with truth and judgment for peace in your ¹gates.

¹⁷‘Also let none of you ^adevise evil in your heart against another, and do not love ^1bperjury; for all these are what I ^chate,’ declares the Lord.”

¹⁸Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,

¹⁹“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘The fast of the ^afourth, the fast of the ^bfifth, the fast of the ^cseventh and the fast of the ^dtenth months will become ^ejoy, gladness, and ¹cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so ^flove truth and peace.’

²⁰“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘It will yet be that ^apeoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities.

²¹‘The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to ^aentreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; ¹I will also go.”

²²‘So ^amany peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to ^bentreat the favor of the Lord.’

²³“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the ¹nations will ^2agrasp the ³garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’ ”

Chapter 9

Prophecies against Neighboring Nations

¹The ¹burden of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach, with ^aDamascus as its resting place (for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the Lord),

²And ^aHamath also, which borders on it;

^bTyre and ^cSidon, ¹though ²they are very wise.

³For Tyre built herself a ^afortress

And ^bpiled up silver like dust,

And ^cgold like the mire of the streets.

⁴Behold, the Lord will ^adispossess her

And cast her wealth into the sea;

And she will be ^bconsumed with fire.

⁵Ashkelon will see it and be afraid.

Gaza too will writhe in great pain;

Also Ekron, for her expectation has been confounded.

Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza,

And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

⁶And a ¹mongrel race will dwell in ^aAshdod,

And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

⁷And I will remove their blood from their mouth

And their detestable things from between their teeth.

Then they also will be a remnant for our God,

And be like a ¹clan in Judah,

And Ekron like a Jebusite.

⁸But I will camp around My house ¹because of an army,

Because of ^ahim who passes by and returns;

And ^bno oppressor will pass over them anymore,

For now I have seen with My eyes.

^9aRejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your ^bking is coming to you;

He is ^1cjust and ^dendowed with salvation,

^eHumble, and mounted on a donkey,

Even on a ^fcolt, the ²foal of a donkey.

¹⁰I will ^acut off the chariot from Ephraim

And the ^bhorse from Jerusalem;

And the ^cbow of war will be cut off.

And He will speak ^dpeace to the nations;

And His ^edominion will be from sea to sea,

And from the ¹River to the ends of the earth.

Deliverance of Judah and Ephraim

¹¹As for you also, because of the ^ablood of My covenant with you,

I have set your ^bprisoners free from the ¹waterless pit.

¹²Return to the ^1astronghold, O prisoners ²who have the ^bhope;

This very day I am declaring that I will restore ^cdouble to you.

¹³For I will ^abend Judah ¹as My bow,

I will fill the bow with Ephraim.

And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O ^bGreece;

And I will make you like a ^cwarrior’s sword.

¹⁴Then the Lord will appear ^aover them,

And His ^barrow will go forth like lightning;

And the Lord ¹God will blow the ^ctrumpet,

And will march in the ^dstorm winds of the south.

^15aThe Lord of hosts will defend them.

And they will ^bdevour and trample on the ^csling stones;

And they will drink and be ^dboisterous as with wine;

And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin,

Drenched like the ^ecorners of the altar.

¹⁶And the Lord their God will ^asave them in that day

As the flock of His people;

For they are as the stones of a ^bcrown,

¹Sparkling in His land.

¹⁷For what ^1acomeliness and ^bbeauty will be ²theirs!

Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.