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Zechariah 8-14
The Message
Zechariah 8-14
The Message
Rebuilding the Temple
8 1-2 And then these Messages from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“I am zealous for Zion—I care!
I’m angry about Zion—I’m involved!”
* * *
God’s Message:
3 “I’ve come back to Zion,
I’ve moved back to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem’s new names will be Truth City,
and Mountain of God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
and Mount Holiness.”
* * *
4-5 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“Old men and old women will come back to Jerusalem, sit on benches on the streets and spin tales, move around safely with their canes—a good city to grow old in. And boys and girls will fill the public parks, laughing and playing—a good city to grow up in.”
* * *
6 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“Do the problems of returning and rebuilding by just a few survivors seem too much? But is anything too much for me? Not if I have my say.”
* * *
7-8 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“I’ll collect my people from countries to the east and countries to the west. I’ll bring them back and move them into Jerusalem. They’ll be my people and I’ll be their God. I’ll stick with them and do right by them.”
* * *
9-10 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“Get a grip on things. Hold tight, you who are listening to what I say through the preaching of the prophets. The Temple of God-of-the-Angel-Armies has been reestablished. The Temple is being rebuilt. We’ve come through a hard time: You worked for a pittance and were lucky to get that; the streets were dangerous; you could never let down your guard; I had turned the world into an armed camp.
11-12 “But things have changed. I’m taking the side of my core of surviving people:
Sowing and harvesting will resume,
Vines will grow grapes,
Gardens will flourish,
Dew and rain will make everything green.
12-13 “My core survivors will get everything they need—and more. You’ve gotten a reputation as a bad-news people, you people of Judah and Israel, but I’m coming to save you. From now on, you’re the good-news people. Don’t be afraid. Keep a firm grip on what I’m doing.”
Keep Your Lives Simple and Honest
14-17 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“In the same way that I decided to punish you when your ancestors made me angry, and didn’t pull my punches, at this time I’ve decided to bless Jerusalem and the country of Judah. Don’t be afraid. And now here’s what I want you to do: Tell the truth, the whole truth, when you speak. Do the right thing by one another, both personally and in your courts. Don’t cook up plans to take unfair advantage of others. Don’t do or say what isn’t so. I hate all that stuff. Keep your lives simple and honest.” Decree of God.
* * *
18-19 Again I received a Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“The days of mourning set for the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will be turned into days of feasting for Judah—celebration and holiday. Embrace truth! Love peace!”
* * *
20-21 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“People and their leaders will come from all over to see what’s going on. The leaders will confer with one another: ‘Shouldn’t we try to get in on this? Get in on God’s blessings? Pray to God-of-the-Angel-Armies? What’s keeping us? Let’s go!’
22 “Lots of people, powerful nations—they’ll come to Jerusalem looking for what they can get from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, looking to get a blessing from God.”
* * *
23 A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“At that time, ten men speaking a variety of languages will grab the sleeve of one Jew, hold tight, and say, ‘Let us go with you. We’ve heard that God is with you.’”
The Whole World Has Its Eyes on God
9 1-6 War Bulletin:
God’s Message challenges the country of Hadrach.
It will settle on Damascus.
The whole world has its eyes on God.
Israel isn’t the only one.
That includes Hamath at the border,
and Tyre and Sidon, clever as they think they are.
Tyre has put together quite a kingdom for herself;
she has stacked up silver like cordwood,
piled gold high as haystacks.
But God will certainly bankrupt her;
he will dump all that wealth into the ocean
and burn up what’s left in a big fire.
Ashkelon will see it and panic,
Gaza will wring its hands,
Ekron will face a dead end.
Gaza’s king will die.
Ashkelon will be emptied out,
And a villain will take over in Ashdod.
6-8 “I’ll take proud Philistia down a peg:
I’ll make him spit out his bloody spoils
and abandon his vile ways.”
What’s left will be all God’s—a core of survivors,
a family brought together in Judah—
But enemies like Ekron will go the way of the Jebusites,
into the dustbin of history.
“I will set up camp in my home country
and defend it against invaders.
Nobody is going to hurt my people ever again.
I’m keeping my eye on them.
A Humble King Riding a Donkey
9-10 “Shout and cheer, Daughter Zion!
Raise your voice, Daughter Jerusalem!
Your king is coming!
a good king who makes all things right,
a humble king riding a donkey,
a mere colt of a donkey.
I’ve had it with war—no more chariots in Ephraim,
no more war horses in Jerusalem,
no more swords and spears, bows and arrows.
He will offer peace to the nations,
a peaceful rule worldwide,
from the four winds to the seven seas.
11-13 “And you, because of my blood covenant with you,
I’ll release your prisoners from their hopeless cells.
Come home, hope-filled prisoners!
This very day I’m declaring a double bonus—
everything you lost returned twice-over!
Judah is now my weapon, the bow I’ll pull,
setting Ephraim as an arrow to the string.
I’ll wake up your sons, O Zion,
to counter your sons, O Greece.
From now on
people are my swords.”
14-17 Then God will come into view,
his arrows flashing like lightning!
Master God will blast his trumpet
and set out in a whirlwind.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies will protect them—
all-out war,
The war to end all wars,
no holds barred.
Their God will save the day. He’ll rescue them.
They’ll become like sheep, gentle and soft,
Or like gemstones in a crown,
catching all the colors of the sun.
Then how they’ll shine! shimmer! glow!
the young men robust, the young women lovely!
God’s Work of Rebuilding
10 Pray to God for rain—it’s time for the spring rain—
to God, the rainmaker,
Spring thunderstorm maker,
maker of grain and barley.
2-3 “Store-bought gods babble gibberish.
Religious experts spout rubbish.
They pontificate hot air.
Their prescriptions are nothing but smoke.
And so the people wander like lost sheep,
poor lost sheep without a shepherd.
I’m furious with the so-called shepherds.
They’re worse than billy goats, and I’ll treat them like goats.”
* * *
3-5 God-of-the-Angel-Armies will step in
and take care of his flock, the people of Judah.
He’ll revive their spirits,
make them proud to be on God’s side.
God will use them in his work of rebuilding,
use them as foundations and pillars,
Use them as tools and instruments,
use them to oversee his work.
They’ll be a workforce to be proud of, working as one,
their heads held high, striding through swamps and mud,
Courageous and vigorous because God is with them,
undeterred by the world’s thugs.
* * *
6-12 “I’ll put muscle in the people of Judah;
I’ll save the people of Joseph.
I know their pain and will make them good as new.
They’ll get a fresh start, as if nothing had ever happened.
And why? Because I am their very own God,
I’ll do what needs to be done for them.
The people of Ephraim will be famous,
their lives brimming with joy.
Their children will get in on it, too—
oh, let them feel blessed by God!
I’ll whistle and they’ll all come running.
I’ve set them free—oh, how they’ll flourish!
Even though I scattered them to the far corners of earth,
they’ll remember me in the faraway places.
They’ll keep the story alive in their children,
and they will come back.
I’ll bring them back from the Egyptian west
and round them up from the Assyrian east.
I’ll bring them back to sweet Gilead,
back to leafy Lebanon.
Every square foot of land
will be marked by homecoming.
They’ll sail through troubled seas, brush aside brash ocean waves.
Roaring rivers will turn to a trickle.
Gaudy Assyria will be stripped bare,
bully Egypt exposed as a fraud.
But my people—oh, I’ll make them strong, God-strong!
and they’ll live my way.” God says so!
* * *
11 1-4 Open your borders to the immigrants, proud Lebanon!
Your sentinel trees will burn.
Weep, great pine trees! Mourn, you sister cedars!
Your towering trees are cordwood.
Weep Bashan oak trees!
Your thick forest is now a field of stumps.
Do you hear the wailing of shepherds?
They’ve lost everything they once owned.
Do you hear the outrage of the lions?
The mighty jungle of the Jordan is wasted.
Make room for the returning exiles!
Breaking the Beautiful Covenant
4-5 God commanded me, “Shepherd the sheep that are soon to be slaughtered. The people who buy them will butcher them for quick and easy money. What’s worse, they’ll get away with it. The people who sell them will say, ‘Lucky me! God’s on my side; I’ve got it made!’ They have shepherds who couldn’t care less about them.”
6 God’s Decree: “I’m washing my hands of the people of this land. From now on they’re all on their own. It’s dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest, and every person for themselves. Don’t look for help from me.”
7-8 So I took over from the crass, money-grubbing owners, and shepherded the sheep marked for slaughter. I got myself two shepherd staffs. I named one Lovely and the other Harmony. Then I went to work shepherding the sheep. Within a month I got rid of the corrupt shepherds. I got tired of putting up with them—and they couldn’t stand me.
9 And then I got tired of the sheep and said, “I’ve had it with you—no more shepherding from me. If you die, you die; if you’re attacked, you’re attacked. Whoever survives can eat what’s left.”
10-11 Then I took the staff named Lovely and broke it across my knee, breaking the beautiful covenant I had made with all the peoples. In one stroke, both staff and covenant were broken. The money-hungry owners saw me do it and knew God was behind it.
12 Then I addressed them: “Pay me what you think I’m worth.” They paid me an insulting sum, counting out thirty silver coins.
13 God told me, “Throw it in the poor box.” This stingy wage was all they thought of me and my work! So I took the thirty silver coins and threw them into the poor box in God’s Temple.
14 Then I broke the other staff, Harmony, across my knee, breaking the family ties between Judah and Israel.
15-16 God then said, “Dress up like a stupid shepherd. I’m going to install just such a shepherd in this land—a shepherd indifferent to victims, who ignores the lost, abandons the injured, and disdains decent citizens. He’ll only be in it for what he can get out of it, using and abusing any and all.
17 “Doom to you, useless shepherd,
walking off and leaving the sheep!
A curse on your arm!
A curse on your right eye!
Your arm will hang limp and useless.
Your right eye will go stone blind.”
Home Again in Jerusalem
12 1-2 War Bulletin:
God’s Message concerning Israel, God’s Decree—the very God who threw the skies into space, set earth on a firm foundation, and breathed his own life into men and women: “Watch for this: I’m about to turn Jerusalem into a cup of strong drink that will have the people who have set siege to Judah and Jerusalem staggering in a drunken stupor.
3 “On the Big Day, I’ll turn Jerusalem into a huge stone blocking the way for everyone. All who try to lift it will rupture themselves. All the pagan nations will come together and try to get rid of it.
4-5 “On the Big Day”—this is God speaking—“I’ll throw all the war horses into a crazed panic, and their riders along with them. But I’ll keep my eye on Judah, watching out for her at the same time that I make the enemy horses go blind. The families of Judah will then realize, ‘Why, our leaders are strong and able through God-of-the-Angel-Armies, their personal God.’
6 “On the Big Day, I’ll turn the families of Judah into something like a burning match in a tinder-dry forest, like a fiercely flaming torch in a barn full of hay. They’ll burn up everything and everyone in sight—people to the right, people to the left—while Jerusalem fills up with people moving in and making themselves at home—home again in Jerusalem.
7-8 “I, God, will begin by restoring the common households of Judah so that the glory of David’s family and the leaders in Jerusalem won’t overshadow the ordinary people in Judah. On the Big Day, I’ll look after everyone who lives in Jerusalem so that the lowliest, weakest person will be as glorious as David and the family of David itself will be godlike, like the Angel of God leading the people.
9 “On the Big Day, I’ll make a clean sweep of all the godless nations that fought against Jerusalem.
10-14 “Next I’ll deal with the family of David and those who live in Jerusalem. I’ll pour a spirit of grace and prayer over them. They’ll then be able to recognize me as the One they so grievously wounded—that piercing spear-thrust! And they’ll weep—oh, how they’ll weep! Deep mourning as of a parent grieving the loss of the firstborn child. The lamentation in Jerusalem that day will be massive, as famous as the lamentation over Hadad-Rimmon on the fields of Megiddo:
Everyone will weep and grieve,
the land and everyone in it:
The family of David off by itself
and their women off by themselves;
The family of Nathan off by itself
and their women off by themselves;
The family of Levi off by itself
and their women off by themselves;
The family of Shimei off by itself
and their women off by themselves;
And all the rest of the families off by themselves
and their women off by themselves.”
Washing Away Sins
13 “On the Big Day, a fountain will be opened for the family of David and all the leaders of Jerusalem for washing away their sins, for scrubbing their stained and soiled lives clean.
2-3 “On the Big Day”—this is God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaking—“I will wipe out the store-bought gods, erase their names from memory. People will forget they ever heard of them. And I’ll get rid of the prophets who polluted the air with their diseased words. If anyone dares persist in spreading diseased, polluting words, his very own parents will step in and say, ‘That’s it! You’re finished! Your lies about God put everyone in danger,’ and then they’ll stab him to death in the very act of prophesying lies about God—his own parents, mind you!
4-6 “On the Big Day, the lying prophets will be publicly exposed and humiliated. Then they’ll wish they’d never swindled people with their ‘visions.’ No more masquerading in prophet clothes. But they’ll deny they’ve even heard of such things: ‘Me, a prophet? Not me. I’m a farmer—grew up on the farm.’ And if someone says, ‘And so where did you get that black eye?’ they’ll say, ‘I ran into a door at a friend’s house.’
* * *
7-9 “Sword, get moving against my shepherd,
against my close associate!”
Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“Kill the shepherd! Scatter the sheep!
The back of my hand against even the lambs!
All across the country”—God’s Decree—
“two-thirds will be devastated
and one-third survive.
I’ll deliver the surviving third to the refinery fires.
I’ll refine them as silver is refined,
test them for purity as gold is tested.
Then they’ll pray to me by name
and I’ll answer them personally.
I’ll say, ‘That’s my people.’
They’ll say, ‘God—my God!’”
The Day Is Coming
14 1-2 Note well: God’s Judgment Day is on the way:
“Plunder will be piled high and handed out.
I’m bringing all the godless nations
to war against Jerusalem—
Houses plundered,
women raped,
Half the city taken into exile,
the other half left behind.”
3-5 But then God will march out against the godless nations and fight—a great war! That’s the Day he’ll take his stand on the Mount of Olives, facing Jerusalem from the east. The Mount of Olives will be split right down the middle, from east to west, leaving a wide valley. Half the mountain will shift north, the other half south. Then you will run for your lives down the valley, your escape route that will take you all the way to Azal. You’ll run for your lives, just as you ran on the day of the great earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then my God will arrive and all the holy angels with him.
6-7 What a Day that will be! No more cold nights—in fact, no more nights! The Day is coming—the timing is God’s—when it will be continuous day. Every evening will be a fresh morning.
8 What a Day that will be! Fresh flowing rivers out of Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea, half to the western sea, flowing year-round, summer and winter!
9 God will be king over all the earth, one God and only one. What a Day that will be!
* * *
10-11 The land will stretch out spaciously around Jerusalem—to Geba in the north and Rimmon in the south, with Jerusalem towering at the center, and the commanding city gates—Gate of Benjamin to First Gate to Corner Gate to Hananel Tower to the Royal Winery—ringing the city full of people. Never again will Jerusalem be totally destroyed. From now on it will be a safe city.
12-14 But this is what will happen to all who fought against Jerusalem: God will visit them with a terrible plague. People’s flesh will rot off their bones while they are walking around; their eyes will rot in their sockets and their tongues in their mouths; people will be dying on their feet! Mass hysteria when that happens—total panic! Fellow soldiers fighting and killing each other—holy terror! And then Judah will jump into the fray!
14-15 Treasures from all the nations will be piled high—gold, silver, the latest fashions. The plague will also hit the animals—horses, mules, camels, donkeys. Everything alive in the military camps will be hit by the plague.
* * *
16-19 All the survivors from the godless nations that fought against Jerusalem will travel to Jerusalem every year to worship the King, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, and celebrate the Feast of Booths. If any of these survivors fail to make the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship the King, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, there will be no rain. If the Egyptians don’t make the pilgrimage and worship, there will be no rain for them. Every nation that does not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths will be hit with the plague. Egypt and any other nation that does not make pilgrimage to celebrate the Feast of Booths gets punished.
20-21 On that Day, the Big Day, all the horses’ harness bells will be inscribed “Holy to God.” The cooking pots in the Temple of God will be as sacred as chalices and plates on the altar. In fact, all the pots and pans in all the kitchens of Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to God-of-the-Angel-Armies. People who come to worship, preparing meals and sacrifices, will use them. On that Big Day there will be no buying or selling in the Temple of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Zechariah 8-14
New International Version
Zechariah 8-14
New International Version
The Lord Promises to Bless Jerusalem
8 The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I am very jealous(A) for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”
3 This is what the Lord says: “I will return(B) to Zion(C) and dwell in Jerusalem.(D) Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City,(E) and the mountain(F) of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.(G)”
4 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem,(H) each of them with cane in hand because of their age. 5 The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.(I)”
6 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time,(J) but will it seem marvelous to me?(K)” declares the Lord Almighty.
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west.(L) 8 I will bring them back(M) to live(N) in Jerusalem; they will be my people,(O) and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.(P)”
9 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strong(Q) so that the temple may be built.’ This is also what the prophets(R) said who were present when the foundation(S) was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty. 10 Before that time there were no wages(T) for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely(U) because of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the past,”(V) declares the Lord Almighty.
12 “The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit,(W) the ground will produce its crops,(X) and the heavens will drop their dew.(Y) I will give all these things as an inheritance(Z) to the remnant of this people.(AA) 13 Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse[a](AB) among the nations, so I will save(AC) you, and you will be a blessing.[b](AD) Do not be afraid,(AE) but let your hands be strong.(AF)”
14 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to bring disaster(AG) on you and showed no pity when your ancestors angered me,” says the Lord Almighty, 15 “so now I have determined to do good(AH) again to Jerusalem and Judah.(AI) Do not be afraid. 16 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth(AJ) to each other, and render true and sound judgment(AK) in your courts;(AL) 17 do not plot evil(AM) against each other, and do not love to swear falsely.(AN) I hate all this,” declares the Lord.
18 The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.
19 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth,(AO) fifth,(AP) seventh(AQ) and tenth(AR) months will become joyful(AS) and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth(AT) and peace.”
20 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, 21 and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat(AU) the Lord and seek(AV) the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.’ 22 And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.”(AW)
23 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’”(AX)
Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
9 A prophecy:(AY)
The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
and will come to rest on Damascus(AZ)—
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
are on the Lord—[c]
2 and on Hamath(BA) too, which borders on it,
and on Tyre(BB) and Sidon,(BC) though they are very skillful.
3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
she has heaped up silver like dust,
and gold like the dirt of the streets.(BD)
4 But the Lord will take away her possessions
and destroy(BE) her power on the sea,
and she will be consumed by fire.(BF)
5 Ashkelon(BG) will see it and fear;
Gaza will writhe in agony,
and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
and Ashkelon will be deserted.
6 A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
and I will put an end(BH) to the pride of the Philistines.
7 I will take the blood from their mouths,
the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God(BI)
and become a clan in Judah,
and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.(BJ)
8 But I will encamp(BK) at my temple
to guard it against marauding forces.(BL)
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
for now I am keeping watch.(BM)
The Coming of Zion’s King
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!(BN)
Shout,(BO) Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,(BP)
righteous and victorious,(BQ)
lowly and riding on a donkey,(BR)
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(BS)
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.(BT)
He will proclaim peace(BU) to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River[d] to the ends of the earth.(BV)
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant(BW) with you,
I will free your prisoners(BX) from the waterless pit.(BY)
12 Return to your fortress,(BZ) you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice(CA) as much to you.
13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bow(CB)
and fill it with Ephraim.(CC)
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
against your sons, Greece,(CD)
and make you like a warrior’s sword.(CE)
The Lord Will Appear
14 Then the Lord will appear over them;(CF)
his arrow will flash like lightning.(CG)
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;(CH)
he will march in the storms(CI) of the south,
15 and the Lord Almighty will shield(CJ) them.
They will destroy
and overcome with slingstones.(CK)
They will drink and roar as with wine;(CL)
they will be full like a bowl(CM)
used for sprinkling[e] the corners(CN) of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will save his people on that day(CO)
as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
like jewels in a crown.(CP)
17 How attractive and beautiful they will be!
Grain will make the young men thrive,
and new wine the young women.
The Lord Will Care for Judah
10 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain(CQ) to all people,
and plants of the field(CR) to everyone.
2 The idols(CS) speak deceitfully,
diviners(CT) see visions that lie;
they tell dreams(CU) that are false,
they give comfort in vain.(CV)
Therefore the people wander like sheep
oppressed for lack of a shepherd.(CW)
3 “My anger burns against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders;(CX)
for the Lord Almighty will care
for his flock, the people of Judah,
and make them like a proud horse in battle.(CY)
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone,(CZ)
from him the tent peg,(DA)
from him the battle bow,(DB)
from him every ruler.
5 Together they[f] will be like warriors in battle
trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.(DC)
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.(DD)
6 “I will strengthen(DE) Judah
and save the tribes of Joseph.
I will restore them
because I have compassion(DF) on them.(DG)
They will be as though
I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God
and I will answer(DH) them.
7 The Ephraimites will become like warriors,
and their hearts will be glad as with wine.(DI)
Their children will see it and be joyful;
their hearts will rejoice(DJ) in the Lord.
8 I will signal(DK) for them
and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
they will be as numerous(DL) as before.
9 Though I scatter them among the peoples,
yet in distant lands they will remember me.(DM)
They and their children will survive,
and they will return.
10 I will bring them back from Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.(DN)
I will bring them to Gilead(DO) and Lebanon,
and there will not be room(DP) enough for them.
11 They will pass through the sea of trouble;
the surging sea will be subdued
and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.(DQ)
Assyria’s pride(DR) will be brought down
and Egypt’s scepter(DS) will pass away.(DT)
12 I will strengthen(DU) them in the Lord
and in his name they will live securely,(DV)”
declares the Lord.
11 Open your doors, Lebanon,(DW)
so that fire(DX) may devour your cedars!
2 Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks(DY) of Bashan;
the dense forest(DZ) has been cut down!(EA)
3 Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;(EB)
the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!(EC)
Two Shepherds
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.(ED) 5 Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them.(EE) 6 For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors(EF) and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”(EG)
7 So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter,(EH) particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
The flock detested(EI) me, and I grew weary of them 9 and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.(EJ) Let those who are left eat(EK) one another’s flesh.”
10 Then I took my staff called Favor(EL) and broke it, revoking(EM) the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.
12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.(EN)
13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver(EO) and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.(EP)
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.
17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,(EQ)
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm(ER) and his right eye!
May his arm be completely withered,
his right eye totally blinded!”(ES)
Jerusalem’s Enemies to Be Destroyed
12 A prophecy:(ET) The word of the Lord concerning Israel.
The Lord, who stretches out the heavens,(EU) who lays the foundation of the earth,(EV) and who forms the human spirit within a person,(EW) declares: 2 “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup(EX) that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.(EY) Judah(EZ) will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nations(FA) of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock(FB) for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure(FC) themselves. 4 On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.(FD) 5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong,(FE) because the Lord Almighty is their God.’
6 “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot(FF) in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume(FG) all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact(FH) in her place.
7 “The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah.(FI) 8 On that day the Lord will shield(FJ) those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest(FK) among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God,(FL) like the angel of the Lord going before(FM) them. 9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations(FN) that attack Jerusalem.(FO)
Mourning for the One They Pierced
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit[g](FP) of grace and supplication.(FQ) They will look on[h] me, the one they have pierced,(FR) and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child,(FS) and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.(FT) 11 On that day the weeping(FU) in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.(FV) 12 The land will mourn,(FW) each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives.(FX)
Cleansing From Sin
13 “On that day a fountain(FY) will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse(FZ) them from sin and impurity.
2 “On that day, I will banish the names of the idols(GA) from the land, and they will be remembered no more,”(GB) declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets(GC) and the spirit of impurity from the land. 3 And if anyone still prophesies, their father and mother, to whom they were born, will say to them, ‘You must die, because you have told lies(GD) in the Lord’s name.’ Then their own parents will stab the one who prophesies.(GE)
4 “On that day every prophet will be ashamed(GF) of their prophetic vision. They will not put on a prophet’s garment(GG) of hair(GH) in order to deceive.(GI) 5 Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.[i]’(GJ) 6 If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body[j]?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’
The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered
7 “Awake, sword,(GK) against my shepherd,(GL)
against the man who is close to me!”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,(GM)
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8 In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.(GN)
9 This third I will put into the fire;(GO)
I will refine them like silver(GP)
and test them like gold.(GQ)
They will call(GR) on my name(GS)
and I will answer(GT) them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’(GU)
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.(GV)’”
The Lord Comes and Reigns
14 A day of the Lord(GW) is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions(GX) will be plundered and divided up within your very walls.
2 I will gather all the nations(GY) to Jerusalem to fight against it;(GZ) the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped.(HA) Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.(HB) 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight(HC) against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle.(HD) 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,(HE) east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split(HF) in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake[k](HG) in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come,(HH) and all the holy ones with him.(HI)
6 On that day there will be neither sunlight(HJ) nor cold, frosty darkness. 7 It will be a unique(HK) day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night.(HL) When evening comes, there will be light.(HM)
8 On that day living water(HN) will flow(HO) out from Jerusalem, half of it east(HP) to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.(HQ)
9 The Lord will be king(HR) over the whole earth.(HS) On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.(HT)
10 The whole land, from Geba(HU) to Rimmon,(HV) south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up(HW) high from the Benjamin Gate(HX) to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate,(HY) and from the Tower of Hananel(HZ) to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place.(IA) 11 It will be inhabited;(IB) never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.(IC)
12 This is the plague with which the Lord will strike(ID) all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.(IE) 13 On that day people will be stricken by the Lord with great panic.(IF) They will seize each other by the hand and attack one another.(IG) 14 Judah(IH) too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected(II)—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing. 15 A similar plague(IJ) will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.
16 Then the survivors(IK) from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship(IL) the King,(IM) the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.(IN) 17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship(IO) the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain.(IP) 18 If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord[l] will bring on them the plague(IQ) he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.(IR) 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.(IS)
20 On that day holy to the Lord(IT) will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots(IU) in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls(IV) in front of the altar. 21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy(IW) to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day(IX) there will no longer be a Canaanite[m](IY) in the house(IZ) of the Lord Almighty.(JA)
Footnotes
- Zechariah 8:13 That is, your name has been used in cursing (see Jer. 29:22); or, you have been regarded as under a curse.
- Zechariah 8:13 Or and your name will be used in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or and you will be seen as blessed
- Zechariah 9:1 Or Damascus. / For the eye of the Lord is on all people, / as well as on the tribes of Israel,
- Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates
- Zechariah 9:15 Or bowl, / like
- Zechariah 10:5 Or ruler, all of them together. / 5 They
- Zechariah 12:10 Or the Spirit
- Zechariah 12:10 Or to
- Zechariah 13:5 Or farmer; a man sold me in my youth
- Zechariah 13:6 Or wounds between your hands
- Zechariah 14:5 Or 5 My mountain valley will be blocked and will extend to Azel. It will be blocked as it was blocked because of the earthquake
- Zechariah 14:18 Or part, then the Lord
- Zechariah 14:21 Or merchant
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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