Zechariah 7-9

English Standard Version

A Call for Justice and Mercy

7 ^(A)In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^(B)Chislev. ²Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men ^(C)to entreat the favor of the Lord, ³^(D)saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and ^(E)the prophets, “Should I weep and ^(F)abstain in ^(G)the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

⁴Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: ⁵“Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in ^(H)the fifth month and in ^(I)the seventh, for these ^(J)seventy years, ^(K)was it ^(L)for me that you fasted? ⁶^(M)And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? ⁷^(N)Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed ^(O)by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, ^(P)with her cities around her, and the ^(Q)South and the ^(R)lowland were inhabited?’”

⁸And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^(S)Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, ¹⁰^(T)do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, ^(U)or the poor, and ^(V)let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” ¹¹But ^(W)they refused to pay attention ^(X)and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.^[a] ¹²^(Y)They made their hearts diamond-hard ^(Z)lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent ^(AA)by his Spirit through ^(AB)the former prophets. ^(AC)Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. ¹³^(AD)“As I^[b] called, and they would not hear, ^(AE)so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁴^(AF)“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all ^(AG)the nations that they had not known. ^(AH)Thus the land they left was desolate, ^(AI)so that no one went to and fro, ^(AJ)and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

8 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AK)I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. ³Thus says the Lord: ^(AL)I have returned to Zion and ^(AM)will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^(AN)and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^(AO)and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AP)Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. ⁵And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. ⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AQ)If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^(AR)should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? ⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, ^(AS)I will save my people ^(AT)from the east country and from the west country, ⁸and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^(AU)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^(AV)in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

⁹Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AW)“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ^(AX)the prophets who were present on ^(AY)the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. ¹⁰For before those days ^(AZ)there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. ¹¹But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. ¹²^(BA)For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, ^(BB)and the heavens shall give their dew. ^(BC)And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³And as ^(BD)you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^(BE)so will I save you, and ^(BF)you shall be a blessing. ^(BG)Fear not, but ^(BH)let your hands be strong.”

¹⁴For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(BI)“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁵so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ^(BJ)fear not. ¹⁶These are the things that you shall do: ^(BK)Speak the truth to one another; ^(BL)render in your gates judgments ^(BM)that are true and make for peace; ¹⁷^(BN)do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^(BO)love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

¹⁸And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹“Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the ^(BP)fourth month and the fast of the ^(BQ)fifth and the fast of the ^(BR)seventh and the fast of the ^(BS)tenth shall be to the house of Judah ^(BT)seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^(BU)truth and peace.

²⁰“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ^(BV)‘Let us go at once ^(BW)to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ ²²^(BX)Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and ^(BY)to entreat the favor of the Lord. ²³Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ^(BZ)ten men ^(CA)from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for ^(CB)we have heard that God is with you.’”

Judgment on Israel's Enemies

9 The oracle of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach
    and ^(CC)Damascus is its resting place.
For the Lord has an eye on mankind
    and on all the tribes of Israel,^[c]
²^(CD)and on Hamath also, which borders on it,
    ^(CE)Tyre and ^(CF)Sidon, though ^(CG)they are very wise.
³Tyre has built herself ^(CH)a rampart
    and ^(CI)heaped up silver like dust,
    and fine gold like the mud of the streets.
⁴But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions
    and strike down ^(CJ)her power on the sea,
    and ^(CK)she shall be devoured by fire.

⁵^(CL)Ashkelon shall see it, and be afraid;
    Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;
    Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.
The king shall perish from Gaza;
    Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;
⁶^(CM)a mixed people^[d] shall dwell in Ashdod,
    and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.
⁷I will take away ^(CN)its blood from its mouth,
    and ^(CO)its abominations from between its teeth;
^(CP)it too shall be a remnant for our God;
    it shall be like ^(CQ)a clan in Judah,
    and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.
⁸Then ^(CR)I will encamp at my house as a guard,
    ^(CS)so that none shall march to and fro;
^(CT)no oppressor shall again march over them,
    ^(CU)for now I see with my own eyes.

The Coming King of Zion

⁹^(CV)Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
^(CW)Behold, ^(CX)your king is coming to you;
    righteous and having salvation is he,
^(CY)humble and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
¹⁰^(CZ)I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
    and ^(DA)the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
    and ^(DB)he shall speak peace to the nations;
^(DC)his rule shall be from sea to sea,
    and from ^(DD)the River^[e] to the ends of the earth.
¹¹As for you also, because of ^(DE)the blood of my covenant with you,
    ^(DF)I will set your prisoners free from ^(DG)the waterless pit.
¹²Return to your stronghold, O ^(DH)prisoners of hope;
    today I declare that ^(DI)I will restore to you double.
¹³For ^(DJ)I have bent Judah as my bow;
    I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
    against your sons, ^(DK)O Greece,
    and wield you like a warrior's sword.

The Lord Will Save His People

¹⁴Then the Lord will appear over them,
    and ^(DL)his arrow will go forth like lightning;
^(DM)the Lord God will sound the trumpet
    and will march forth in ^(DN)the whirlwinds ^(DO)of the south.
¹⁵The Lord of hosts ^(DP)will protect them,
    and ^(DQ)they shall devour, ^(DR)and tread down the sling stones,
and ^(DS)they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,
    and be full like a bowl,
    drenched ^(DT)like the corners of the altar.

¹⁶On that day the Lord their God will save them,
    as ^(DU)the flock of his people;
for ^(DV)like the jewels of a crown
    they shall shine on his land.
¹⁷^(DW)For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!
    ^(DX)Grain shall make the young men flourish,
    and new wine the young women.

Footnotes

Zechariah 7:11 Hebrew and made their ears too heavy to hear
Zechariah 7:13 Hebrew he
Zechariah 9:1 Or For the eye of mankind, especially of all the tribes of Israel, is toward the Lord
Zechariah 9:6 Or a foreign people; Hebrew a bastard
Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates

Luke 13

English Standard Version

Repent or Perish

13 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood ^(A)Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ²And he answered them, ^(B)“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? ³No, I tell you; but unless you ^(C)repent, you will all likewise perish. ⁴Or those eighteen on whom the tower in ^(D)Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? ⁵No, I tell you; but unless you ^(E)repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

⁶And he told this parable: “A man had ^(F)a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. ⁷And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. ^(G)Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ ⁸And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. ⁹Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

A Woman with a Disabling Spirit

¹⁰Now ^(H)he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹And behold, there was a woman who had had ^(I)a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. ¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” ¹³And he ^(J)laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she ^(K)glorified God. ¹⁴But ^(L)the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus ^(M)had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, ^(N)“There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” ¹⁵Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! ^(O)Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? ¹⁶And ought not this woman, ^(P)a daughter of Abraham whom ^(Q)Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” ¹⁷As he said these things, ^(R)all his adversaries were put to shame, and ^(S)all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

¹⁸^(T)He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹It is like ^(U)a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

²⁰And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? ²¹^(V)It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in ^(W)three measures of flour, until it was ^(X)all leavened.”

The Narrow Door

²²^(Y)He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and ^(Z)journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³And someone said to him, “Lord, ^(AA)will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, ²⁴^(AB)“Strive ^(AC)to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵^(AD)When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ^(AE)‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ^(AF)‘I do not know where you come from.’ ²⁶Then you will begin to say, ^(AG)‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷But he will say, ‘I tell you, ^(AH)I do not know where you come from. ^(AI)Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ ²⁸^(AJ)In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see ^(AK)Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but ^(AL)you yourselves cast out. ²⁹And ^(AM)people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and ^(AN)recline at table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰And behold, ^(AO)some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Lament over Jerusalem

³¹At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from ^(AP)here, for ^(AQ)Herod wants to kill you.” ³²And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day ^(AR)I finish my course. ³³Nevertheless, ^(AS)I ^(AT)must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that ^(AU)a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ ³⁴^(AV)O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that ^(AW)kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! ^(AX)How often would I have ^(AY)gathered ^(AZ)your children together ^(BA)as a hen gathers her brood ^(BB)under her wings, and ^(BC)you were not willing! ³⁵Behold, ^(BD)your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ^(BE)‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”