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 Coming of Zion’s King

The Lord Will Appear

The Lord Will Care for Judah

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.

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

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)