The Lord Promises to Bless Jerusalem

The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I am very jealous(A) for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”

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)

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. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.(I)

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.

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west.(L) 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)

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

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]
and on Hamath(BA) too, which borders on it,
    and on Tyre(BB) and Sidon,(BC) though they are very skillful.
Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
    she has heaped up silver like dust,
    and gold like the dirt of the streets.(BD)
But the Lord will take away her possessions
    and destroy(BE) her power on the sea,
    and she will be consumed by fire.(BF)
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.
A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
    and I will put an end(BH) to the pride of the Philistines.
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)
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

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.
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)

“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)
From Judah will come the cornerstone,(CZ)
    from him the tent peg,(DA)
from him the battle bow,(DB)
    from him every ruler.
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)

“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.
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.
I will signal(DK) for them
    and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
    they will be as numerous(DL) as before.
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!
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)
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

This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.(ED) 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) 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)

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. In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested(EI) me, and I grew weary of them 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: “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. 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. 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) Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong,(FE) because the Lord Almighty is their God.’

“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.

“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) 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. 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.

“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. 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)

“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) Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.[i](GJ) 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

“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.
In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
    “two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
    yet one-third will be left in it.(GN)
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.

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) Then the Lord will go out and fight(HC) against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle.(HD) 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. 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)

On that day there will be neither sunlight(HJ) nor cold, frosty darkness. 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)

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)

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

  1. 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.
  2. Zechariah 8:13 Or and your name will be used in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or and you will be seen as blessed
  3. Zechariah 9:1 Or Damascus. / For the eye of the Lord is on all people, / as well as on the tribes of Israel,
  4. Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates
  5. Zechariah 9:15 Or bowl, / like
  6. Zechariah 10:5 Or ruler, all of them together. / They
  7. Zechariah 12:10 Or the Spirit
  8. Zechariah 12:10 Or to
  9. Zechariah 13:5 Or farmer; a man sold me in my youth
  10. Zechariah 13:6 Or wounds between your hands
  11. Zechariah 14:5 Or My mountain valley will be blocked and will extend to Azel. It will be blocked as it was blocked because of the earthquake
  12. Zechariah 14:18 Or part, then the Lord
  13. Zechariah 14:21 Or merchant

Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.

Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;

And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.

10 For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.

11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts.

12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.

14 For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not:

15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.

16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:

17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.

18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying,

19 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

20 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:

21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also.

22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.

23 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the Lord.

And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.

And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.

Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.

Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;

13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.

14 And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

15 The Lord of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.

16 And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.

17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

10 Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.

For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.

Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.

Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.

And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.

And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and will hear them.

And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the Lord.

I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.

And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.

10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.

11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.

12 And I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord.

11 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.

Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;

Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.

For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.

And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.

Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord.

12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.

14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.

17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

12 The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.

In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.

In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;

14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

13 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:

But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.

And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

14 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses.

11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.

16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness Unto The Lord; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.