Zechariah 10-11

Common English Bible

Fate of Judah and Ephraim

10 Ask the Lord for rain when it is time for the spring rain.
            The Lord is the one who makes the thunderstorms.
        He gives them rain showers.
        He gives vegetation in the field to each of them.^[a]
²The household divine images
        speak idolatry, and diviners see lies.
They interpret dreams falsely
        and provide empty comfort.
Therefore, they wander like sheep,
        but they are oppressed because there is no shepherd.
³My anger burns hot against the shepherds;
            I will punish the goats.
        The Lord of heavenly forces will take care of his splendor, the house of Judah.
        He will make them like his majestic horse in battle.
⁴The cornerstone, the tent peg, and the bow used in battle will come from Judah.
        Every oppressor will leave Judah simultaneously.
⁵Judah will be like warriors,
        trampling through the muddy streets during battle.
They will do battle because the Lord is with them.
        All the cavalry will be ashamed.
⁶I will strengthen the house of Judah
        and deliver the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back^[b] because I have compassion on them.
        They will be as though I hadn’t rejected them, for I am the Lord their God;
            I will respond to them.

⁷Ephraim will be like a warrior.
        They will be as glad as if they were drinking wine.
        Their children will watch and be glad.
        Their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.
⁸I will whistle for them and gather them,
            because I have ransomed them.
        They will be as numerous as they were previously.
⁹Though I sowed them among the peoples,
        they will remember me in the distant places
        where they are living with their children until they return.
¹⁰I will bring them back from the land of Egypt;
    I will collect them from Assyria.
    I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon
        until there is no more room for them.
¹¹They^[c] will pass through the sea of distress
            and strike the sea with waves.^[d]
        All the depths of the river will dry up.
        The pride of Assyria will be brought down;
            the scepter of Egypt will turn away.
¹²I will strengthen them in the Lord,
        and they will walk in his name, says the Lord.

11 Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire will devour your cedars.
²Scream, cypress, for the cedar has fallen;
            those majestic ones have been devastated.
Scream, oaks of Bashan, for the deep forest has fallen.
³The sound of screaming appears among the shepherds
            because their majesty has been devastated.
        The sound of roaring can be heard among the young lions
            because the pride of the Jordan has been devastated.

The shepherd’s two staffs

⁴This is what the Lord my God says:
    Shepherd the flock intended for slaughter.
⁵        Those who buy them will kill them,
            but they will go unpunished.
        Those who sell them will say,
            “Blessed is the Lord, for I have become rich.”
                And their own shepherds won’t spare them.
⁶                In fact, I will no longer spare the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord.
        But look what I am about to bring upon humanity,
            upon each of them by their neighbor’s hand and by the hand of their king:
        They will beat the land to pieces,
            but I won’t rescue anyone from their hand.
⁷So I shepherded the flock intended for slaughter,
            the afflicted of the flock.^[e]
I took two staffs for myself.
        I named one Delight;
            the other I named Harmony.
I shepherded the flock.
⁸I removed three shepherds in one month
        when I grew impatient with them.
        Moreover, they detested me.
⁹Then I said, “I won’t shepherd you.
    Let the dying die,
                and let what is to be removed be removed.
    Let those who are left devour the flesh of their neighbor.”

¹⁰Then I took the staff Delight,
        and I chopped it up in order to break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
¹¹        It was broken on that day.
            As a result, the afflicted^[f] of the flock knew that it was the Lord’s word.
¹²And I said to them,
        “If it appears good to you, give me my wages;
        but if not, then stop.”
        So they weighed out my wages, thirty shekels of silver.
¹³The Lord said to me,
        “Put it in the treasury.^[g]
        They value me at too magnificent a price.”
So I took the thirty shekels^[h] of silver
        and put them in the treasury of the Lord’s house.

¹⁴Then I chopped up my second staff Harmony,
        to break the alliance between Judah and Israel.
¹⁵Then the Lord said to me,
    “Take for yourself again the equipment of a foolish shepherd,
¹⁶        because I am about to appoint a shepherd in the land.
            He won’t tend to those who have been removed.
            He won’t seek the young or heal the broken.
            He won’t sustain the one standing.
            Instead, he will devour the flesh of the fat ones, even tearing off their hooves.
¹⁷        Doom, foolish shepherd who forsakes the flock.
            A sword will strike^[i] his arm and his right eye.
            His arm will wither completely;
                his right eye will become blind.”