Zechariah 10
New American Standard Bible
God Will Bless Judah and Ephraim
10 Ask for (A)rain from the Lord at the time of the spring rain—
The Lord who (B)makes the [a]storm winds;
And He will give them (C)showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each person.
2 For the [b](D)household idols speak deception,
And the (E)diviners see [c]an illusion
And tell (F)deceitful dreams;
They comfort in vain.
Therefore the people [d]wander like (G)sheep,
They are wretched because there is no shepherd.
3 “My (H)anger is kindled against the shepherds,
And I will punish the [e]male goats;
For the Lord of armies has (I)visited His flock, the house of Judah,
And will make them like His majestic horse in battle.
4 From [f]them will come the (J)cornerstone,
From [g]them the tent peg,
From [h]them the bow of (K)battle,
From [i]them every tyrant, all of them together.
5 And they will be like warriors,
(L)Trampling down the enemy in the mud of the streets in battle;
And they will fight, because the Lord will be with them;
And the (M)riders on horses will be put to shame.
6 And I will (N)strengthen the house of Judah,
And I will (O)save the house of Joseph,
And I will [j](P)bring them back,
Because I have had (Q)compassion on them;
And they will be as though I had (R)not rejected them,
For I am the Lord their God and I will (S)answer them.
7 Ephraim will be like a warrior,
And their heart will be joyful as if from wine;
Indeed, their (T)children will see it and be joyful,
[k]Their heart will rejoice in the Lord.
8 I will (U)whistle for them and gather them together,
For I have redeemed them;
And they will be as (V)numerous as they [l](W)were before.
9 When I [m]scatter them among the peoples,
They will (X)remember Me in distant countries,
And they with their children will live and come back.
10 I will (Y)bring them back from the land of Egypt
And gather them from Assyria;
And I will bring them into the land of (Z)Gilead and Lebanon
[n]Until (AA)no room can be found for them.
11 And they will pass through the (AB)sea of distress
And He will strike the waves in the sea,
So that all the depths of the (AC)Nile will dry up;
And the pride of (AD)Assyria will be brought down,
And the scepter of (AE)Egypt will depart.
12 And I will (AF)strengthen them in the Lord,
And in His name (AG)they will walk,” declares the Lord.
Footnotes
- Zechariah 10:1 Or thunderbolts
- Zechariah 10:2 Heb teraphim
- Zechariah 10:2 Lit a lie
- Zechariah 10:2 Lit journey
- Zechariah 10:3 I.e., leaders
- Zechariah 10:4 Lit him
- Zechariah 10:4 Lit him
- Zechariah 10:4 Lit him
- Zechariah 10:4 Lit him
- Zechariah 10:6 Another reading is have them dwell
- Zechariah 10:7 Or Let their heart rejoice
- Zechariah 10:8 Lit were numerous
- Zechariah 10:9 Lit sow
- Zechariah 10:10 Lit And
Zechariah 10
International Standard Version
The Lord’s Care for Judah
10 “Ask the Lord for rain in the spring[a]—
the Lord who fashions lightning thunderstorms,
giving rain showers to mankind[b]
along with grain in the fields.[c]
2 Truly the family idols[d] talk nonsense
and the diviners discern lies,
describing delusional dreams.
Since their comfort is vacuous,
they wander off on their own like sheep,
because there is no shepherd.
3 “Against the shepherds my anger rises—
I am punishing the leaders[e] also,
because the Lord of the Heavenly Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah,
appointing them as his royal war horse for battle.
4 From them arises[f] the cornerstone and tent peg,
from them the battle bow,
from them arise all sorts of oppressive rulers.
5 They will be like mighty soldiers
who trample mud in the streets during battle.
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
and the opposing[g] horsemen will be confused.
6 “I will fortify the house of Judah,
and the house of Joseph I will save.
I will surely bring them back,
because I care about them.
They will be as if I had never cast them away.
Since I am the Lord their God,
I will answer them.
7 “The people of Ephraim will become like mighty soldiers;
they will be glad, like those who have wine.
Their children will see this and rejoice;
their hearts will find joy in the Lord.
8 I will whistle for them, gathering them together,
because I have redeemed them,
and they will multiply as they were before.[h]
9 I will scatter them among the nations,
and so they will remember me in distant countries.
They will rear their children,
and they will return.
10 I will bring them once again out of the land of Egypt,
gathering them from Assyria.
I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon,
but there will not be enough space for them.
11 They[i] will pass through the sea of affliction,
and they[j] will strike the waves[k] in that sea.
All of the depths of the Nile will evaporate,
Assyria’s arrogance will be brought down low,
and the ruling power[l] of Egypt will disappear.
12 “I will strengthen them in the Lord,
and they will march here and there in his name,”
declares the Lord.
Footnotes
- Zechariah 10:1 Lit. the season of the latter rain; i.e. the March and April rains
- Zechariah 10:1 Lit. them
- Zechariah 10:1 Lit. fields to a man
- Zechariah 10:2 Lit. the teraphim; i.e. household images apparently used for divination
- Zechariah 10:3 Lit. rams
- Zechariah 10:4 The Heb. lacks arises
- Zechariah 10:5 The Heb. lacks opposing
- Zechariah 10:8 Lit. will increase as they increased
- Zechariah 10:11 So LXX. MT reads He will
- Zechariah 10:11 So LXX. MT reads He will
- Zechariah 10:11 I.e. perhaps reminiscent of Elijah striking the Jordan River; cf. 2Kings 2:8
- Zechariah 10:11 Lit. the scepter
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