Chronological

8 ¶ Again the word of the LORD of the hosts came to me, saying,

² Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.

³ Thus hath the LORD said, I will restore Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called City of truth and the mountain of the LORD of the hosts, the mountain of holiness.

⁴ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said; Old men and old women shall yet dwell there in the streets of Jerusalem, and each one with his staff in his hand for the multitude of the days.

⁵ And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls who shall play in them.

⁶ Thus saith the LORD of the hosts, If this should appear difficult in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be difficult in my eyes? saith the LORD of the hosts.

⁷ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said; Behold, I will save my people of the land of the east and of the land where the sun sets;

⁸ 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.

⁹ ¶ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, from the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of the 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 each one against his neighbour.

¹¹ But now I will not do unto the residue of this people as in the former days, said the LORD of the hosts.

¹² For the seed of peace shall remain; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her fruit, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all this.

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

¹⁴ For thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, As I thought to punish you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, said the LORD of the hosts, and I did not repent:

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

¹⁶ These are the things that ye shall do: Speak each one 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, said the LORD.

¹⁸ ¶ And the word of the LORD of the hosts came unto me, saying,

¹⁹ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, 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 hath the LORD of the hosts said, 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 to pray before the LORD and to seek the LORD of the hosts. And the other will respond: I will go also.

²² And many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of the hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the LORD.

²³ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, In those days it shall come to pass that ten men of all the languages of the Gentiles shall take hold of the robe of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.

9 ¶ The burden of the word of the LORD against the land of Hadrach and of Damascus, his rest, because the eyes of the men and of all the tribes of Israel are turned toward the LORD.

² And Hamath also shall come to an end in her; Tyre, and Zidon, though it be very wise.

³ And Tyre built herself a stronghold and heaped up silver as the dust and fine gold as the mire of the streets.

⁴ Behold, the Lord will impoverish her, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.

⁵ Ashkelon shall see it and fear; Gaza also shall see it and be very sorrowful, and Ekron for her hope shall be confounded; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

⁶ And a stranger shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

⁷ And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth, but some of them shall remain for our God, and they shall be as captains in Judah, and Ekron as the Jebusite.

⁸ And I will be the defence and firm support to my house from him that comes and goes; and no oppressor shall pass through them any more, for now I have seen with my eyes.

⁹ ¶ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout with joy, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King shall come unto thee: just, and a saviour; humble, and riding upon an ass, even 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 broken and he shall speak peace unto the Gentiles; 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 taken thy prisoners out of the pit in which there is no water.

¹² ¶ Return to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will render double unto thee;

¹³ for I have bent Judah for me as a bow, and I made Ephraim his arrow, and I will raise up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and make 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 shofar and shall go forth as the whirlwinds of the south.

¹⁵ The LORD of the hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink and make a noise as though drunk with 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 a 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! The wheat shall make the young men cheerful, and the wine the maids.

10 ¶ Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain, so the LORD shall make lightnings and shall give you abundant rain and grass in the field to each one.

² For the idols have spoken vanity and the diviners have seen a lie and have told vain dreams; they comfort in vain; therefore they went their way like sheep; they were humbled because there was no shepherd.

³ My anger is kindled against the pastors, and I will visit the he goats, for the LORD of the hosts shall visit his flock, the house of Judah, and shall make them as his horse of honour in the battle.

⁴ Out of him shall come the corner, out of him the stake, out of him the battle bow, out of him also every oppressor.

⁵ ¶ And they shall be as mighty men, who tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle; and they shall fight because the LORD shall be with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.

⁶ For I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will keep the house of Joseph, and I will cause them to return; for I shall have compassion 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.

⁷ And those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine, their sons shall also see it and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.

⁸ I will hiss for them and gather them; for I have ransomed them; and they shall be multiplied as they were multiplied.

⁹ It was good that I planted them among the peoples; even in far countries there shall be mention made of me; and they shall live with their sons 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 the tribulation shall pass through the sea 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 be lost.

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.

² Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen because the magnificent are cut down; howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the strong mountain is brought down.

³ There is a voice of the howling of the pastors; for their magnificence is destroyed; a voice of the roaring of young lions, for the pride of the Jordan is destroyed.

⁴ ¶ Thus hath the LORD my God said, Feed the flock of the slaughter,

⁵ whose buyers slayed them and held themselves not guilty; and he that sold them said, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and not even their own shepherds had compassion on them.

⁶ Therefore I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD; but, behold, I will deliver the men each one into his neighbour’s hand and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and I will not deliver them out of their hands.

⁷ And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. For I took unto me two staves: the one I named Beauty, and the other Bands; and I fed the flock.

⁸ I also cut off three shepherds in one month; and my soul was in anguish for them, and their soul also abhorred me.

⁹ Then I said, I will not feed you any longer; the one that dies, let it die; and the one that is to be lost, let it be lost; and let the rest eat each 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 peoples.

¹¹ And it was broken in that day; and so the poor of the flock that look unto me knew that it was the word of the LORD.

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

¹³ And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the treasury: a goodly price that I was appraised at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them in the house of the LORD unto the treasury.

¹⁴ Then I cut asunder my 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, behold, I raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that are lost, neither shall seek the young one nor heal the one that is broken nor carry the one that is tired, but he shall eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hoofs in pieces.

¹⁷ Woe to the useless pastor that leaves the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm and upon his right eye; his arm shall be completely dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

12 ¶ The burden of the word of the LORD upon Israel, said the LORD, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him.

² Behold, I place Jerusalem as a cup of poison unto all the peoples round about and also unto those of Judah who shall be in the siege against Jerusalem.

³ And it shall be that in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone unto all peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, and all the Gentiles of the earth shall gather themselves together against her.

⁴ In that day, said the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment and his rider with madness; but I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.

⁵ And the captains of Judah shall say in their heart, My strength is the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the LORD of the hosts, their God.

⁶ In that day I will make the captains of Judah like a hearth of fire among the wood and like a torch of fire among the sheaves; and they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

⁷ And the LORD shall keep the tents of Judah as in the beginning, so that the glory of the house of David and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not cause those of Judah to magnify themselves.

⁸ In that day the LORD shall defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is weak among them in that time shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.

⁹ ¶ And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the Gentiles 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 prayer, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn over him as one mourns for his only son, afflicting themselves over him as one afflicts himself over his firstborn.

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

¹² And the land shall mourn, each 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 time there shall be an open fountain for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem against sin and against uncleanness.

² And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of the hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no longer be remembered; and I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness to be cut off out of the land.

³ And it shall come to pass, that when anyone else shall 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 prophesies.

⁴ And it shall come to pass in that time, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision when he has prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:

⁵ but he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a husbandman of the land; for I learned this from man from my youth.

⁶ And they shall ask him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

⁷ ¶ Awake, O sword, upon the pastor and upon the man that is my fellow, said the LORD of the hosts; smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn my hand upon the little ones.

⁸ And it shall come to pass that in all the land, said the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off in her and shall be lost; but the third shall be left therein.

⁹ And I will put the third part into the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried; He shall call on my name, and I will hear him; I will say, My people, and he shall say, The LORD is my God.

14 ¶ Behold, the day of the LORD comes, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

² For I will gather all the Gentiles against Jerusalem in 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, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

³ Then the LORD shall go forth and fight against those Gentiles as when he fought in the day of battle.

⁴ 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, making a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south.

⁵ And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal; and 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 his saints with him.

⁶ And it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall not be clear, nor dark;

⁷ but it shall be one day which is known to the LORD, not day, nor night; but it shall come to pass, that at evening time there shall be light.

⁸ ¶ And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem: half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter it shall be.

⁹ And the LORD shall be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD shall be one, and his name one.

¹⁰ All the land shall become a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she shall be lifted up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate unto the gate of the corners, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.

¹¹ And men shall dwell in it, and it shall never be anathema again; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

¹² And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will smite all the peoples that 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 destruction from the LORD shall be in them, for they shall lay hold each 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 against Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the Gentiles 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 were in the armies.

¹⁶ ¶ And 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 the hosts, and to celebrate the feast of the tabernacles.

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

¹⁸ And if the family of Egypt does not go up and does not come, there shall be no rain upon them; instead there shall be the plague, with which the LORD will smite the Gentiles that do not come up to celebrate the feast of the tabernacles.

¹⁹ This shall be the punishment of the sin of Egypt and of the sin of all the Gentiles that do not come up to celebrate the feast of the tabernacles.

²⁰ In that day there shall be written 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 And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of the hosts; and all those that sacrifice shall come and take of them and cook therein; and in that time there shall be no more merchandizing in the house of the LORD of the hosts.