Zechariah 9

Judgment against Israel’s Enemies

1This is the message*9:1a Hebrew An Oracle: The message. from the Lord against the land of Aram*9:1b Hebrew land of Hadrach. and the city of Damascus, for the eyes of humanity, including all the tribes of Israel, are on the Lord.

2Doom is certain for Hamath,

near Damascus,

and for the cities of Tyre and Sidon,

though they are so clever.

3Tyre has built a strong fortress

and has made silver and gold

as plentiful as dust in the streets!

4But now the Lord will strip away Tyre’s possessions

and hurl its fortifications into the sea,

and it will be burned to the ground.

5The city of Ashkelon will see Tyre fall

and will be filled with fear.

Gaza will shake with terror,

as will Ekron, for their hopes will be dashed.

Gaza’s king will be killed,

and Ashkelon will be deserted.

6Foreigners will occupy the city of Ashdod.

I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.

7I will grab the bloody meat from their mouths

and snatch the detestable sacrifices from their teeth.

Then the surviving Philistines will worship our God

and become like a clan in Judah.*9:7 Hebrew like a leader in Judah.

The Philistines of Ekron will join my people,

as the ancient Jebusites once did.

8I will guard my Temple

and protect it from invading armies.

I am watching closely to ensure

that no more foreign oppressors overrun my people’s land.

Zion’s Coming King

9Rejoice, O people of Zion!*9:9a Hebrew O daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!

Look, your king is coming to you.

He is righteous and victorious,*9:9b Hebrew and is being vindicated.

yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—

riding on a donkey’s colt.

10I will remove the battle chariots from Israel*9:10a Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 9:13.

and the warhorses from Jerusalem.

I will destroy all the weapons used in battle,

and your king will bring peace to the nations.

His realm will stretch from sea to sea

and from the Euphrates River*9:10b Hebrew the river. to the ends of the earth.*9:10c Or the end of the land.

11Because of the covenant I made with you,

sealed with blood,

I will free your prisoners

from death in a waterless dungeon.

12Come back to the place of safety,

all you prisoners who still have hope!

I promise this very day

that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles.

13Judah is my bow,

and Israel is my arrow.

Jerusalem*9:13a Hebrew Zion. is my sword,

and like a warrior, I will brandish it against the Greeks.*9:13b Hebrew the sons of Javan.

14The Lord will appear above his people;

his arrows will fly like lightning!

The Sovereign Lord will sound the ram’s horn

and attack like a whirlwind from the southern desert.

15The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will protect his people,

and they will defeat their enemies by hurling great stones.

They will shout in battle as though drunk with wine.

They will be filled with blood like a bowl,

drenched with blood like the corners of the altar.

16On that day the Lord their God will rescue his people,

just as a shepherd rescues his sheep.

They will sparkle in his land

like jewels in a crown.

17How wonderful and beautiful they will be!

The young men will thrive on abundant grain,

and the young women will flourish on new wine.

Zechariah 10

The Lord Will Restore His People

1Ask the Lord for rain in the spring,

for he makes the storm clouds.

And he will send showers of rain

so every field becomes a lush pasture.

2Household gods give worthless advice,

fortune-tellers predict only lies,

and interpreters of dreams pronounce

falsehoods that give no comfort.

So my people are wandering like lost sheep;

they are attacked because they have no shepherd.

3“My anger burns against your shepherds,

and I will punish these leaders.*10:3 Or these male goats.

For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has arrived

to look after Judah, his flock.

He will make them strong and glorious,

like a proud warhorse in battle.

4From Judah will come the cornerstone,

the tent peg,

the bow for battle,

and all the rulers.

5They will be like mighty warriors in battle,

trampling their enemies in the mud under their feet.

Since the Lord is with them as they fight,

they will overthrow even the enemy’s horsemen.

6“I will strengthen Judah and save Israel*10:6 Hebrew save the house of Joseph.;

I will restore them because of my compassion.

It will be as though I had never rejected them,

for I am the Lord their God, who will hear their cries.

7The people of Israel*10:7 Hebrew of Ephraim. will become like mighty warriors,

and their hearts will be made happy as if by wine.

Their children, too, will see it and be glad;

their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.

8When I whistle to them, they will come running,

for I have redeemed them.

From the few who are left,

they will grow as numerous as they were before.

9Though I have scattered them like seeds among the nations,

they will still remember me in distant lands.

They and their children will survive

and return again to Israel.

10I will bring them back from Egypt

and gather them from Assyria.

I will resettle them in Gilead and Lebanon

until there is no more room for them all.

11They will pass safely through the sea of distress,*10:11 Or the sea of Egypt, referring to the Red Sea.

for the waves of the sea will be held back,

and the waters of the Nile will dry up.

The pride of Assyria will be crushed,

and the rule of Egypt will end.

12By my power*10:12 Hebrew In the Lord. I will make my people strong,

and by my authority they will go wherever they wish.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Zechariah 11

1Open your doors, Lebanon,

so that fire may devour your cedar forests.

2Weep, you cypress trees, for all the ruined cedars;

the most majestic ones have fallen.

Weep, you oaks of Bashan,

for the thick forests have been cut down.

3Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,

for their rich pastures are destroyed.

Hear the young lions roaring,

for their thickets in the Jordan Valley are ruined.

The Good and Evil Shepherds

4This is what the Lord my God says: “Go and care for the flock that is intended for slaughter. 5The buyers slaughter their sheep without remorse. The sellers say, ‘Praise the Lord! Now I’m rich!’ Even the shepherds have no compassion for them. 6Likewise, I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” says the Lord. “I will let them fall into each other’s hands and into the hands of their king. They will turn the land into a wilderness, and I will not rescue them.”

7So I cared for the flock intended for slaughter—the flock that was oppressed. Then I took two shepherd’s staffs and named one Favor and the other Union. 8I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month.

But I became impatient with these sheep, and they hated me, too. 9So I told them, “I won’t be your shepherd any longer. If you die, you die. If you are killed, you are killed. And let those who remain devour each other!”

10Then I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, showing that I had revoked the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11That was the end of my covenant with them. The suffering flock was watching me, and they knew that the Lord was speaking through my actions.

12And I said to them, “If you like, give me my wages, whatever I am worth; but only if you want to.” So they counted out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

13And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter*11:13 Syriac version reads into the treasury; also in 11:13b. Compare Matt 27:6-10.”—this magnificent sum at which they valued me! So I took the thirty coins and threw them to the potter in the Temple of the Lord.

14Then I took my other staff, Union, and cut it in two, showing that the bond of unity between Judah and Israel was broken.

15Then the Lord said to me, “Go again and play the part of a worthless shepherd. 16This illustrates how I will give this nation a shepherd who will not care for those who are dying, nor look after the young, nor heal the injured, nor feed the healthy. Instead, this shepherd will eat the meat of the fattest sheep and tear off their hooves.

17“What sorrow awaits this worthless shepherd

who abandons the flock!

The sword will cut his arm

and pierce his right eye.

His arm will become useless,

and his right eye completely blind.”

Zechariah 12

Future Deliverance for Jerusalem

1This*12:1 Hebrew An Oracle: This. message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord: “This message is from the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. 2I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. 3On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves.

4“On that day,” says the Lord, “I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of their enemies. 5And the clans of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The people of Jerusalem have found strength in the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, their God.’

6“On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a flame that sets a woodpile ablaze or like a burning torch among sheaves of grain. They will burn up all the neighboring nations right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure.

7“The Lord will give victory to the rest of Judah first, before Jerusalem, so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah. 8On that day the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! And the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the Lord who goes before them! 9For on that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10“Then I will pour out a spirit*12:10 Or the Spirit. of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. 11The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.

12“All Israel will mourn, each clan by itself, and with the husbands separate from their wives. The clan of David will mourn alone, as will the clan of Nathan, 13the clan of Levi, and the clan of Shimei. 14Each of the surviving clans from Judah will mourn separately, and with the husbands separate from their wives.

Zechariah 13

A Fountain of Cleansing

1“On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity.

2“And on that day,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the spirit of impurity that came with them. 3If anyone continues to prophesy, his own father and mother will tell him, ‘You must die, for you have prophesied lies in the name of the Lord.’ And as he prophesies, his own father and mother will stab him.

4“On that day people will be ashamed to claim the prophetic gift. No one will pretend to be a prophet by wearing prophet’s clothes. 5He will say, ‘I’m no prophet; I’m a farmer. I began working for a farmer as a boy.’ 6And if someone asks, ‘Then what about those wounds on your chest?*13:6 Hebrew wounds between your hands?’ he will say, ‘I was wounded at my friends’ house!’

The Scattering of the Sheep

7“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,

the man who is my partner,”

says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“Strike down the shepherd,

and the sheep will be scattered,

and I will turn against the lambs.

8Two-thirds of the people in the land

will be cut off and die,” says the Lord.

“But one-third will be left in the land.

9I will bring that group through the fire

and make them pure.

I will refine them like silver

and purify them like gold.

They will call on my name,

and I will answer them.

I will say, ‘These are my people,’

and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

Zechariah 14

The Lord Will Rule the Earth

1Watch, for the day of the Lord is coming when your possessions will be plundered right in front of you! 2I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the population will be taken into captivity, and the rest will be left among the ruins of the city.

3Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past. 4On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south. 5You will flee through this valley, for it will reach across to Azal.*14:5a The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. Yes, you will flee as you did from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.*14:5b As in Greek version; Hebrew reads with you.

6On that day the sources of light will no longer shine,*14:6 Hebrew the precious ones shall diminish; or the precious ones and frost. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. 7yet there will be continuous day! Only the Lord knows how this could happen. There will be no normal day and night, for at evening time it will still be light.

8On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half toward the Mediterranean,*14:8 Hebrew half toward the eastern sea and half toward the western sea. flowing continuously in both summer and winter.

9And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped.

10All the land from Geba, north of Judah, to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become one vast plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up in its original place and will be inhabited all the way from the Benjamin Gate over to the site of the old gate, then to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11And Jerusalem will be filled, safe at last, never again to be cursed and destroyed.

12And the Lord will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13On that day they will be terrified, stricken by the Lord with great panic. They will fight their neighbors hand to hand. 14Judah, too, will be fighting at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the neighboring nations will be captured—great quantities of gold and silver and fine clothing. 15This same plague will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in the enemy camps.

16In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 17Any nation in the world that refuses to come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will have no rain. 18If the people of Egypt refuse to attend the festival, the Lord will punish*14:18 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek and Syriac versions; Masoretic Text reads will not punish. them with the same plague that he sends on the other nations who refuse to go. 19Egypt and the other nations will all be punished if they don’t go to celebrate the Festival of Shelters.

20On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: Holy to the Lord. And the cooking pots in the Temple of the Lord will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar. 21In fact, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. All who come to worship will be free to use any of these pots to boil their sacrifices. And on that day there will no longer be traders*14:21 Hebrew Canaanites. in the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.