Zechariah 7-10
Contemporary English Version
A Question about Going without Eating
7 On the fourth day of Chislev, the ninth month of the fourth year that Darius was king of Persia,[a] the Lord again spoke to me. 2-3 It happened after the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer with Regem-Melech and his men to ask the priests in the Lord's temple and the prophets to pray for them. So they prayed, “Should we mourn and go without eating during the fifth month,[b] as we have done for many years?”
4-5 It was then that the Lord All-Powerful told me to say to everyone in the country, including the priests:
For 70 years you have gone without eating during the fifth and seventh months of the year. But did you really do it for me? 6 And when you eat and drink, isn't it for your own enjoyment? 7 My message today is the same one I commanded the earlier prophets[c] to speak to Jerusalem and its villages when they were prosperous, and when all of Judah, including the Southern Desert and the hill country, was filled with people.
8-9 So once again, I, the Lord All-Powerful, tell you, “See that justice is done and be kind and merciful to one another! 10 Don't mistreat widows or orphans or foreigners or anyone who is poor, and stop making plans to hurt each other.”
11-12 But everyone who heard those prophets, stubbornly refused to obey. Instead, they turned their backs on everything my Spirit[d] had commanded the earlier prophets to preach. So I, the Lord, became angry 13 and said, “You people paid no attention when I called out to you, and now I'll pay no attention when you call out to me.”
14 That's why I came with a whirlwind and scattered them among foreign nations, leaving their lovely country empty of people and in ruins.[e]
The Lord's Promises to Zion
8 The Lord All-Powerful said to me:
2 I love Zion so much that her enemies make me angry. 3 I will return to Jerusalem and live there on Mount Zion. Then Jerusalem will be known as my faithful city, and Zion will be known as my holy mountain.
4 Very old people with walking sticks will once again sit around in Jerusalem, 5 while boys and girls play in the streets. 6 This may seem impossible for my people who are left, but it isn't impossible for me, the Lord All-Powerful. 7 I will save those who were taken to lands in the east and the west, 8 and I will bring them to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, faithful to bring about justice.
9 I am the Lord All-Powerful! So don't give up. Think about the message my prophets spoke when the foundation of my temple was laid. 10 Before that time, neither people nor animals were rewarded for their work, and no one was safe anywhere, because I had turned them against each other.
11 My people, only a few of you are left, and I promise not to punish you as I did before. 12 Instead, I will make sure that your crops are planted in peace and your vineyards are fruitful, that your fields are fertile, and the dew falls from the sky. 13 People of Judah and Israel, you have been a curse to the nations, but I will save you and make you a blessing to them. So don't be afraid or lose courage.
14 When your ancestors made me angry, I decided to punish you with disasters, and I didn't hold back. 15 Now you no longer need to be afraid. I have decided to treat Jerusalem and Judah with kindness. 16 (A) But you must be truthful with each other, and in court you must give fair decisions that lead to peace. 17 Don't ever plan evil things against others or tell lies under oath. I, the Lord, hate such things.
A Time of Celebration
18 The Lord All-Powerful told me to say:
19 People of Judah, I, the Lord, demand that whenever you go without food as a way of worshiping me, it should become a time of celebration. No matter if it's the fourth month, the fifth month, the seventh month, or the tenth month, you should have a joyful festival. So love truth and live at peace.
20 I tell you that people will come here from cities everywhere. 21 Those of one town will go to another and say, “We're going to ask the Lord All-Powerful to treat us with kindness. Come and join us.”
22 Many people from strong nations will come to Jerusalem to worship me and to ask me to treat them with kindness. 23 When this happens, ten people from nations with different languages will grab a Jew by his clothes and say, “Let us go with you. We've heard that God is on your side.” I, the Lord All-Powerful, have spoken!
Israel's Enemies Will Be Punished
9 (B)(C) This is a message
from the Lord:
His eyes are on everyone,
especially the tribes
of Israel.[f]
So he pronounces judgment
against the cities
of Hadrach and Damascus.[g]
2 Judgment will also fall
on the nearby city
of Hamath,
as well as on Tyre and Sidon,[h]
whose people are clever.
3 Tyre has built a fortress
and piled up silver and gold,
as though they were dust
or mud from the streets.
4 Now the Lord will punish Tyre
with poverty;
he will sink its ships
and send it up in flames.
5 (D) Both Ashkelon and Gaza
will tremble with fear;
Ekron will lose all hope.
Gaza's king will be killed,
and Ashkelon emptied
of its people.
6 A mob of half-breeds
will settle in Ashdod,[i]
and the Lord himself
will rob Philistia of pride.
7 No longer will the Philistines
eat meat with blood in it
or any unclean food.[j]
They will become part
of the people of our God
from the tribe of Judah.
And God will accept
the people of Ekron,
as he did the Jebusites.[k]
8 God says, “I will stand guard
to protect my temple from those
who come to attack.
I know what's happening,
and no one will mistreat
my people ever again.”
The Lord Tells about the Coming King
9 (E) Everyone in Jerusalem,
celebrate and shout!
Your king has won a victory,
and he is coming to you.
He is humble
and rides on a donkey;
he comes on the colt
of a donkey.
10 (F) I, the Lord, will take away
war chariots and horses
from Israel[l] and Jerusalem.
Bows that were made for battle
will be broken.
I will bring peace to nations,
and your king will rule
from sea to sea.
His kingdom will reach
from the Euphrates River
across the earth.
The Lord Promises To Rescue Captives
11 (G) When I made a sacred agreement
with you, my people,
we sealed it with blood.[m]
Now some of you are captives
in waterless pits,
but I will come to your rescue
12 and offer you hope.
Return to your fortress,
because today I will reward you
with twice what you had.
13 I will use Judah as my bow
and Israel[n] as my arrow.
I will take the people of Zion
as my sword
and attack the Greeks.
The Lord Will Protect His People
14 Like a cloud, the Lord God
will appear over his people,
and his arrows will flash
like lightning.
God will sound his trumpet
and attack in a whirlwind
from the south.
15 The Lord All-Powerful
will protect his people,
and they will trample down
the sharpshooters
and their slingshots.
They will drink and get rowdy;
they will be as full as a bowl
at the time of sacrifice.
16 The Lord God will save them
on that day,
because they are his people,
and they will shine on his land
like jewels in a crown.
17 How lovely they will be.
Young people will grow there
like grain in a field
or grapes in a vineyard.
A Bright Future for Judah and Israel
10 I, the Lord, am the one
who sends storm clouds
and showers of rain
to make fields produce.
So when the crops need rain,
you should pray to me.
2 (H) You can't believe idols
and fortunetellers,
or depend on the hope
you receive from witchcraft
and interpreters of dreams.
But you have tried all of these,
and now you are like sheep
without a shepherd.
3 I, the Lord All-Powerful,
am fiercely angry
with you leaders,
and I will punish you.
I care for my people,
the nation of Judah,
and I will change
this flock of sheep
into charging war horses.
4 From this flock will come leaders
who will be strong
like cornerstones and tent pegs
and weapons of war.
5 They will join in the fighting,
and together they will trample
their enemies like mud.
They will fight,
because I, the Lord,
will be on their side.
And they will crush
the enemy cavalry.
6 I will strengthen
the kingdoms of Judah
and Israel.[o]
And I will show mercy
because I am the Lord,
their God.
I will answer their prayers
and bring them home.
Then it will seem as though
I had never rejected them.
7 Israel[p] will be like
a tribe of warriors
celebrating with wine.
When their children see this,
they will also be happy
because of me, the Lord.
8 I will give a signal
for them to come together
because I have rescued them.
And there will be as many
as ever before.
9 (I) Although I scattered my people
in distant countries,
they won't forget me.
Once their children are raised,[q]
they will return—
10 I will bring them home
from Egypt and Assyria,
then let them settle
as far as Gilead and Lebanon,
until the land overflows
with them.
11 My people will go through
an ocean of troubles,
but I will overcome the waves
and dry up the deepest part
of the Nile.
Assyria's great pride
will be put down,
and the power of Egypt
will disappear.
12 I'll strengthen my people
because of who I am,
and they will follow me.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Footnotes
- 7.1 Chislev … fourth year … king of Persia: Chislev, the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-November to mid-December; the fourth year of the rule of Darius was 518 b.c.
- 7.2,3 fifth month: Ab, the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-July to mid-August. The temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in the year 587 or 586 b.c.
- 7.7 the earlier prophets: See the note at 1.4.
- 7.11,12 my Spirit: Or “I.”
- 7.14 leaving their … in ruins: Or “because they had ruined their lovely country.”
- 9.1 His … Israel: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 9.1 Hadrach and Damascus: Hadrach was north of both Damascus (the main city of Syria) and Hamath (verse 2).
- 9.2 Tyre and Sidon: Phoenician cities.
- 9.5,6 Ashkelon and Gaza … Ekron … Ashdod: Philistine cities.
- 9.7 eat … food: The Philistines will become part of Judah and no longer eat meat with blood in it (see Genesis 9.4) or any other forbidden foods (see Leviticus 11.1-23; Deuteronomy 14.3-21).
- 9.7 Jebusites: The original people of Canaan, who lived in Jerusalem before it was captured by David (see 2 Samuel 5.6-10) and were later accepted as part of Israel.
- 9.10 Israel: The Hebrew text has “Ephraim,” the leading tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel, which sometimes stands for the whole kingdom.
- 9.11 agreement … blood: The agreement at Mount Sinai (see Exodus 24.7,8).
- 9.13 Israel: Hebrew “Ephraim” (see the note at 9.10).
- 10.6 Israel: The Hebrew text has “family of Joseph,” the ancestor of Ephraim and Manasseh, the leading tribes of the northern kingdom (Israel).
- 10.7 Israel: Hebrew “Ephraim” (see the note at 9.10).
- 10.9 Once … raised: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
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