18 The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.

19 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth,(A) fifth,(B) seventh(C) and tenth(D) months will become joyful(E) and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth(F) and peace.”

20 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, 21 and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat(G) the Lord and seek(H) the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.’ 22 And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.”(I)

23 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’”(J)

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

A prophecy:(K)

The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
    and will come to rest on Damascus(L)
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
    are on the Lord[a]
and on Hamath(M) too, which borders on it,
    and on Tyre(N) and Sidon,(O) though they are very skillful.
Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
    she has heaped up silver like dust,
    and gold like the dirt of the streets.(P)
But the Lord will take away her possessions
    and destroy(Q) her power on the sea,
    and she will be consumed by fire.(R)
Ashkelon(S) will see it and fear;
    Gaza will writhe in agony,
    and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
    and Ashkelon will be deserted.
A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
    and I will put an end(T) to the pride of the Philistines.
I will take the blood from their mouths,
    the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God(U)
    and become a clan in Judah,
    and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.(V)
But I will encamp(W) at my temple
    to guard it against marauding forces.(X)
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
    for now I am keeping watch.(Y)

The Coming of Zion’s King

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!(Z)
    Shout,(AA) Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,(AB)
    righteous and victorious,(AC)
lowly and riding on a donkey,(AD)
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(AE)
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
    and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
    and the battle bow will be broken.(AF)
He will proclaim peace(AG) to the nations.
    His rule will extend from sea to sea
    and from the River[b] to the ends of the earth.(AH)
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant(AI) with you,
    I will free your prisoners(AJ) from the waterless pit.(AK)
12 Return to your fortress,(AL) you prisoners of hope;
    even now I announce that I will restore twice(AM) as much to you.
13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bow(AN)
    and fill it with Ephraim.(AO)
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
    against your sons, Greece,(AP)
    and make you like a warrior’s sword.(AQ)

The Lord Will Appear

14 Then the Lord will appear over them;(AR)
    his arrow will flash like lightning.(AS)
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;(AT)
    he will march in the storms(AU) of the south,
15     and the Lord Almighty will shield(AV) them.
They will destroy
    and overcome with slingstones.(AW)
They will drink and roar as with wine;(AX)
    they will be full like a bowl(AY)
    used for sprinkling[c] the corners(AZ) of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will save his people on that day(BA)
    as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
    like jewels in a crown.(BB)
17 How attractive and beautiful they will be!
    Grain will make the young men thrive,
    and new wine the young women.

The Lord Will Care for Judah

10 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
    it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain(BC) to all people,
    and plants of the field(BD) to everyone.
The idols(BE) speak deceitfully,
    diviners(BF) see visions that lie;
they tell dreams(BG) that are false,
    they give comfort in vain.(BH)
Therefore the people wander like sheep
    oppressed for lack of a shepherd.(BI)

“My anger burns against the shepherds,
    and I will punish the leaders;(BJ)
for the Lord Almighty will care
    for his flock, the people of Judah,
    and make them like a proud horse in battle.(BK)
From Judah will come the cornerstone,(BL)
    from him the tent peg,(BM)
from him the battle bow,(BN)
    from him every ruler.
Together they[d] will be like warriors in battle
    trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.(BO)
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
    and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.(BP)

“I will strengthen(BQ) Judah
    and save the tribes of Joseph.
I will restore them
    because I have compassion(BR) on them.(BS)
They will be as though
    I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God
    and I will answer(BT) them.
The Ephraimites will become like warriors,
    and their hearts will be glad as with wine.(BU)
Their children will see it and be joyful;
    their hearts will rejoice(BV) in the Lord.
I will signal(BW) for them
    and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
    they will be as numerous(BX) as before.
Though I scatter them among the peoples,
    yet in distant lands they will remember me.(BY)
They and their children will survive,
    and they will return.
10 I will bring them back from Egypt
    and gather them from Assyria.(BZ)
I will bring them to Gilead(CA) and Lebanon,
    and there will not be room(CB) enough for them.
11 They will pass through the sea of trouble;
    the surging sea will be subdued
    and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.(CC)
Assyria’s pride(CD) will be brought down
    and Egypt’s scepter(CE) will pass away.(CF)
12 I will strengthen(CG) them in the Lord
    and in his name they will live securely,(CH)
declares the Lord.

11 Open your doors, Lebanon,(CI)
    so that fire(CJ) may devour your cedars!
Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
    the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks(CK) of Bashan;
    the dense forest(CL) has been cut down!(CM)
Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
    their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;(CN)
    the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!(CO)

Two Shepherds

This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.(CP) Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them.(CQ) For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors(CR) and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”(CS)

So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter,(CT) particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested(CU) me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.(CV) Let those who are left eat(CW) one another’s flesh.”

10 Then I took my staff called Favor(CX) and broke it, revoking(CY) the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.(CZ)

13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver(DA) and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.(DB)

14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,(DC)
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm(DD) and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered,
    his right eye totally blinded!”(DE)

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 9:1 Or Damascus. / For the eye of the Lord is on all people, / as well as on the tribes of Israel,
  2. Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates
  3. Zechariah 9:15 Or bowl, / like
  4. Zechariah 10:5 Or ruler, all of them together. / They

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