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Zechariah 8:18-11:17
New International Version
Zechariah 8:18-11:17
New International Version
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
9 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]
2 and on Hamath(M) too, which borders on it,
and on Tyre(N) and Sidon,(O) though they are very skillful.
3 Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
she has heaped up silver like dust,
and gold like the dirt of the streets.(P)
4 But the Lord will take away her possessions
and destroy(Q) her power on the sea,
and she will be consumed by fire.(R)
5 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.
6 A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
and I will put an end(T) to the pride of the Philistines.
7 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)
8 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
9 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.
2 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)
3 “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)
4 From Judah will come the cornerstone,(BL)
from him the tent peg,(BM)
from him the battle bow,(BN)
from him every ruler.
5 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)
6 “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.
7 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.
8 I will signal(BW) for them
and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
they will be as numerous(BX) as before.
9 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!
2 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)
3 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
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.(CP) 5 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) 6 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)
7 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. 8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.
The flock detested(CU) me, and I grew weary of them 9 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.
Footnotes
- Zechariah 9:1 Or Damascus. / For the eye of the Lord is on all people, / as well as on the tribes of Israel,
- Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates
- Zechariah 9:15 Or bowl, / like
- Zechariah 10:5 Or ruler, all of them together. / 5 They
Zechariah 8:18-11:17
King James Version
Zechariah 8:18-11:17
King James Version
18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying,
19 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; 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 saith the Lord of hosts; 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 speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also.
22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.
23 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt 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 in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the Lord.
2 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.
3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.
4 Behold, the Lord will cast her out, 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 expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
6 And a bastard 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 he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
8 And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and 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 cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: 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 sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made 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 trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
15 The Lord of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through 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 the 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! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.
10 Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
4 Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.
5 And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy 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 they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the Lord.
8 I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.
9 And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, 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 he shall pass through the sea with affliction, 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 depart away.
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 mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.
3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.
4 Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;
5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.
6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.
7 And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.
8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
9 Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every 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 people.
11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord.
12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.
14 Then I cut asunder mine 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, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.
17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
New International Version (NIV) 
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