Zechariah 9-11

New American Standard Bible

Prophecies against Neighboring Nations

9 The pronouncement of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach, with ^(A)Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of mankind, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the Lord),

²And ^(B)Hamath also, which borders on it;
^(C)Tyre and ^(D)Sidon, ^[a]though ^[b]they are ^(E)very wise.
³For Tyre built herself a ^(F)fortress,
And ^(G)piled up silver like dust,
And ^(H)gold like the mud of the streets.
⁴Behold, the Lord will ^(I)dispossess her
And throw her wealth into the sea;
And she will be ^(J)consumed with fire.
⁵Ashkelon will see it and be afraid.
Gaza too will writhe in great pain;
Also Ekron, because her hope has been ruined.
Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza,
And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.
⁶And a people of mixed origins will live in ^(K)Ashdod,
And I will eliminate the pride of the Philistines.
⁷And I will remove their blood from their mouth
And their detestable things from between their teeth.
Then they also will be a remnant for our God,
And be like a ^[c]clan in Judah,
And Ekron will be like a Jebusite.
⁸But I will camp around My house ^[d]because of an army,
Because of ^(L)him who passes by and returns;
And ^(M)no oppressor will pass over them anymore,
For now I have seen with My eyes.
⁹^(N)Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your ^(O)king is coming to you;
He is ^[e]^(P)righteous and ^(Q)endowed with salvation,
^(R)Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a ^(S)colt, the ^[f]foal of a donkey.
¹⁰And I will ^(T)eliminate the chariot from Ephraim
And the ^(U)horse from Jerusalem;
And the ^(V)bow of war will be eliminated.
And He will speak ^(W)peace to the nations;
And His ^(X)dominion will be from sea to sea,
And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

Restoration of Judah and Ephraim

¹¹As for you also, because of the ^(Y)blood of My covenant with you,
I have set your ^(Z)prisoners free from the ^[g]waterless pit.
¹²Return to the ^[h]^(AA)stronghold, you prisoners ^[i]who have the ^(AB)hope;
This very day I am declaring that I will restore ^(AC)double to you.
¹³For I will ^(AD)bend Judah ^[j]as My bow,
I will fill the bow with Ephraim.
And I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, ^(AE)Greece;
And I will make you like a ^(AF)warrior’s sword.
¹⁴Then the Lord will appear ^(AG)over them,
And His ^(AH)arrow will go forth like lightning;
And the Lord ^[k]God will blow the ^(AI)trumpet,
And march in the ^(AJ)storm winds of the south.
¹⁵^(AK)The Lord of armies will protect them.
And they will ^(AL)devour and trample on the ^(AM)slingstones;
And they will drink and be ^(AN)boisterous as with wine;
And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin,
Drenched like the ^(AO)corners of the altar.
¹⁶And the Lord their God will ^(AP)save them on that day
As the flock of His people;
For they are like the precious stones of a ^(AQ)crown,
Sparkling on His land.
¹⁷For how great will ^[l]their ^(AR)loveliness and ^(AS)beauty be!
Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the virgins.

God Will Bless Judah and Ephraim

10 Ask for ^(AT)rain from the Lord at the time of the spring rain—

The Lord who ^(AU)makes the ^[m]storm winds;
And He will give them ^(AV)showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each person.
²For the ^[n]^(AW)household idols speak deception,
And the ^(AX)diviners see ^[o]an illusion
And tell ^(AY)deceitful dreams;
They comfort in vain.
Therefore the people ^[p]wander like ^(AZ)sheep,
They are wretched because there is no shepherd.
³“My ^(BA)anger is kindled against the shepherds,
And I will punish the ^[q]male goats;
For the Lord of armies has ^(BB)visited His flock, the house of Judah,
And will make them like His majestic horse in battle.
⁴From ^[r]them will come the ^(BC)cornerstone,
From ^[s]them the tent peg,
From ^[t]them the bow of ^(BD)battle,
From ^[u]them every tyrant, all of them together.
⁵And they will be like warriors,
^(BE)Trampling down the enemy in the mud of the streets in battle;
And they will fight, because the Lord will be with them;
And the ^(BF)riders on horses will be put to shame.
⁶And I will ^(BG)strengthen the house of Judah,
And I will ^(BH)save the house of Joseph,
And I will ^[v]^(BI)bring them back,
Because I have had ^(BJ)compassion on them;
And they will be as though I had ^(BK)not rejected them,
For I am the Lord their God and I will ^(BL)answer them.
⁷Ephraim will be like a warrior,
And their heart will be joyful as if from wine;
Indeed, their ^(BM)children will see it and be joyful,
^[w]Their heart will rejoice in the Lord.
⁸I will ^(BN)whistle for them and gather them together,
For I have redeemed them;
And they will be as ^(BO)numerous as they ^[x]^(BP)were before.
⁹When I ^[y]scatter them among the peoples,
They will ^(BQ)remember Me in distant countries,
And they with their children will live and come back.
¹⁰I will ^(BR)bring them back from the land of Egypt
And gather them from Assyria;
And I will bring them into the land of ^(BS)Gilead and Lebanon
^[z]Until ^(BT)no room can be found for them.
¹¹And they will pass through the ^(BU)sea of distress
And He will strike the waves in the sea,
So that all the depths of the ^(BV)Nile will dry up;
And the pride of ^(BW)Assyria will be brought down,
And the scepter of ^(BX)Egypt will depart.
¹²And I will ^(BY)strengthen them in the Lord,
And in His name ^(BZ)they will walk,” declares the Lord.

The Doomed Flock

11 Open your doors, Lebanon,

So that a ^(CA)fire may feed on your ^(CB)cedars.
²Wail, juniper, because the cedar has fallen,
For the magnificent trees have been destroyed;
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
Because the ^[aa]impenetrable forest has come down.
³There is a sound of the shepherds’ ^(CC)wail,
For their splendor is ruined;
There is a ^(CD)sound of the young lions’ roar,
For the ^[ab]pride of the Jordan is ruined.

⁴This is what the Lord my God says: “Pasture the flock doomed to ^(CE)slaughter. ⁵Those who buy them slaughter them and ^[ac]go ^(CF)unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for ^(CG)I have become rich!’ And their ^(CH)own shepherds have no compassion for them. ⁶For I will ^(CI)no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord; “but behold, I will ^(CJ)let the people fall, each into another’s ^[ad]power and into the ^[ae]power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will ^(CK)not rescue them from their ^[af]power.”

⁷So I ^(CL)pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, ^[ag]therefore also the ^(CM)afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two ^(CN)staffs: the one I called ^[ah]^(CO)Favor, and the other I called ^(CP)Union; so I pastured the flock. ⁸Then I did away with the three shepherds in ^(CQ)one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also ^[ai]was tired of me. ⁹Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to ^(CR)die, ^[aj]let it die, and what is to perish, ^[ak]let it perish; and ^[al]let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” ¹⁰And I took my staff ^[am]^(CS)Favor and cut it in pieces, to ^[an]^(CT)break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. ¹¹So it was ^[ao]broken on that day, and ^[ap]so the ^(CU)afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. ¹²And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my ^(CV)wages; but if not, ^[aq]never mind!” So they weighed out ^(CW)thirty shekels of silver as my wages. ¹³Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the ^(CX)potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord. ¹⁴Then I cut in pieces my second staff ^(CY)Union, to ^(CZ)break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵And the Lord said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a ^(DA)foolish shepherd. ¹⁶For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will ^(DB)not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or provide for the one who is exhausted, but will ^(DC)devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.

¹⁷^(DD)Woe to the worthless shepherd
Who abandons the flock!
A ^(DE)sword will be on his arm
And on his right eye!
His ^(DF)arm will be totally withered,
And his right eye will be ^[ar]blind.”

Footnotes

Zechariah 9:2 Or because
Zechariah 9:2 I.e., they think they are
Zechariah 9:7 Or chief
Zechariah 9:8 Or as a garrison, so that none will go back and forth
Zechariah 9:9 Or vindicated and victorious
Zechariah 9:9 Lit son of a female donkey
Zechariah 9:11 Lit cistern in which there is no water
Zechariah 9:12 Or Stronghold
Zechariah 9:12 Lit of the hope
Zechariah 9:13 Lit for Me as a bow
Zechariah 9:14 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Zechariah 9:17 Lit his
Zechariah 10:1 Or thunderbolts
Zechariah 10:2 Heb teraphim
Zechariah 10:2 Lit a lie
Zechariah 10:2 Lit journey
Zechariah 10:3 I.e., leaders
Zechariah 10:4 Lit him
Zechariah 10:4 Lit him
Zechariah 10:4 Lit him
Zechariah 10:4 Lit him
Zechariah 10:6 Another reading is have them dwell
Zechariah 10:7 Or Let their heart rejoice
Zechariah 10:8 Lit were numerous
Zechariah 10:9 Lit sow
Zechariah 10:10 Lit And
Zechariah 11:2 Another reading is forest of the vintage
Zechariah 11:3 Or thicket
Zechariah 11:5 Lit are not held guilty
Zechariah 11:6 Lit hand
Zechariah 11:6 Lit hand
Zechariah 11:6 Lit hand
Zechariah 11:7 Another reading is for the sheep dealers
Zechariah 11:7 Or Pleasantness
Zechariah 11:8 Or detested
Zechariah 11:9 Or will die
Zechariah 11:9 Or will perish
Zechariah 11:9 Or those...will eat
Zechariah 11:10 Or Pleasantness
Zechariah 11:10 Or annul
Zechariah 11:11 Or annulled
Zechariah 11:11 Another reading is the sheep dealers who
Zechariah 11:12 Lit cease
Zechariah 11:17 Lit completely dimmed

1 John 5

New American Standard Bible

Overcoming the World

5 ^(A)Everyone who believes that Jesus is the ^[a]Christ has been ^(B)born of God, and everyone who loves the ^[b]Father ^(C)loves the child born of Him. ²^(D)By this we know that ^(E)we love the children of God, when we love God and ^[c]follow His commandments. ³For ^(F)this is the love of God, that we ^(G)keep His commandments; and ^(H)His commandments are not burdensome. ⁴For ^[d]whoever has been ^(I)born of God ^(J)overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.

⁵Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who ^(K)believes that Jesus is the Son of God? ⁶This is the One who came ^(L)by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not ^[e]with the water only, but ^[f]with the water and ^[g]with the blood. It is ^(M)the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷For there are ^(N)three that testify: ⁸^[h]the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are ^[i]in agreement. ⁹^(O)If we receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that ^(P)He has testified concerning His Son. ¹⁰The one who believes in the Son of God ^(Q)has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has ^(R)made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. ¹¹And the testimony is this, that God has given us ^(S)eternal life, and ^(T)this life is in His Son. ¹²^(U)The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

This Is Written That You May Know

¹³^(V)These things I have written to you who ^(W)believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have ^(X)eternal life. ¹⁴This is ^(Y)the confidence which we have ^[j]before Him, that, ^(Z)if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, ^(AA)we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

¹⁶If anyone sees his brother or sister ^[k]committing a sin not leading to death, ^(AB)he shall ask and ^[l]God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. ^(AC)There is sin leading to death; ^(AD)I am not saying that he should ask about that. ¹⁷^(AE)All unrighteousness is sin, and ^(AF)there is sin not leading to death.

¹⁸^(AG)We know that ^(AH)no one who has been born of God ^[m]sins; but He who was born of God ^(AI)keeps him, and ^(AJ)the evil one does not ^(AK)touch him. ¹⁹^(AL)We know that ^(AM)we are of God, and that ^(AN)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. ²⁰And ^(AO)we know that ^(AP)the Son of God has come, and has ^(AQ)given us understanding so that we may know ^(AR)Him who is true; and we ^(AS)are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. ^(AT)This is the true God and ^(AU)eternal life.

²¹^(AV)Little children, guard yourselves from ^(AW)idols.

Footnotes

1 John 5:1 I.e., Messiah
1 John 5:1 Lit one who has fathered
1 John 5:2 Lit do
1 John 5:4 Lit everything that
1 John 5:6 Lit in
1 John 5:6 Lit in
1 John 5:6 Lit in
1 John 5:8 A few late mss add ...in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth, the Spirit
1 John 5:8 Lit for the one thing
1 John 5:14 Lit toward
1 John 5:16 Lit sinning
1 John 5:16 Or God will give him life, that is, to those who...
1 John 5:18 Or sins continually