ZECHARIAH 8-14

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The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion  8:1 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ 3 Thus says the LORD, ‘I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’ 4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. 5 And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’ 6 Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?’ declares the LORD of hosts. 7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; 8 and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’
    9 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I set all men one against another. 11 But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the LORD of hosts. 12 ‘For there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. 13 It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’
    14 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and I have not relented, 15 so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear! 16 These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. 17 Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,’ declares the LORD.”
    18 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’
    20 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go.” 22 So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.’ 23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”
Prophecies against Neighboring Nations  9:1 The burden of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach, with Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the LORD),

2 And Hamath also, which borders on it;

Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

3 For Tyre built herself a fortress

And piled up silver like dust,

And gold like the mire of the streets.

4 Behold, the Lord will dispossess her

And cast her wealth into the sea;

And she will be consumed with fire.

5 Ashkelon will see it and be afraid.

Gaza too will writhe in great pain;

Also Ekron, for her expectation has been confounded.

Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza,

And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

6 And a mongrel race will dwell in Ashdod,

And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

7 And 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 clan in Judah,

And Ekron like a Jebusite.

8 But I will camp around My house because of an army,

Because of him who passes by and returns;

And no oppressor will pass over them anymore,

For now I have seen with My eyes.

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you;

He is just and endowed with salvation,

Humble, and mounted on a donkey,

Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

And the horse from Jerusalem;

And the bow of war will be cut off.

And He will speak peace to the nations;

And His dominion will be from sea to sea,

And from the River to the ends of the earth.

Deliverance of Judah and Ephraim11 As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you,

I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

12 Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope;

This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you.

13 For I will bend Judah as My bow,

I will fill the bow with Ephraim.

And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece;

And I will make you like a warrior’s sword.

14 Then the LORD will appear over them,

And His arrow will go forth like lightning;

And the Lord GOD will blow the trumpet,

And will march in the storm winds of the south.

15 The LORD of hosts will defend them.

And they will devour and trample on the sling stones;

And they will drink and be boisterous as with wine;

And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin,

Drenched like the corners of the altar.

16 And the LORD their God will save them in that day

As the flock of His people;

For they are as the stones of a crown,

Sparkling in His land.

17 For what comeliness and beauty will be theirs!

Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.

God Will Bless Judah and Ephraim  10:1 Ask rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain--

The LORD who makes the storm clouds;

And He will give them showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each man.

2 For the teraphim speak iniquity,

And the diviners see lying visions

And tell false dreams;

They comfort in vain.

Therefore the people wander like sheep,

They are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.

3 “My anger is kindled against the shepherds,

And I will punish the male goats;

For the LORD of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah,

And will make them like His majestic horse in battle.

4 “From them will come the cornerstone,

From them the tent peg,

From them the bow of battle,

From them every ruler, all of them together.

5 “They will be as mighty men,

Treading down the enemy in the mire of the streets in battle;

And they will fight, for the LORD will be with them;

And the riders on horses will be put to shame.

6 “I will strengthen the house of Judah,

And I will save the house of Joseph,

And I will bring them back,

Because I have had compassion on them;

And they will be as though I had not rejected them,

For I am the LORD their God and I will answer them.

7 “Ephraim will be like a mighty man,

And their heart will be glad as if from wine;

Indeed, their children will see it and be glad,

Their heart will rejoice in the LORD.

8 “I will whistle for them to gather them together,

For I have redeemed them;

And they will be as numerous as they were before.

9 “When I scatter them among the peoples,

They will remember Me in far countries,

And they with their children will live and come back.

10 “I will bring them back from the land of Egypt

And gather them from Assyria;

And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon

Until no room can be found for them.

11 “And they will pass through the sea of distress

And He will strike the waves in the sea,

So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up;

And the pride of Assyria will be brought down

And the scepter of Egypt will depart.

12 “And I will strengthen them in the LORD,

And in His name they will walk,” declares the LORD.

The Doomed Flock  11:1 Open your doors, O Lebanon,

That a fire may feed on your cedars.

2 Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,

Because the glorious trees have been destroyed;

Wail, O oaks of Bashan,

For the impenetrable forest has come down.

3 There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail,

For their glory is ruined;

There is a sound of the young lions’ roar,

For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.

    4 Thus says the LORD my God, “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 Those who buy them slay them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD; “but behold, I will cause the men to fall, each into another’s power and into the power of his king; and they will strike the land, and I will not deliver them from their power.”
    7 So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, hence the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor and the other I called Union; so I pastured the flock. 8 Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me. 9 Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be annihilated, let it be annihilated; and let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” 10 I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day, and thus the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the LORD. 12 I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the 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. 14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
    15 The LORD said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.

17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd

Who leaves the flock!

A sword will be on his arm

And on his right eye!

His arm will be totally withered

And his right eye will be blind.”

Jerusalem to Be Attacked  12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel.    
    Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, 2 “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. 3 It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. 4 In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the LORD of hosts, their God.’
    6 “In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem. 7 The LORD also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah. 8 In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. 9 And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
    10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. 11 In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.
False Prophets Ashamed  13:1 “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.
    2 “It will come about in that day,” declares the LORD of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land. 3 And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD’; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies. 4 Also it will come about in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order to deceive; 5 but he will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the ground, for a man sold me as a slave in my youth.’ 6 And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’
7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,

And against the man, My Associate,”

Declares the LORD of hosts.

“Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;

And I will turn My hand against the little ones.

8 “It will come about in all the land,”

Declares the LORD,

“That two parts in it will be cut off and perish;

But the third will be left in it.

9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire,

Refine them as silver is refined,

And test them as gold is tested.

They will call on My name,

And I will answer them;

I will say, ‘They are My people,’

And they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Foes  14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5 You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!
    6 In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.
    8 And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.
God Will Be King over All    9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.
    10 All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. 11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
    12 Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. 13 It will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. 14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. 15 So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps.
    16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
    20 In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the LORD’S house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.

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