Zechariah 7-10

    Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, [2] when the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, to pray before the Lord, [3] and to ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, "Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?"

    [4] Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, [5] "Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me--for Me? [6] When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? [7] Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?' "

    [8] Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, [9] "Thus says the Lord of hosts:

    'Execute true justice,

    Show mercy and compassion

    Everyone to his brother.

    [10] Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,

    The alien or the poor.

    Let none of you plan evil in his heart

    Against his brother.'

 [11] "But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. [12] Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. [13] Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen," says the Lord of hosts. [14] "But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate."

    [8:1] Again the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, [2] "Thus says the Lord of hosts:

    'I am zealous for Zion with great zeal;

    With great fervor I am zealous for her.'

    [3] "Thus says the Lord:

    'I will return to Zion,

    And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.

    Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth,

    The Mountain of the Lord of hosts,

    The Holy Mountain.'

    [4] "Thus says the Lord of hosts:

    'Old men and old women shall again sit

    In the streets of Jerusalem,

    Each one with his staff in his hand

    Because of great age.

    [5] The streets of the city

    Shall be full of boys and girls

    Playing in its streets.'

    [6] "Thus says the Lord of hosts:

    'If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days,

    Will it also be marvelous in My eyes?'

    Says the Lord of hosts.

    [7] "Thus says the Lord of hosts:

    'Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east

    And from the land of the west;

    [8] I will bring them back,

    And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.

    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 have been hearing in these days

    These words by the mouth of the prophets,

    Who spoke in the day the foundation was laid

    For the house of the Lord of hosts,

    That the temple might be built.

    [10] For before these days

    There were no wages for man nor any hire for beast;

    There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in;

    For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.

[11] 'But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,' says the Lord of hosts.

    [12] 'For the seed shall be prosperous,

    The vine shall give its fruit,

    The ground shall give her increase,

    And the heavens shall give their dew--

    I will cause the remnant of this people

    To possess all these.

    [13] And it shall come to pass

    That just as you were a curse among the nations,

    O house of Judah and house of Israel,

    So I will save you, and you shall be a blessing.

    Do not fear,

    Let your hands be strong.'

    [14] "For thus says the Lord of hosts:

    'Just as I determined to punish you

    When your fathers provoked Me to wrath,'

    Says the Lord of hosts,

    'And I would not relent,

    [15] So again in these days

    I am determined to do good

    To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

    Do not fear.

    [16] These are the things you shall do:

    Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;

    Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;

    [17] Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor;

    And do not love a false oath.

    For all these are things that I hate,'

    Says 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 month,

    The fast of the fifth,

    The fast of the seventh,

    And the fast of the tenth,

    Shall be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts

    For the house of Judah.

    Therefore love truth and peace.'

    [20] "Thus says the Lord of hosts:

    'Peoples shall yet come,

    Inhabitants of many cities;

    [21] The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,

    "Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord,

    And seek the Lord of hosts.

    I myself will go also."

    [22] Yes, many peoples and strong nations

    Shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem,

    And to pray before the Lord.'

    [23] "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." ' "

    [9:1] The burden of the word of the Lord

    Against the land of Hadrach,

    And Damascus its resting place

    (For the eyes of men

    And all the tribes of Israel

    Are on the Lord);

    [2] Also against Hamath, which borders on it,

    And against Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

    [3] For Tyre built herself a tower,

    Heaped up silver like the dust,

    And gold like the mire of the streets.

    [4] Behold, the Lord will cast her out;

    He will destroy her power in the sea,

    And she will be devoured by fire.

    [5] Ashkelon shall see it and fear;

    Gaza also shall be very sorrowful;

    And Ekron, for He dried up her expectation.

    The king shall perish from Gaza,

    And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

    [6] "A mixed race shall settle in Ashdod,

    And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

    [7] I will take away the blood from his mouth,

    And the abominations from between his teeth.

    But he who remains, even he shall be for our God,

    And shall be like a leader in Judah,

    And Ekron like a Jebusite.

    [8] I will camp around My house

    Because of the army,

    Because of him who passes by and him who returns.

    No more shall an oppressor pass through them,

    For now I have seen with My eyes.

    [9] "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

    Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

    Behold, your King is coming to you;

    He is just and having salvation,

    Lowly and riding on a donkey,

    A colt, the foal of a donkey.

    [10] I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

    And the horse from Jerusalem;

    The battle bow shall be cut off.

    He shall speak peace to the nations;

    His dominion shall be 'from sea to sea,

    And from the River to the ends of the earth.'

    [11] "As for you also,

    Because of the blood of your covenant,

    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

    [12] Return to the stronghold,

    You prisoners of hope.

    Even today I declare

    That I will restore double to you.

    [13] For I have bent Judah, My bow,

    Fitted the bow with Ephraim,

    And raised up your sons, O Zion,

    Against your sons, O Greece,

    And made you like the sword of a mighty man."

    [14] Then the Lord will be seen over them,

    And His arrow will go forth like lightning.

    The Lord God will blow the trumpet,

    And go with whirlwinds from the south.

    [15] The Lord of hosts will defend them;

    They shall devour and subdue with slingstones.

    They shall drink and roar as if with wine;

    They shall be filled with blood like basins,

    Like the corners of the altar.

    [16] The Lord their God will save them in that day,

    As the flock of His people.

    For they shall be like the jewels of a crown,

    Lifted like a banner over His land--

    [17] For how great is its goodness

    And how great its beauty!

    Grain shall make the young men thrive,

    And new wine the young women.

    [10:1] Ask the Lord for rain

    In the time of the latter rain.

    The Lord will make flashing clouds;

    He will give them showers of rain,

    Grass in the field for everyone.

    [2] For the idols speak delusion;

    The diviners envision lies,

    And tell false dreams;

    They comfort in vain.

    Therefore the people wend their way like sheep;

    They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.

    [3] "My anger is kindled against the shepherds,

    And I will punish the goatherds.

    For the Lord of hosts will visit His flock,

    The house of Judah,

    And will make them as His royal horse in the battle.

    [4] From him comes the cornerstone,

    From him the tent peg,

    From him the battle bow,

    From him every ruler together.

    [5] They shall be like mighty men,

    Who tread down their enemies

    In the mire of the streets in the battle.

    They shall fight because the Lord is with them,

    And the riders on horses shall be put to shame.

    [6] "I will strengthen the house of Judah,

    And I will save the house of Joseph.

    I will bring them back,

    Because I have mercy on them.

    They shall be as though I had not cast them aside;

    For I am the Lord their God,

    And I will hear them.

    [7] Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man,

    And their heart shall rejoice as if with wine.

    Yes, their children shall see it and be glad;

    Their heart shall rejoice in the Lord.

    [8] I will whistle for them and gather them,

    For I will redeem them;

    And they shall increase as they once increased.

    [9] "I will sow them among the peoples,

    And they shall remember Me in far countries;

    They shall live, together with their children,

    And they shall return.

    [10] I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt,

    And gather them from Assyria.

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

    Until no more room is found for them.

    [11] He shall pass through the sea with affliction,

    And strike the waves of the sea:

    All the depths of the River shall dry up.

    Then the pride of Assyria shall be brought down,

    And the scepter of Egypt shall depart.

    [12] "So I will strengthen them in the Lord,

    And they shall walk up and down in His name,"

    Says the Lord.