| 1 | In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechari'ah in the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. |
| 2 | Now the people of Bethel had sent Share'zer and Reg'em-mel'ech and their men, to entreat the favor of the LORD, |
| 3 | and to ask the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, "Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?" |
| 4 | Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me; |
| 5 | "Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? |
| 6 | And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? |
| 7 | When Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, with her cities round about her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited, were not these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets?" |
| 8 | And the word of the LORD came to Zechari'ah, saying, |
| 9 | "Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy each to his brother, |
| 10 | do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart." |
| 11 | But they refused to hearken, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears that they might not hear. |
| 12 | They made their hearts like adamant lest they should hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts. |
| 13 | "As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear," says the LORD of hosts, |
| 14 | "and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate." |
| 1 | And the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, |
| 2 | "Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. |
| 3 | Thus says the LORD: I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and 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 with staff in hand for very age. |
| 5 | And 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 sight of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, says the LORD of hosts? |
| 7 | Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country; |
| 8 | and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness." |
| 9 | Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets, since the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. |
| 10 | For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in; for I set every man against his fellow. |
| 11 | But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the LORD of hosts. |
| 12 | For there shall be a sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, and the ground shall give its increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. |
| 13 | And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong." |
| 14 | For thus says the LORD of hosts: "As I purposed to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts, |
| 15 | so again have I purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. |
| 16 | These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, |
| 17 | do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, says the LORD." |
| 18 | And the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, |
| 19 | "Thus says 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 seasons of joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love truth and peace. |
| 20 | "Thus says the LORD of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities; |
| 21 | the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, `Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I am going.' |
| 22 | Many peoples and strong nations shall 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 the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, `Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'" |
| 1 | An Oracle The word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach and will rest upon Damascus. For to the LORD belong the cities of Aram, even as all the tribes of Israel; |
| 2 | Hamath also, which borders thereon, Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. |
| 3 | Tyre has built herself a rampart, and heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. |
| 4 | But lo, the Lord will strip her of her possessions and hurl her wealth into the sea, and she shall be devoured by fire. |
| 5 | Ash'kelon shall see it, and be afraid; Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish; Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded. The king shall perish from Gaza; Ash'kelon shall be uninhabited; |
| 6 | a mongrel people shall dwell in Ashdod; and I will make an end of the pride of Philistia. |
| 7 | I will take away its blood from its mouth, and its abominations from between its teeth; it too shall be a remnant for our God; it shall be like a clan in Judah, and Ekron shall be like the Jeb'usites. |
| 8 | Then I will encamp at my house as a guard, so that none shall march to and fro; no oppressor shall again overrun them, for now I see with my own eyes. |
| 9 | Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass. |
| 10 | I will cut off the chariot from E'phraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command 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 my covenant with you, I will set your captives free from the waterless pit. |
| 12 | Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. |
| 13 | For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made E'phraim its arrow. I will brandish your sons, O Zion, over your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior's sword. |
| 14 | Then the LORD will appear over them, and his arrow go forth like lightning; the Lord GOD will sound the trumpet, and march forth in the whirlwinds of the south. |
| 15 | The LORD of hosts will protect them, and they shall devour and tread down the slingers; and they shall drink their blood like wine, and be full like a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar. |
| 16 | On that day the LORD their God will save them for they are the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. |
| 17 | Yea, how good and how fair it shall be! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the maidens. |
