New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures Reference Bible

Zechariah

1 In the eighth month in the second year of Darius+ the word of Jehovah occurred to Zechariah+ the son of Berechiah* the son of Iddo+ the prophet, saying: 2 “Jehovah grew indignant at YOUR fathers—very much so.+

3 “And you must say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah of armies* has said: “‘Return to me,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah* of armies, ‘and I shall return to YOU,’+ Jehovah* of armies has said.”’

4 “‘Do not become like YOUR fathers+ to whom the former prophets called,+ saying: “This is what Jehovah* of armies has said, ‘Return, please, from YOUR bad ways and from YOUR bad dealings.’”’+

“‘But they did not listen, and they paid no attention to me,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.

5 “‘As for YOUR fathers, where are they?+ And as for the prophets,+ was it to time indefinite that they continued to live? 6 However, as regards my words and my regulations that I commanded my servants, the prophets,+ did they not catch up with YOUR fathers?’+ So they returned and said: ‘According to what Jehovah of armies had in mind to do to us,+ according to our ways and according to our dealings, that is how he has done with us.’”+

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, that is, the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius,+ the word of Jehovah occurred to Zechariah+ the son of Berechiah* the son of Iddo+ the prophet, saying: 8 “I saw [in] the night, and, look! a man*+ riding on a red horse,+ and he was standing still among the myrtle trees+ that were in the deep place;* and behind him there were horses red, bright red, and white.”+

9 And so I said: “Who are these, my lord?”*+

At that the angel* who was speaking with me said+ to me: “I myself shall show you who these very ones are.”

10 Then the man who was standing still among the myrtle trees answered and said: “These are the ones whom Jehovah has sent forth to walk about in the earth.”*+ 11 And they proceeded to answer the angel of Jehovah who was standing among the myrtle trees and to say: “We have walked about in the earth,+ and, look! the whole earth is sitting still and having no disturbance.”+

12 So the angel of Jehovah answered and said: “O Jehovah of armies, how long will you yourself not show mercy to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah,+ whom you have denounced these seventy years?”+ Jer.25:11; 29:10; 2Chr.36:21; Dan.9:2

13 And Jehovah proceeded to answer the angel who was speaking with me, with good words, comforting words;+ 14 and the angel who was speaking with me went on to say to me: “Call out, saying, ‘This is what Jehovah of armies has said: “I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great jealousy.+ 15 With great indignation I am feeling indignant against the nations that are at ease;+ because I, for my part, felt indignant to only a little extent,+ but they, for their part, helped toward calamity.”’+

16 “Therefore this is what Jehovah has said, ‘“I shall certainly return to Jerusalem with mercies.+ My own house will be built in her,”+ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies, “and a measuring line itself will be stretched out over Jerusalem.”’+

17 “Call out further, saying, ‘This is what Jehovah of armies has said: “My cities will yet overflow with goodness;+ and Jehovah will yet certainly feel regrets over Zion+ and yet actually choose Jerusalem.”’”+

18 And I proceeded to raise my eyes and see; and, look! there were four horns.+ 19 So I said to the angel who was speaking with me: “What are these?” In turn he said to me: “These are the horns that dispersed Judah,+ Israel+ and Jerusalem.”+

20 Furthermore, Jehovah showed me four craftsmen. 21 At that I said: “What are these coming to do?”

And he went on to say: “These are the horns+ that dispersed Judah to such an extent that no one at all raised his head; and these others will come to set them trembling, to cast down the horns of the nations that are lifting up a horn against the land of Judah,* in order to disperse her.”+

2 And I proceeded to raise my eyes and see; and, look! there was a man,* and in his hand a measuring rope.+ 2 So I said: “Where are you going?”

In turn he said to me: “To measure Jerusalem, in order to see what her breadth amounts to and what her length amounts to.”+

3 And, look! the angel who was speaking with me was going forth, and there was another angel going forth to meet him. 4 Then he said to him: “Run, speak to the young man over there, saying, ‘“As open rural country Jerusalem will be inhabited,+ because of the multitude of men and domestic animals in the midst of her.+ 5 And I myself shall become to her,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “a wall of fire all around,+ and a glory is what I shall become* in the midst of her.”’”+

6 “Hey there! Hey there! Flee, then, YOU people, from the land of the north,”+ is the utterance of Jehovah.

“For in the direction of the four winds* of the heavens I have spread YOU people abroad,”+ is the utterance of Jehovah.

7 “Hey there, Zion!+ Make your escape, you who are dwelling with the daughter of Babylon.*+ 8 For this is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Following after [the] glory+ he has sent me to the nations that were despoiling YOU people;+ for he that is touching YOU+ is touching my eyeball.*+ 9 For here I am waving my hand against them,+ and they will have to become spoil to their slaves.’+ And YOU people will certainly know that Jehovah of armies himself has sent me.+

10 “Cry out loudly and rejoice, O daughter of Zion;+ for here I am coming,+ and I will reside in the midst of you,”+ is the utterance of Jehovah. 11 “And many nations will certainly become joined to Jehovah in that day,+ and they will actually become my people;+ and I will reside in the midst of you.”* And you will have to know that Jehovah of armies himself has sent me to you.+ 12 And Jehovah will certainly take possession of Judah as his portion upon the holy ground,+ and he must yet choose Jerusalem.+ 13 Keep silence, all flesh, before Jehovah,+ for he has aroused himself+ from his holy dwelling.+

3 And he proceeded to show me Joshua*+ the high priest standing before the angel* of Jehovah, and Satan*+ standing at his right hand in order to resist+ him. 2 Then [the angel+ of] Jehovah* said to Satan: “Jehovah rebuke+ you, O Satan, yes, Jehovah rebuke you, he who is choosing Jerusalem!+ Is this one not a log snatched out of the fire?”+

3 Now as for Joshua, he happened to be clothed in befouled* garments+ and standing before the angel. 4 Then he answered and said to those standing before him: “Remove the befouled garments from upon him.” And he went on to say to him: “See, I have caused your error to pass away from upon you,+ and there is a clothing of you with robes of state.”+

5 At that I said:* “Let them put a clean turban upon his head.”+ And they proceeded to put the clean turban upon his head and to clothe him with garments; and the angel of Jehovah* was standing by. 6 And the angel of Jehovah* began to bear witness to Joshua, saying: 7 “This is what Jehovah* of armies has said, ‘If it is in my ways that you will walk, and if it is my obligation that you will keep,+ then also it will be you that will judge my house+ and also keep my courtyards; and I shall certainly give you free access among these who are standing by.’

8 “‘Hear, please, O Joshua the high priest, you and your companions who are sitting before you, for they are men* [serving] as portents;*+ for here I am bringing in my servant+ Sprout!*+ 9 For, look! the stone+ that I have put before Joshua! Upon the one stone there are seven eyes.*+ Here I am engraving its engraving,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies, ‘and I will take away the error of that land in one day.’+

10 “‘In that day,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies, ‘YOU will call, each one to the other, while under [the] vine and while under [the] fig tree.’”+

4 And the angel who was speaking with me proceeded to come back and wake me up, like a man that is awakened from his sleep.+ 2 Then he said to me: “What are you seeing?”+

So I said: “I have seen, and, look! there is a lampstand, all of it of gold,+ with a bowl on top of it. And its seven lamps are upon it, even seven;+ and the lamps that are at the top of it have seven pipes. 3 And there are two olive trees alongside it,+ one on the right side of the bowl and one on its left side.”

4 Then I answered and said to the angel who was speaking with me, saying: “What do these [things] mean, my lord?”*+ 5 So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me: “Do you not really know what these things mean?”

In turn I said: “No, my lord.”+

6 Accordingly he answered and said to me: “This is the word of Jehovah to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘“Not by a military force,*+ nor by power,*+ but by my spirit,”*+ Jehovah of armies has said. 7 Who are you, O great mountain?+ Before Zerubbabel+ [you will become] a level land. And he will certainly bring forth the headstone.+ There will be shoutings+ to it: “How charming! How charming!”’”+

8 And the word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: 9 “The very hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house,+ and his own hands will finish [it].+ And you will have to know that Jehovah of armies himself has sent me to YOU people.+ 10 For who has despised the day of small things?+ And they will certainly rejoice+ and see the plummet* in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven are the eyes of Jehovah.+ They are roving about in all the earth.”+

11 And I proceeded to answer and say to him: “What do these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on its left side mean?”+ 12 Then I answered the second time and said to him: “What are the two bunches of twigs* of the olive trees that, by means of the two golden tubes, are pouring forth from within themselves the golden [liquid]?”

13 So he said to me: “Do you not really know what these [things] mean?”
     In turn I said: “No, my lord.”+

14 Accordingly he said: “These are the two anointed ones*+ who are standing alongside the Lord of the whole earth.”*+

5 Then I raised my eyes again and saw; and, look! a flying scroll.+ 2 So he said to me: “What are you seeing?”+

In turn I said: “I am seeing a flying scroll, the length of which is twenty cubits, and the breadth of which is ten cubits.”

3 Then he said to me: “This is the curse that is going forth over the surface of all the earth,+ because everyone that is stealing,+ according to it on this side, has gone free of punishment; and everyone making a sworn oath,+ according to it on that side,+ has gone free of punishment. 4 ‘I have caused it to go forth,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies, ‘and it must enter into the house of the thief and into the house of the one making a sworn oath in my name falsely;+ and it must lodge in the midst of his house and exterminate it and its timbers and its stones.’”+

5 Then the angel who was speaking with me went forth and said to me: “Raise your eyes, please, and see what this is that is going forth.”

6 So I said: “What is it?”

In turn he said: “This is the ephah* measure that is going forth.” And he went on to say: “This is their aspect* in all the earth.”* 7 And, look! the circular lid of lead was lifted up; and this is a certain woman sitting in the midst of the ephah. 8 So he said: “This is Wickedness.” And he proceeded to throw her [back] into the midst of the ephah,+ after which he threw the lead weight upon its mouth.

9 Then I raised my eyes and saw, and here there were two women coming forth, and wind* was in their wings. And they had wings like the wings of the stork. And they gradually raised the ephah up between the earth and the heavens. 10 So I said to the angel who was speaking with me: “Where are they taking the ephah?”

11 In turn he said to me: “In order to build+ for her a house in the land of Shinar;*+ and it must be firmly established, and she must be deposited there upon her proper place.”

6 Then I raised my eyes again and saw; and, look! there were four chariots coming forth from between two mountains, and the mountains were copper mountains. 2 In the first chariot there were red horses;+ and in the second chariot, black horses.+ 3 And in the third chariot there were white horses;+ and in the fourth chariot, horses speckled, parti-colored.+

4 And I proceeded to answer and say to the angel* who was speaking with me: “What are these, my lord?”*+

5 So the angel answered and said to me: “These are the four spirits*+ of the heavens that are going forth+ after having taken their station before the Lord*+ of the whole earth.+ 6 As for the one* in which the black horses are, they are going forth to the land of the north;+ and as for the white ones, they must go forth to behind the sea;* and as for the speckled ones, they must go forth to the land of the south.*+ 7 And as for the parti-colored+ ones, they must go forth and keep seeking [where] to go, in order to walk about in the earth.”+ Then he said: “Go, walk about in the earth.” And they* began walking about in the earth.

8 And he proceeded to cry out to me and speak to me, saying: “See, those going forth to the land of the north are the ones that have caused the spirit+ of Jehovah* to rest in the land of the north.”+

9 And the word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: 10 “Let there be a taking of something from the exiled people,+ [even] from Heldai and from Tobijah and from Jedaiah; and you yourself must come in that day, and you must come into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah+ [with these] who have come from Babylon.* 11 And you must take silver and gold and make a grand crown*+ and put [it] upon the head of Joshua*+ the son of Jehozadak the high priest. 12 And you must say to him,

“‘This is what Jehovah of armies has said: “Here is the man*+ whose name is Sprout.+ And from his own place he will sprout, and he will certainly build the temple* of Jehovah.+ 13 And he himself will build the temple of Jehovah, and he, for his part, will carry [the] dignity;+ and he must sit down and rule on his throne, and he must become a priest upon his throne,+ and the very counsel of peace+ will prove to be between both of them. 14 And the grand crown* itself will come to belong to Helem* and to Tobijah and to Jedaiah+ and to Hen* the son of Zephaniah as a memorial+ in the temple of Jehovah. 15 And those who are far away will come and actually build in the temple of Jehovah.”+ And YOU people will have to know that Jehovah of armies himself has sent me to YOU.+ And it must occur—if YOU will without fail listen to the voice of Jehovah YOUR God.’”+

7 Furthermore, it came about that in the fourth year of Darius+ the king the word of Jehovah occurred to Zechariah, on the fourth [day] of the ninth month, [that is,] in Chislev.*+ 2 And Bethel proceeded to send Sharezer and Regem-melech and his men* to soften+ the face of Jehovah, 3 saying to the priests+ who belonged to the house of Jehovah of armies, and to the prophets, even saying: “Shall I weep in the fifth+ month, practicing an abstinence,* the way I have done these O how many years?”+

4 And the word of Jehovah of armies continued to occur to me, saying: 5 “Say to all the people of the land* and to the priests, ‘When YOU fasted+ and there was a wailing in the fifth [month] and in the seventh+ [month], and this for seventy years,+ did YOU really fast to me, even me?+ 6 And when YOU would eat and when YOU would drink, were not YOU the ones doing the eating, and were not YOU the ones doing the drinking? 7 [Should YOU] not [obey] the words+ that Jehovah called out by means of the former prophets,+ while Jerusalem happened to be inhabited, and at ease, with her cities all around her, and [while] the Negeb*+ and the Shephelah*+ were inhabited?’”

8 And the word of Jehovah continued to occur to Zechariah, saying: 9 “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘With true justice* do YOUR judging;+ and carry on with one another loving-kindness*+ and mercies;+ 10 and defraud no widow+ or fatherless boy,+ no alien resident+ or afflicted one,+ and scheme out nothing bad against one another in YOUR hearts.’+ 11 But they kept refusing to pay attention,+ and they kept giving a stubborn shoulder,+ and their ears they made too unresponsive to hear.+ 12 And their heart+ they set as an emery stone to keep from obeying the law+ and the words that Jehovah of armies sent by his spirit,+ by means of the former prophets;+ so that there occurred great indignation on the part of Jehovah of armies.”+

13 “‘And so it occurred that, just as he called and they did not listen,+ so they would call and I would not listen,’+ Jehovah of armies has said. 14 ‘And I proceeded tempestuously to hurl them throughout all the nations+ that they had not known;+ and the land itself has been left desolate behind them, with no one passing through and with no one returning;+ and they proceeded to make the desirable land+ an object of astonishment.’”

8 And the word of Jehovah of armies continued to occur, saying: 2 “This is what Jehovah of armies+ has said, ‘I will be jealous for Zion with great jealousy,+ and with great rage+ I will be jealous for her.’”

3 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘I will return to Zion+ and reside in the midst of Jerusalem;+ and Jerusalem will certainly be called the city of trueness,*+ and the mountain of Jehovah+ of armies, the holy mountain.’”+

4 “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘There will yet sit old men and old women in the public squares of Jerusalem,+ each one also with his staff+ in his hand because of the abundance of [his] days. 5 And the public squares of the city themselves will be filled with boys and girls playing in her public squares.’”+

6 “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Although it should seem too difficult* in the eyes of the remaining ones of this people in those days, should it seem too difficult also in my eyes?’*+ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies.”

7 “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Here I am saving my people from the land of the sunrise and from the land of the setting of the sun.+ 8 And I shall certainly bring them in, and they must reside in the midst of Jerusalem;+ and they must become my people,+ and I myself shall become* their God in trueness and in righteousness.’”+

9 “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Let the hands of YOU people be strong,+ YOU who are hearing in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets,+ on the day on which the foundation of the house of Jehovah of armies was laid, for the temple to be built.+ 10 For before those days there were no wages for mankind* made to exist;+ and as for the wages of domestic animals, there was no such thing;* and to the one going out and to the one coming in there was no peace because of the adversary,*+ as I kept thrusting all mankind against one another.’+

11 “‘And now I shall not be as in the former days to the remaining ones of this people,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies. 12 ‘For there will be the seed of peace;+ the vine itself will give its fruitage,+ and the earth itself will give its yield,+ and the heavens themselves will give their dew;+ and I shall certainly cause the remaining ones+ of this people to inherit all these [things].+ 13 And it must occur that just as YOU became a malediction among the nations,+ O house of Judah and house of Israel,+ so I shall save YOU, and YOU must become a blessing.+ Do not be afraid.+ May YOUR hands be strong.’+

14 “For this is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘“Just as I had in mind to do what was calamitous to YOU people because of YOUR forefathers’ making me indignant,”+ Jehovah of armies has said, “and I felt no regret,+ 15 so I will again have in mind in these days to deal well with Jerusalem and with the house of Judah.+ Do not be afraid.”’+

16 “‘These are the things that YOU people should do:+ Speak truthfully with one another.*+ With truth and the judgment of peace do YOUR judging in YOUR gates.+ 17 And calamity to one another do not YOU scheme up in YOUR hearts,+ and do not love any false oath;+ for these are all things that I have hated,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.”

18 And the word of Jehovah of armies continued to occur to me, saying: 19 “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘The fast of the fourth+ [month], and the fast of the fifth+ [month], and the fast of the seventh+ [month], and the fast of the tenth+ [month] will become for the house of Judah an exultation and a rejoicing and good festal seasons.+ So love truth and peace.’+

20 “This is what Jehovah* of armies has said, ‘It will yet be that peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will come;+ 21 and the inhabitants of one [city] will certainly go to [those of] another, saying: “Let us earnestly go+ to soften the face+ of Jehovah and to seek Jehovah of armies. I myself will go also.”+ 22 And many peoples and mighty nations will actually come to seek Jehovah of armies in Jerusalem+ and to soften the face of Jehovah.’

23 “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘It will be in those days that ten men* out of all the languages* of the nations+ will take hold,+ yes, they will actually take hold of the skirt of a man* who is a Jew,*+ saying: “We will go with YOU people,+ for we have heard [that] God* is with YOU people.”’”+ ■ ■

9 A pronouncement:+

“The word of Jehovah* is against the land of Hadrach, and Damascus+ is where it rests; for Jehovah* has an eye on earthling man+ and on all the tribes of Israel. 2 And Hamath+ itself will also border upon her; Tyre+ and Sidon,+ for she is very wise.+ 3 And Tyre proceeded to build a rampart for herself, and to pile up silver like dust and gold* like the mire of [the] streets.+ 4 Look! Jehovah* himself will dispossess her, and into the sea he will certainly strike down her military force;+ and in the fire she herself will be devoured.+ 5 Ashkelon will see and get afraid; and as for Gaza, she will also feel very severe pains; Ekron+ also, because her looked-for hope+ will have to experience shame. And a king will certainly perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon herself will not be inhabited.+ 6 And an illegitimate+ son will actually seat himself in Ashdod,+ and I shall certainly cut off the pride of the Philistine.+ 7 And I will remove his bloodstained things from his mouth and his disgusting things from between his teeth,+ and he himself also will certainly be left remaining for our God;* and he must become like a sheik*+ in Judah,+ and Ekron like the Jebusite.+ 8 And I will encamp as an outpost for my house,+ so that there will be no one passing through and no one returning; and there will no more pass through them a taskmaster,+ for now I have seen [it] with my eyes.+

9 “Be very joyful, O daughter of Zion.+ Shout in triumph,+ O daughter of Jerusalem. Look! Your king+ himself comes to you.+ He is righteous, yes, saved;*+ humble,*+ and riding upon an ass, even upon a full-grown animal the son of a she-ass.*+  MT21:5 10 And I shall certainly cut off* [the] war chariot from Ephraim and [the] horse from Jerusalem.+ And the battle bow+ must be cut off. And he will actually speak peace to the nations;+ and his rulership will be from sea to sea and from the River* to the ends* of [the] earth.+

11 “Also, you, [O woman,]* by the blood of your* covenant+ I will send your prisoners+ out of the pit in which there is no water.

12 “Return to the stronghold,*+ YOU prisoners of the hope.+

“Also, today [I am] telling [you], ‘I shall repay to you, [O woman,]* a double portion.*+ 13 For I will tread as my [bow]* Judah. The bow I will fill with Ephraim, and I will awaken* your sons,+ O Zion, against your sons, O Greece,*+ and I will make you* as the sword of a mighty man.’*+ 14 And over them Jehovah himself will be seen,+ and his arrow will certainly go forth just like lightning.+ And on the horn* the Sovereign Lord Jehovah himself will blow,+ and he will certainly go with the windstorms of the south.*+ 15 Jehovah of armies himself will defend them, and they will actually devour+ and subdue the slingstones. And they will certainly drink+—be boisterous—as if there were wine; and they will actually become filled like the bowl, like the corners of [the] altar.+

16 “And Jehovah their God* will certainly save them+ in that day like the flock of his people;+ for they will be as the stones of a diadem glittering over his* soil.+ 17 For O how [great] his goodness is,+ and how [great] his handsomeness is!+ Grain is what will make the young men thrive, and new wine the virgins.”+

10 “Make YOUR requests of Jehovah for rain+ in the time of the spring rain,+ even of Jehovah who is making the storm clouds,+ and [who] gives a downpour of rain to them,+ to each one vegetation in the field.+ 2 For the teraphim+ themselves have spoken what is uncanny;* and the practicers of divination, for their part, have visioned falsehood,+ and valueless dreams are what they keep speaking, and in vain they try to comfort.+ That is why they will certainly depart like a flock;+ they will become afflicted, because there is no shepherd.+

3 “Against the shepherds my anger has grown hot,+ and against the goatlike leaders+ I shall hold an accounting;+ for Jehovah of armies has turned his attention to his drove,+ the house of Judah, and has made them like his horse+ of dignity in the battle. 4 Out of him is the keyman,*+ out of him is the supporting ruler,*+ out of him is the battle bow;+ out of him goes forth every taskmaster,+ all together. 5 And they must become like mighty men+ stamping down in the mire of [the] streets in the battle.+ And they must get engaged in battle, for Jehovah is with them;+ and the riders of horses will have to experience shame.+ 6 And I will make the house of Judah superior, and the house of Joseph I shall save.+ And I will give them a dwelling,* for I will show them mercy;+ and they must become like those whom I had not cast off;+ for I am Jehovah their God,* and I shall answer them.+ 7 And those of Ephraim must become just like a mighty man,+ and their heart must rejoice as though from wine.+ And their own sons will see and certainly rejoice;+ their heart will be joyful in Jehovah.+

8 “‘I will whistle+ for them and collect them together; for I shall certainly redeem+ them, and they must become many, just like those who have become many.+ 9 And I shall scatter them like seed among the peoples,+ and in the distant places they will remember me;+ and they must revive with their sons and return.+ 10 And I must bring them back from the land of Egypt;+ and from Assyria I shall collect them together;+ and to the land of Gilead+ and Lebanon I shall bring them, and no [room] will be found for them.+ 11 And he must pass through the sea [with] distress;+ and in the sea he must strike down [the] waves,+ and all the depths* of the Nile must dry up.+ And the pride of Assyria must be brought down,+ and the very scepter+ of Egypt will depart.+ 12 And I will make them superior in Jehovah,+ and in his name they will walk about,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.”

11 “Open up your doors, O Lebanon,+ that a fire may devour among your cedars.+ 2 Howl, O juniper tree, for the cedar has fallen; because the majestic ones themselves have been despoiled!+ Howl, YOU massive trees of Bashan, for the impenetrable* forest has come down!+ 3 Listen! The howling of shepherds,+ for their majesty has been despoiled.+ Listen! The roaring of maned young lions, for the proud [thickets]* along the Jordan have been despoiled.+

4 “This is what Jehovah my God* has said, ‘Shepherd the flock [meant] for the killing,+ 5 the buyers of which proceed to kill+ [them] although they are not held guilty.+ And those who are selling+ them say: “May Jehovah be blessed, while I shall gain riches.”+ And their own shepherds do not show any compassion upon them.’+

6 “‘For I shall show compassion no more upon the inhabitants of the land,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘So here I am causing mankind* to find themselves, each one in the hand of his companion+ and in the hand of his king;+ and they will certainly crush to pieces the land, and I shall do no delivering out of their hand.’”+

7 And I proceeded to shepherd the flock+ [meant] for the killing,+ in YOUR behalf, O afflicted ones of the flock.*+ So I took for myself two staffs.+ The one I called Pleasantness,+ and the other I called Union,*+ and I went shepherding the flock. 8 And I finally effaced three shepherds in one lunar month,+ as my soul gradually became impatient with them,+ and also their own soul felt a loathing toward me. 9 At length I said: “I shall not keep shepherding YOU.*+ The one that is dying, let her die. And the one that is being effaced, let her be effaced.+ And as for the ones left remaining, let them devour, each one the flesh of her companion.”+ 10 So I took my staff Pleasantness+ and cut it to pieces,+ in order to break my covenant that I had concluded with all the peoples.+ 11 And it came to be broken in that day, and the afflicted ones of the flock*+ who were watching+ me got to know in this way that it was the word of Jehovah.

12 Then I said to them:* “If it is good in YOUR eyes,+ give [me] my wages; but if not, refrain.” And they proceeded to pay* my wages, thirty pieces of silver.+

13 At that, Jehovah said to me: “Throw it to the treasury*+—the majestic value with which I have been valued from their standpoint.”+ Accordingly I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw it into the treasury at the house of Jehovah.+

14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff, the Union,+ in order to break the brotherhood+ between Judah and Israel.+

15 And Jehovah went on to say to me: “Take yet for yourself the implements of a useless shepherd.+ 16 For here I am letting a shepherd rise up in the land.+ To the [sheep]* being effaced he will give no attention.+ The young one he will not seek, and the broken [sheep] he will not heal.+ The one stationing herself* he will not supply [with food], and the flesh of the fat one he will eat,+ and the hoofs of the [sheep]* he will tear off.+ 17 Woe to my valueless shepherd,+ who is leaving the flock!+ A sword will be upon his arm and upon his right eye. His own arm will without fail dry up,+ and his own right eye will without fail grow dim.”

12 A pronouncement:

“The word of Jehovah concerning Israel,” is the utterance of Jehovah, the One who is stretching out [the] heavens+ and laying the foundation of [the] earth+ and forming the spirit+ of man* inside him. 2 “Here I am making Jerusalem+ a bowl [causing] reeling to all the peoples round about;+ and also against Judah he will come to be in the siege, [even] against Jerusalem.+ 3 And it must occur in that day+ [that] I shall make Jerusalem a burdensome stone+ to all the peoples. All those lifting it will without fail get severe scratches for themselves; and against her all the nations of the earth will certainly be gathered.+ 4 In that day,”+ is the utterance of Jehovah, “I shall strike every horse+ with bewilderment and its rider with madness;+ and upon the house of Judah I shall open my eyes,+ and every horse of the peoples I shall strike with loss of sight. 5 And the sheiks+ of Judah will have to say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a strength to me by Jehovah of armies their God.’*+ 6 In that day I shall make the sheiks of Judah like a firepot among trees+ and like a fiery torch in a row of newly cut grain,+ and they must devour on the right [hand] and on the left all the peoples round about;+ and Jerusalem must yet be inhabited in her [own] place, in Jerusalem.+

7 “And Jehovah will certainly save the tents of Judah first, to the end that the beauty of the house of David and the beauty of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not become too great over Judah. 8 In that day Jehovah will be a defense around the inhabitants of Jerusalem;+ and the one that is stumbling among them must become in that day like David,+ and the house of David like God,*+ like Jehovah’s angel before them.+ 9 And it must occur in that day [that] I shall seek to annihilate all the nations that are coming against Jerusalem.+

10 “And I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit* of favor+ and entreaties,+ and they will certainly look to the One whom* they pierced+ through, and they will certainly wail over Him as in the wailing over an only [son]; and there will be a bitter lamentation over him as when there is bitter lamentation over the firstborn [son].+ 11 In that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be great, like the wailing of Hadadrimmon in the valley plain of Megiddo.*+ 12 And the land* will certainly wail,+ each family by itself;* the family of the house of David by itself, and their women by themselves;+ the family of the house of Nathan+ by itself, and their women by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi+ by itself, and their women by themselves; the family of the Shimeites+ by itself, and their women by themselves; 14 all the families that are left remaining, each family by itself, and their women by themselves.+

13 “In that day+ there will come to be a well+ opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin+ and for an abhorrent thing.+

2 “And it must occur in that day,” is the utterance of Jehovah of armies, “[that] I shall cut off the names of the idols out of the land,+ and they will no more be remembered;* and also the prophets+ and the spirit of uncleanness* I shall cause to pass out of the land.+ 3 And it must occur [that] in case a man* should prophesy anymore, his father and his mother, the ones who caused his birth, must also say to him, ‘You will not live, because falsehood is what you have spoken in the name of Jehovah.’ And his father and his mother, the ones who caused his birth, must pierce him through because of his prophesying.+

4 “And it must occur in that day [that] the prophets will become ashamed,+ each one of his vision when he prophesies; and they will not wear an official garment of hair+ for the purpose of deceiving. 5 And he will certainly say, ‘I am no prophet. I am a man* cultivating [the] soil, because an earthling man* himself acquired me from my youth on.’ 6 And one must say to him, ‘What are these wounds* [on your person] between your hands?’ And he will have to say, ‘Those with which I was struck* in the house of my intense lovers.’”

7 “O sword, awake against my shepherd,+ even against the able-bodied man who is my associate,”+ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies. “Strike the shepherd,+ and let those of the flock be scattered;+ and I shall certainly turn my hand back upon those who are insignificant.”*+

8 “And it must occur in all the land,”* is the utterance of Jehovah, “[that] two parts in it are what will be cut off [and] expire;+ and as for the third [part], it will be left remaining in it.+ 9 And I shall certainly bring the third [part] through the fire;+ and I shall actually refine them as in the refining of silver,+ and examine them as in the examining of gold.+ It, for its part, will call upon my name, and I, for my part, will answer it.+ I will say, ‘It is my people,’+ and it, in its turn, will say, ‘Jehovah is my God.’”+

14 “Look! There is a day coming, belonging to Jehovah,+ and the spoil of you* will certainly be apportioned out in the midst of you. 2 And I shall certainly gather all the nations against Jerusalem for the war;+ and the city will actually be captured+ and the houses be pillaged, and the women themselves will be raped.+ And half of the city must go forth into the exile;+ but as for the remaining ones* of the people,+ they will not be cut off from the city.+

3 “And Jehovah will certainly go forth and war against those nations+ as in the day of his warring, in the day of fight.+ 4 And his feet will actually stand in that day upon the mountain of the olive trees,* which is in front of Jerusalem, on the east;+ and the mountain of the olive trees+ must be split at its middle,+ from the sunrising and to the west.* There will be a very great valley; and half of the mountain will actually be moved to the north, and half of it to the south.* 5 And YOU people will certainly flee to the valley of my mountains;+ because the valley of [the] mountains will reach all the way to Azel.* And YOU will have to flee, just as YOU fled because of the [earth]quake in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah.+ And Jehovah my God will certainly come,+ all the holy ones being with him.*+

6 “And it must occur in that day [that] there will prove to be no precious light+—things will be congealed.+ 7 And it must become one day that is known as belonging to Jehovah.+ It will not be day, neither will it be night;+ and it must occur [that] at evening time it will become light.+ 8 And it must occur in that day [that] living waters+ will go forth from Jerusalem,+ half of them to the eastern sea*+ and half of them to the western sea.*+ In summer and in winter* it will occur.+ 9 And Jehovah must become king over all the earth.*+ In that day Jehovah will prove to be one,+ and his name one.+

10 “The whole land will be changed like the Arabah,*+ from Geba+ to Rimmon+ to the south* of Jerusalem; and she must rise and become inhabited in her place,+ from the Gate of Benjamin+ all the way to the place of the First Gate, all the way to the Corner Gate, and [from] the Tower of Hananel+ all the way to the press vats of the king. 11 And people will certainly inhabit her; and there will occur no more any banning [to destruction],+ and Jerusalem must be inhabited in security.+

12 “And this is what will prove to be the scourge with which Jehovah will scourge all the peoples that will actually do military service against Jerusalem:+ There will be a rotting away of one’s flesh, while one is standing upon one’s feet;+ and one’s very eyes will rot away in their sockets, and one’s very tongue will rot away in one’s mouth.

13 “And it must occur in that day [that] confusion from Jehovah will become widespread among them;+ and they will actually grab hold, each one of the hand of his companion, and his hand will actually come up against the hand of his companion. 14 And Judah itself also will be warring at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations round about will certainly be gathered, gold and silver and garments in excessive abundance.+

15 “And this is how the scourge of the horse, the mule, the camel, and the male ass, and every sort of domestic animal that happens to be in those camps, will prove to be, like this scourge.

16 “And it must occur [that], as regards everyone who is left remaining out of all the nations that are coming against Jerusalem,+ they must also go up from year to year+ to bow down to the King,+ Jehovah of armies,+ and to celebrate the festival of the booths.+ 17 And it must occur that, as regards anyone that does not come up+ out of the families+ of the earth to Jerusalem to bow down to the King, Jehovah of armies, even upon them no pouring rain will occur.+ 18 And if the family of Egypt itself does not come up and does not actually enter, upon them also there shall be none. The scourge will occur* with which Jehovah scourges the nations that do not come up to celebrate the festival of the booths. 19 This itself will prove to be the [punishment for the] sin of Egypt and the sin of all the nations that do not come up to celebrate the festival of the booths.+

20 “In that day there will prove to be+ upon the bells of the horse ‘Holiness belongs to Jehovah!’+ And the widemouthed cooking pots+ in the house of Jehovah must become like the bowls+ before the altar.+ 21 And every widemouthed cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah must become something holy belonging to Jehovah of armies, and all those who are sacrificing must come in and take from them and must do boiling in them.+ And there will no more prove to be a Canaanite*+ in the house of Jehovah of armies in that day.”+