Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall spring up from his stem, and build the house of the Lord. [13] And he shall receive power, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and there shall be a priest on his right hand, and a peaceable counsel shall be between them both.
[14] And the crown shall be to them that wait patiently, and to the useful men of the captivity, and to them that have known it, and for the favour of the son of Sophonias, and for a psalm in the house of the Lord. [15] And they that are far from them shall come and build in the house of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you: and this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God.
Chapter 7
[1] And it came to pass in the fourth year of Darius the king, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chaseleu. [2] And Sarasar and Arbeseer the king and his men sent to Bethel, and that to propitiate the Lord, [3] speaking to the priests that were in the house of the Lord Almighty, and to the prophets, saying, The holy offering has come in hither in the fifth month, as it has done already many years.
[4] And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, [5] Speak to the whole people of the land, and to the priests, saying, Though ye fasted or lamented in the fifth or seventh months (yea, behold, these seventy years) have ye at all fasted to me? [6] And if ye eat or drink, do ye not eat and drink for yourselves? [7] Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about her, and the hill country and the low country was inhabited?
[8] And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying, [9] Thus saith the Lord Almighty;
Judge righteous judgment, and deal mercifully and compassionately every one with his brother: [10] and oppress not the widow, or the fatherless, or the stranger, or the poor; and let not one of you remember in his heart the injury of his brother.
[11] But they refused to attend, and madly turned their back, and made their ears heavy, so that they should not hear. [12] And they made their heart disobedient, so as not to hearken to my law, and the words which the Lord Almighty sent forth by his Spirit by the former prophets: so there was great wrath from the Lord Almighty. [13] And it shall come to pass, that as he spoke, and they hearkened not, so they shall cry, and I will not hearken, saith the Lord Almighty. [14] And I will cast them out among all the nations, whom they know not; and the land behind them shall be made utterly destitute of any going through or returning: yea they have made the choice land a desolation.
Chapter 8
[1] And the word of the Lord Almighty came, saying, [2] Thus saith the Lord Almighty; I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Sion with great jealousy, and I have been jealous for her with great fury.
[3] Thus saith the Lord; I will return to Sion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a true city, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty a holy mountain.
[4] Thus saith the Lord Almighty; There shall yet dwell old men and old women in the streets of Jerusalem, every one holding his staff in his hand for age. [5] And the broad places of the city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
[6] Thus saith the Lord Almighty; If it shall be impossible in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, shall it also be impossible in my sight? saith the Lord Almighty.
[7] Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and the west country; [8] and I will bring them in, and cause them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God, in truth and in righteousness.
[9] Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words out of the mouth of the prophets, from the day that the house of the Lord Almighty was founded, and from the time that the temple was built. [10] For before those days the wages of men could not be profitable, and there could be no hire of cattle, and there could be no peace by reason of the affliction to him that went out or to him that came in: for I would have let loose all men, every one against his neighbour. [11] But now I will not do to the remnant of this people according to the former days, saith the Lord Almighty. [12] But I will shew peace: the vine shall yield her fruit, and the land shall yield her produce, and the heaven shall give its dew: and I will give as an inheritance all these things to the remnant of my people. [13] And it shall come to pass, as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Juda, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: be of good courage, and strengthen your hands.
[14] For thus saith the Lord Almighty; As I took counsel to afflict you when your fathers provoked me, saith the Lord Almighty, and I repented not: [15] so have I prepared and taken counsel in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Juda: be ye of good courage. [16] These are the things which ye shall do; speak truth every one with his neighbour; judge truth and peaceable judgment in your gates: [17] and let none of you devise evil in his heart against his neighbour; and love not a false oath: for all these things I hate, saith the Lord Almighty.
[18] And the word of the Lord Almighty came to me, saying, [19] Thus saith the Lord Almighty, The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast, shall be to the house of Juda for joy and gladness, and for good feasts; and ye shall rejoice; and love ye the truth and peace.
[20] Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Yet shall many peoples come, and the inhabitants of many cities; [21] and the inhabitants of five cities shall come together to one city, saying, Let us go to make supplication to the Lord, and to seek the face of the Lord Almighty; I will go also. [22] And many peoples and many nations shall come to seek earnestly the face of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem, and to obtain favour of the Lord.
[23] Thus saith the Lord Almighty; In those days my word shall be fulfilled if ten men of all the languages of the nations should take hold — even take hold of the hem of a Jew, saying, We will go with thee; for we have heard that God is with you.
Chapter 9
[1] The burden of the word of the Lord, in the land of Sedrach, and his sacrifice shall be in Damascus; for the Lord looks upon men, and upon all the tribes of Israel. [2] And in Emath, even in her coasts, are Tyre and Sidon, because they were very wise. [3] And Tyrus built strong-holds for herself, and heaped up silver as dust, and gathered gold as the mire of the ways.
[4] And therefore the Lord will take them for a possession, and will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be consumed with fire. [5] Ascalon shall see, and fear; Gaza also, and shall be greatly pained, and Accaron; for she is ashamed at her trespass; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ascalon shall not be inhabited. [6] And aliens shall dwell in Azotus, and I will bring down the pride of the Philistines. [7] And I will take their blood out of their mouth, and their abominations from between their teeth; and these also shall be left to our God, and they shall be as a captain of a thousand in Juda, and Accaron as a Jebusite. [8] And I will set up a defence for my house, that they may not pass through, nor turn back, neither shall there any more come upon them one to drive them away: for now have I seen with mine eyes.
[9] Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; proclaim it aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, the King is coming to thee, just, and a Saviour; he is meek and riding on an ass, and a young foal. [10] And he shall destroy the chariots out of Ephraim, and the horse out of Jerusalem, and the bow of war shall be utterly destroyed; and there shall be abundance and peace out of the nations; and he shall rule over the waters as far as the sea, and the rivers to the ends of the earth.
[11] And thou by the blood of thy covenant has sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit that has no water. [12] Ye shall dwell in strongholds, ye prisoners of the congregation: and for one day of thy captivity I will recompense thee double. [13] For I have bent thee, O Juda, for myself as a bow, I have filled Ephraim; and I will raise up thy children, O Sion, a
gainst the children of the Greeks, and I will handle thee as the sword of a warrior. [14] And the Lord shall be over them, and his arrow shall go forth as lightning: and the Lord Almighty shall blow with the trumpet; and shall proceed with the tumult of his threatening. [15] The Lord Almighty shall protect them, and they shall destroy them, and overwhelm them with sling-stones; and they shall swallow them down as wine, and fill the bowls as the altar. [16] And the Lord their God shall save them in that day, even his people as a flock; for holy stones are rolled upon his land. [17] For if he has anything good, and if he has anything fair, the young men shall have corn, and there shall be fragrant wine to the virgins.
Chapter 10
[1] Ask ye of the Lord rain in season, the early and the latter: the Lord has given bright signs, and will give them abundant rain, to every one grass in the field. [2] For the speakers have uttered grievous things, and the diviners have seen false visions, and they have spoken false dreams, they have given vain comfort: therefore have they fallen away like sheep, and been afflicted, because there was no healing.
[3] Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I will visit the lambs; and the Lord God Almighty shall visit his flock, the house of Juda, and he shall make them as his goodly horse in war. [4] And from him he looked, and from him he set the battle in order, and from him came the bow in anger, and from him shall come forth every oppressor together. [5] And they shall be as warriors treading clay in the ways in war; and they shall set the battle in array, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be put to shame.
[6] And I will strengthen the house of Juda, and save the house of Joseph, and I will settle them; because I have loved them: and they shall be as if I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them. [7] And they shall be as the warriors of Ephraim, and their heart shall rejoice as with wine: and their children also shall see it, and be glad; and their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. [8] I will make a sign to them, and gather them in; for I will redeem them, and they shall be multiplied according to their number before.
[9] And I will sow them among the people; and they that are afar off shall remember me: they shall nourish their children, and they shall return. [10] And I will bring them again from the land of Egypt, and I will gather them in from among the Assyrians; and I will bring them into the land of Galaad and to Libanus; and there shall not even one of them be left behind. [11] And they shall pass through a narrow sea, they shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deep places of the rivers shall be dried up: and all the pride of the Assyrians shall be taken away, and the sceptre of Egypt shall be removed. [12] And I will strengthen them in the Lord their God; and they shall boast in his name, saith the Lord.
Chapter 11
[1] Open thy doors, O Libanus, and let the fire devour thy cedars. [2] Let the pine howl, because the cedar has fallen; for the mighty men have been greatly afflicted: howl, ye oaks of the land of Basan; for the thickly planted forest has been torn down.
[3] There is a voice of the shepherds mourning; for their greatness is brought low: a voice of roaring lions; for the pride of Jordan is brought down.
[4] Thus saith the Lord Almighty, Feed the sheep of the slaughter; [5] which their possessors have slain, and have not repented: and they that sold them said, Blessed be the Lord; for we have become rich: and their shepherds have suffered no sorrow for them. [6] Therefore I will no longer have mercy upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, behold, I will deliver up the men every one into the hand of his neighbour, and into the hand of his king; and they shall destroy the land, and I will not rescue out of their hand.
[7] And I will tend the flock of slaughter in the land of Chanaan: and I will take for myself two rods; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Line; and I will tend the flock. [8] And I will cut off three shepherds in one month; and my soul shall grieve over them, for their souls cried out against me. [9] And I said, I will not tend you: that which dies, let it die; and that which falls off, let it fall off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of his neighbour.
[10] And I will take my beautiful staff, and cast it away, that I may break my covenant which I made with all the people. [11] And it shall be broken in that day; and the Chananites, the sheep that are kept for me, shall know that it is the word of the Lord. [12] And I will say to them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my price, or refuse it. And they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. [13] And the Lord said to me, Drop them into the furnace, and I will see if it is good metal, as I was proved for their sakes. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them into the furnace in the house of the Lord.
[14] And I cast away my second rod, even Line, that I might break the possession between Juda and Israel. [15] And the Lord said to me, Take yet to thee shepherd’s implements belonging to an unskillful shepherd. [16] For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd against the land: he shall not visit that which is perishing, and he shall not seek that which is scattered, and he shall not heal that which is bruised, nor guide that which is whole: but he shall devour the flesh of the choice ones, and shall dislocate the joints of their necks.
[17] Alas for the vain shepherds that have forsaken the sheep! the sword shall be upon the arms of such a one, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be completely withered, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
Chapter 12
[1] The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel; saith the Lord, that stretches out the sky, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. [2] Behold, I will make Jerusalem as trembling door-posts to all the nations round about, and in Judea there shall be a siege against Jerusalem. [3] And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem a trodden stone to all the nations: every one that tramples on it shall utterly mock at it, and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. [4] In that day, saith the Lord Almighty, I will smite every horse with amazement, and his rider with madness: but I will open mine eyes upon the house of Juda, and I will smite all the horses of the nations with blindness.
[5] And the captains of thousands of Juda shall say in their hearts, We shall find for ourselves the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the Lord Almighty their God. [6] In that day I will make the captains of thousands of Juda as a firebrand among wood, and as a torch of fire in stubble; and they shall devour on the right hand and on the left all the nations round about: and Jerusalem shall dwell again by herself, even in Jerusalem. [7] And the Lord shall save the tabernacles of Juda as at the beginning, that the boast of the house of David, and the pride of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, may not magnify themselves against Juda. [8] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and the weak one among them in that day shall be as David, and the house of David as the house of God, as the angel of the Lord before them. [9] And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. [10] And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and compassion: and they shall look upon me, because they have mocked me, and they shall make lamentation for him, as for a beloved friend, and they shall grieve intensely, as for a firstborn son.
[11] In that day the lamentation in Jerusalem shall be very great, as the mourning for the pomegranate grove cut down in the plain. [12] And the land shall lament in separate families, 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 Symeon by itself, and their wives by themselves; [14] all the families that are left, each family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
Chapter 13
[1] In that day every place shall be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for removal and for separation. [2] And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of h
osts, that I will utterly destroy the names of the idols from off the land, and there shall be no longer any remembrance of them: and I will cut off the false prophets and the evil spirit from the land. [3] And it shall come to pass, if a man will yet prophesy, that his father and his mother which gave birth to him shall say to him, Thou shalt not live; for thou has spoken lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother who gave him birth shall bind him as he is prophesying.
[4] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision when he prophesies; and they shall clothe themselves with a garment of hair, because they have lied. [5] And one shall say, I am not a prophet, for I am a tiller of the ground, for a man brought me up thus from my youth. [6] And I will say to him, What are these wounds between thine hands? and he shall say, Those with which I was wounded in my beloved house.
[7] Awake, O sword, against my shepherds, and against the man who is my citizen, saith the Lord Almighty: smite the shepherds, and draw out the sheep: and I will bring mine hand upon the little ones. [8] And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts thereof shall be cut off and perish; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and I will try them as silver is tried, and I will prove them as gold is proved: they shall call upon my name, and I will hear them, and say, This is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
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