Zechariah

11I am Zechariah, a prophet, the son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo. When Darius had been the emperor of Persia for almost two years, in the eighth month of that year, Yahweh gave me this message:

2“Yahweh was very angry with your ancestors. 3So tell the people this: ‘Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says, “Come back to me”—this is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, solemnly declares—“and I will help you again, says Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies. 4Do not be like your ancestors. The prophets who lived before you continually told your ancestors that Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, said, ‘Stop doing the evil things that you are doing!’ However, they refused to listen to me or pay attention to me,” solemnly declares Yahweh. 5“Your ancestors have all died. The prophets also did not live forever. 6However, the warnings and decrees that I commanded my servants the prophets to tell your ancestors did come true. So your ancestors repented and said, ‘Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, has punished us for the way we behaved and for the things we did, just as he said he would do.’”’”

7Three months later, on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, when Darius had been emperor for almost two years, Yahweh gave another message to me, Zechariah the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo, the prophet. 8During the night I had a vision. In the vision I saw a man riding a red horse. He stood among the myrtle trees in a deep valley, and behind him other riders sat on red, reddish-brown, and white horses. 9I asked the angel who had been talking to me, “Sir, who are those riders?” The angel replied, “I will show you who they are.” 10Then the man who stood among the myrtle trees explained. He said, “Yahweh sent these riders to patrol throughout the earth.”

11Then those riders reported to an angel representing Yahweh, who stood among the myrtle trees. They said, “We have patrolled throughout the earth, and everywhere the nations are living peacefully and undisturbed.”

12Then the angel representing Yahweh pleaded, “Yahweh, commander of the heavenly armies, how long will you continue to not show mercy to the people of Jerusalem and the people of the other cities of Judah? You have been angry with them for 70 years!” 13So Yahweh spoke kind and encouraging words to the angel who had been talking to me. 14Then the angel who had been talking to me said to me, “Proclaim this message: ‘Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says, “I care very deeply about the people of Jerusalem and of Zion. 15I am extremely angry with the nations that feel so secure. I was only a little angry with my people, but those nations made things much worse by harming them so much.”

16Therefore, this is what Yahweh says, “I have once again chosen to show mercy to the people of Jerusalem. They will rebuild my temple there,” solemnly declares Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, “and workers will stretch out a measuring line to rebuild Jerusalem.” 17Therefore, this is what Yahweh says, “I have once again chosen to show mercy to the people of Jerusalem. They will rebuild my temple there,” solemnly declares Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, “and workers will stretch out a measuring line to rebuild Jerusalem.”

18Then I looked up and in front of me I saw four horns. 19I asked the angel who had been talking to me, “What are those?” He replied, “Those horns represent the powerful nations that used their military power to scatter the people of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20Then Yahweh showed me four craftsmen. 21I asked, “What are these craftsmen coming to do?” He replied, “Those horns represent the powerful nations that scattered the people of Judah so badly that no one could resist them. These craftsmen have come to terrify those nations and to crush the military power that those nations used against the people of Judah to scatter them.”

21Then I looked up and saw a man who was holding a measuring line. 2I asked him, “Where are you going?” He replied, “I am going to measure Jerusalem to find out how wide it is and how long it is.”

3Then the angel who had been talking to me went out, and another angel came out to meet him. 4The second angel said to him, “Run and tell that young man this: ‘Someday so many people and animals will live in Jerusalem that they will not all fit inside the city walls. Many of them will live outside the walls. 5Yahweh says that he himself will protect the city all around, just as a wall of fire would protect it, and he will show everyone how great he is by living among his people in the city.’”

6Yahweh declares, “Pay attention! You must flee from Babylonia, because I scattered you in every direction.”

7Yahweh says, “You people of Jerusalem who are still living in Babylon, escape from there! 8This is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says. In order to honor his people, he sent me to rebuke the nations that took away your valuable possessions. He says, ‘Anyone who harms you harms what is most precious to me. 9I am about to use my power against those nations, and the people who used to serve them will take back their possessions from them.’” When that happens, you will know that Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, sent me.

10Yahweh says, “You people of Jerusalem, shout and be happy, because I am about to come to you and live among you!”

11At that time, people from many nations will start worshiping Yahweh and become his people. He will live among all of you. Then you will know that Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, sent me to you. 12Yahweh will claim the people of Judah as his own special people in the land that he has set apart for himself, and he will once again choose Jerusalem as his city. 13All people everywhere must be silent before Yahweh, because he has risen up from heaven, the holy place where he lives, and he is ready to act!

31Then Yahweh showed me a vision. I saw Joshua, the high priest, standing in the presence of an angel representing Yahweh. The accuser was standing at the place where an accuser stands in a court, ready to bring charges against Joshua. 2Yahweh said to the accuser, “I, Yahweh, reject your accusations! I am the one who has chosen Jerusalem, and I reject your accusations! I rescued this man just barely, the way someone pulls a burning stick out of a fire before the fire destroys it.” 3Now Joshua was wearing extremely dirty clothes as he stood near the angel.

4The angel told the other angels who were standing there, “Take those filthy clothes off of him.” Then the angel said to Joshua, “Look at what I have done! I have taken away your sin, and I will dress you in beautiful clothes.” 5Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head too!” So the angels put a clean turban on his head and dressed him in new clothes while an angel representing Yahweh stood watching.

6Then an angel representing Yahweh gave Joshua this serious command: 7“Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says this to you, ‘If you obey me and do what I command you to do, then you will be in charge of my temple and will take care of my temple courtyards. I will also allow you to come into the presence of these angels who stand here. 8Listen carefully, Joshua the high priest, you and your fellow priests who sit in front of you, because you are all living signs that point to what will happen in the future. I am going to bring my servant, the one who will be like a new branch that sprouts from the stump of David’s family. 9Look at the stone that I have placed in front of Joshua. That single stone has seven facets that represent how I watch over everything. I will engrave an inscription on it. This is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, declares. When I do this, I will take away all the sin from this land in a single day.

10When that day comes, each of you will invite your neighbors to come and enjoy peace and security with you.’ This is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, declares.”

41Then the angel who had been talking with me came back and woke me up. I had been thinking deeply, as though I had fallen asleep. 2He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a lampstand made completely of gold. It has a small bowl for olive oil at the top, and seven lamps around the bowl, with seven channels going to each of the seven lamps that are on top of it. 3I also see two olive trees beside it, one olive tree on the right side of the bowl and one olive tree on its left side.”

4I asked the angel who was talking with me, “Sir, what do these things mean?”

5The angel replied, “You really should know what they mean!” I answered, “No, sir, I do not know.”

6Then the angel said to me, “This is the message that Yahweh has for Zerubbabel, ‘You will not accomplish this by being strong or by your own efforts. Instead, my Spirit will accomplish it,’ says Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies. 7Every great difficulty that stands in front of Zerubbabel will disappear! He will set the final stone of the temple in its place, and all the people will shout, ‘How beautiful! May God bless it!’

8Then Yahweh gave me another message. 9He said, ‘Zerubbabel began the work of rebuilding this temple, and he will finish it.’ When that happens, you will know that Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, sent me to you people.

10No one should think that the small beginnings of a big project are unimportant. People will be happy when they see Zerubbabel holding the plumb line as he checks the walls. Those seven lamps represent how Yahweh watches over everything that happens on the whole earth.”

11Then I asked the angel, “What do the two olive trees on each side of the lampstand mean?

12In particular, what do the two olive branches that are beside the two gold pipes that pour out olive oil mean?” 13He said to me, “You really should know what these things mean!” I replied, “No, sir, I do not know.”

14So he said, “They represent the two people whom God has anointed to serve the Lord who rules over the whole earth.”

51I looked up again and saw a scroll flying through the air.

2The angel asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a scroll flying through the air. It is about 30 feet long and about 15 feet wide.”

3Then he said to me, “This scroll contains the words that Yahweh speaks to punish people throughout the whole land. On one side, the scroll says that Yahweh will remove everyone who steals. On the other side, it says that he will remove everyone who lies when making a solemn promise. 4Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, declares, ‘I will send this scroll to the houses of people who steal and to the houses of people who use my authority to make false promises. The scroll will remain in those houses and will destroy them completely, including all their wooden beams and stones.’”

5Then the angel who had been talking to me came closer and said, “Look up and see what is coming out.”

6I asked him, “What is it?” He replied, “It is a large measuring basket that is coming out.” Then he said, “It represents what the people are doing throughout the whole land.”

7Then I saw someone lifting the heavy lead cover off the basket. There was a woman sitting inside the basket! 8The angel said, “She represents how wicked the people are.” Then the angel threw her back down into the basket and put the heavy lead cover back over the opening.

9Then I looked up and saw two women coming toward me. The wind was blowing under their wings, and they had large wings like those of a stork. They lifted the basket up high between the ground and the sky.

10I asked the angel who had been talking to me, “Where are they taking that basket?”

11He replied, “They are taking it to Babylonia to build a temple for it there. When they finish building the temple, they will place the basket inside on a pedestal.”

The vision of four chariots

61I looked up again, and in the vision I saw four chariots coming toward me from between two bronze mountains. 2Red horses pulled the first chariot, and black horses pulled the second chariot. 3White horses pulled the third chariot, and strong, spotted horses pulled the fourth chariot. 4I asked the angel who had been speaking to me, “Sir, what do those chariots mean?”

5The angel replied, “These are the four spirits that serve the Lord who rules the entire earth. They go out across the sky in four directions. 6The chariot with the black horses will go north, the white horses will follow them, and the spotted horses will go south.”

7When those strong horses went out, they were eager to go and patrol the earth. The angel said to them, “Go, patrol the earth!” So they went and patrolled the earth.

8Then the angel called out to me, “Look, the chariots that went north have satisfied my anger in the land of the north.”

Yahweh commands Zechariah to crown Joshua

9Then Yahweh gave me another message. 10He said, “Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah will bring silver and gold from the people who returned from exile in Babylon. On the day they arrive, go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11Take some of the silver and gold from those men and make crowns. Then place them on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12Tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says, There is a man whose title is the Branch, because he will grow up like a new branch from the stump of David’s family. He will emerge from where he is, and he will build the temple of Yahweh. 13Yes, he will build Yahweh’s temple.

He will receive great honor,

and he will sit on his throne and rule.

He will also serve as a priest while he sits on his throne,

and there will be peace because he is both king and priest.’

14The crowns will remain in the temple of Yahweh to remind people of what Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen son of Zephaniah did. 15People who live far away will come and help build Yahweh’s temple. When that happens, you will know that Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, has sent me to you. This will happen if you truly obey what Yahweh your God commands.”

71When Darius had been the emperor for almost four years, on the fourth day of Kislev (which was the ninth month in their calendar), Yahweh gave me another message. 2The people of the city of Bethel sent two men, Sharezer and Regem-Melech, along with some other men, to consult with Yahweh 3by asking the priests at Yahweh’s temple and the prophets if they should continue their years-long practice of mourning {the anniversary of the destruction of the temple} by fasting during the fifth month.

4Then Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, gave me, Zechariah, a message. 5He told me to say this to the priests and, in fact, to everyone in the whole land: “Tell me whom you were honoring when you did not eat but went around in dirty clothing. It was not me you honored in the fifth and seventh months these 70 years. 6And when you feasted at my temple, you did it just to have a good time, not to honor me. 7This is exactly what I kept telling the former prophets to proclaim to the people, when the people in Jerusalem and the nearby towns were many and prosperous, and when people also lived in the southern Judean wilderness, and in the foothills to the west.”

8Yahweh gave another message to me: 9“Tell the people that this is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, said {to your ancestors}: ‘I told them to do what is just, to act faithfully and mercifully toward each other, in order to honor my covenant with you. 10I told them not to oppress widows or orphans or foreigners or poor people. I told them not to even think about doing evil to anyone else.’

11But the people refused to obey Yahweh. They resisted him. They did not even listen to what he said. 12He had given these messages for his Spirit to repeat to the prophets in earlier times. The prophets were meant to speak these messages to the people. But the people were very stubborn; they would not listen to the law of Moses or to any message from God. So Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, became very angry with them.

13In those times, when Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, called to the people, they refused to listen. So he said, ‘In exactly the same way, I will refuse to listen when they call to me. 14I scattered them among many nations, nations that they had never been to before just as a storm scatters leaves. After they were gone, their own land was empty, with no one living there. No one traveled through it or came back to it, because they have turned it, their most pleasant land, into a wilderness.’”

Yahweh promises to bless Jerusalem

81Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, gave me another message: 2This is what I, Yahweh, the commander of the angel armies, say, “I love the people of Jerusalem; I love them very much, and I am very angry with their enemies.”

3So this is what I, Yahweh, say: “Some day I will return to Mount Zion and I will live there. At that time, people will call Jerusalem ‘The City of Faithful People’, and they will call the mountain that Yahweh, the commander of angel armies, possesses ‘The Sacred Mountain.’”

4Yahweh, the commander of the angel armies, also says this: “Some day old men and old women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each of them holding a cane because they are very old. 5Boys and girls will fill the city streets, playing there.”

6Yahweh, the commander of the angel armies, also says this: “When those things happen, it will seem marvelous to the people who are still alive, but it certainly will not seem marvelous to me!”

7Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, also says this: “Pay attention! I will rescue my people from countries in the east and in the west, wherever they are. 8I will bring them back, and they will live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will be faithful to them and treat them fairly.”

9Yahweh, the commander of the angel armies, also says this: “When people laid the foundation for my temple, there were prophets there who gave messages from me. Some of you people heard what those prophets said. So be brave while you are building the temple, in order that you may finish building it. 10Before that time, no one could earn any wages for their work, and no one could hire animals for work, because there was no money. No one was safe going about their daily activities because of enemies, since I caused everyone to fight against one another. 11But now I will act differently toward you people who are still alive than I did previously.” That is what Yahweh, the commander of the angel armies, says.

12“Instead, everything will go well for them: planting time will be peaceful, grapevines will produce grapes, good crops will grow in the fields, and rain will fall from the sky. I will give all these things to the people of this nation who have survived. 13You people of Judah and Israel, right now, the people of other nations think of you when they say what a curse means. But I will rescue you, and I will give you so many good things that they will think of you when they say what a blessing means. So be brave; work hard to finish building the temple.”

14Yahweh, the commander of the angel armies, also says this, “When your ancestors caused me to become very angry, I did not change my mind about that. Instead, I indeed punished them. 15But now I will do something different. I am planning to do good things to the people of Jerusalem and other towns in Judah again. So do not be afraid. 16These are the things that you should do: You should always tell the truth to each other. In the courts, your judges must make decisions according to what is correct and fair. 17Do not plan to do evil things to others, and do not approve of swearing false accusations against others. I hate all those things,” says Yahweh.

18Yahweh, the commander of the angel armies, said this to me: 19“I tell you, the times when you people of Judah abstain from food during the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months of each year will become times when you celebrate pleasant and joyful festivals instead. But you must want to speak truthfully and to be peaceful.”

20Yahweh, the commander of the angel armies, also says this, “Some day people from many people groups and foreign cities will come here to Jerusalem. 21People from one city will go to the people in another city and say, ‘Quick! Let us go together to Jerusalem to worship Yahweh and ask him to bless us; we ourselves are going.’ 22And people from many people groups and from powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to ask Yahweh, the commander of angel armies, to bless them, and they will worship him.”

23Yahweh, the commander of the angel armies, also says this, “At that time, many people from every people group, speaking their own language, will come and firmly grab the fringe of robe belonging to a man from Judah’s tribe. They will say to him, ‘We want to be near you, because we have heard people say that God is with you.’”

91This is another message that Yahweh gave to me:

He pays close attention to all people everywhere,

and especially to all the Israelite tribes.

This message is about the region of Hadrach

and the city of Damascus, where he is staying.

2Hamath also is a nearby city,

as are the cities of Tyre and Sidon,

whose people think that they are very wise.

3The people of Tyre have built a strong wall around their city,

and they have piled up as much silver and gold

as if it were dust and mud in the streets.

4But look out! The Lord will take away everything that the people of Tyre own

and destroy their merchant ships out at sea,

and an enemy army will burn their city down.

5When the people of the city of Ashkelon see that happen, they will be scared.

The people of the city of Gaza will also tremble in great anguish,

and the people of the city of Ekron will tremble too, because they will no longer expect anything good to happen.

There will no longer be a king ruling in Gaza,

and no one will live in Ashkelon anymore.

6People of mixed descent will live in the city of Ashdod,

and so I will cause the Philistine people to no longer be proud.

7I will no longer allow them to eat meat that still has blood in it,

and I will no longer allow them to eat the disgusting food that they offered to their idols.

Then the Philistine people who survive will worship me and become my people,

like one of the clans in Judah.

The people of the city of Ekron will become my people, just as the people of the city of Jebus did.

8I will protect my temple like an army that guards it,

so that no enemy soldiers can march through it or come back to attack it.

No one who oppresses my people will ever invade them again,

because now I am watching over my people carefully.

9You people of Jerusalem, rejoice very much!

Shout joyfully, everyone in Jerusalem!

Look! Your king is coming to you.

He does what is right, and God will give him victory.

He is humble, and he will ride into the city on a donkey,

on a young donkey.

10I will take away the chariots from the region of Ephraim

and the war horses from the city of Jerusalem,

and I will destroy the bows that soldiers use in war.

Your king will tell the nations that they will now live peacefully.

He will rule over all the earth,

from one sea to the farthest sea,

and from the Euphrates River to the most distant places on the earth.

11As for you people of Jerusalem,

because of the blood of the animals that the priests killed when I made my covenant with you, I will set your people free,

the ones who suffer like prisoners stuck in a dry pit.

12You people who are like prisoners but who still confidently expect me to help you,

return to your land, where you will be safe.

Today I am telling you that I will give back to you twice as much as you have lost.

13I will use the people of Judah to fight for me as a warrior uses a bow,

and I will use the people of Ephraim like the arrows in that bow.

People of Jerusalem, I will stir up your young men to fight against the army of Greece,

and I will make you as powerful as a warrior’s sword.

14Then Yahweh will appear above his people,

and the arrows that he shoots will flash like lightning.

Yahweh my Lord will blow a trumpet to signal the attack,

and he will advance fiercely, like a storm blowing from the south.

15Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, will protect his people.

His soldiers will completely defeat their enemies who attack them with slingstones.

Those soldiers will shout in victory and celebrate as noisily as men who have drunk much wine.

They will be as full of joy as the bowls that the priests fill with blood and pour out on the corners of the altar.

16On that day, Yahweh, the God his people worship, will rescue them

just as a shepherd rescues his flock of sheep from danger.

They will be as precious to him as sparkling jewels in a crown shining over his land.

17How wonderful and how beautiful everything will be!

The young men will grow strong from eating plenty of grain,

and the young women will grow strong from drinking plenty of new wine.

101Ask Yahweh to send rain in the springtime, because he is the one who makes the storm clouds. He gives people showers of rain, and he makes plants grow in their fields. 2The household idols that people consult tell them worthless things, and those who practice divination see false visions; the dreams they describe are lies, and the comfort they give is empty. So the people wander about helplessly and suffer, because they have no leader to guide and protect them, just as sheep suffer when they have no shepherd.

3Yahweh says, “I am very angry with the leaders of my people, and I will punish those rulers. I, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, care for my people, the people of Judah, as a shepherd cares for his flock, and I will make them strong, like a splendid warhorse in battle. 4All their rulers will come from the tribe of Judah. Some will support the people, as a cornerstone supports a building; some will hold them together, as a tent peg holds up a tent; and some will lead them in battle, as a warrior holds his bow in war. Yes, from Judah every ruler will come. 5Those rulers and their people will be like mighty warriors who trample their enemies into the mud of the streets during battle. They will fight and win, because I, Yahweh, am with them, and they will completely defeat even their most powerful enemies.

6Because I am Yahweh their God and I pity my people, I will answer them when they pray to me. I will make the people of Judah strong, and I will rescue the people of Israel. I will bring them back to their own land. Then it will be like I had never rejected them. 7The people of Ephraim will be strong like warriors, and they will be as happy as people who have drunk wine. Their children will see it and be glad; they will celebrate loudly because of what I, Yahweh, have done.

8I will whistle to signal my people, and I will gather them together because I have rescued them, and they will become as numerous as they were before. 9Even though I scatter my people among the nations, they will remember me even in those distant lands. They and their children will survive, and they will return to their land. 10I will bring them back from Egypt in the south and gather them from Assyria in the north. I will bring them to the region of Gilead and to Lebanon, and there will not be enough room for them all.

11Even though my people’s troubles seem like a terrifying sea, I will bring them safely home. I will subdue those troubles completely, as if I were striking down the waves of the sea and drying up the deep waters of the Nile River. I will humble the proud army of Assyria, and I will take away the royal power of Egypt. 12I will make my people strong by my power, and they will live faithfully, honoring my authority. That is what I, Yahweh, declare.”

111Open your gates, people living in Lebanon,

because you will not be able to stop the fire from burning up your cedar trees!

2The cypress trees will be like people who are wailing

because the mighty cedar trees have fallen; enemies have destroyed those magnificent trees!

The oak trees in the region of Bashan will also be like people wailing

because enemies have cut down the trees of their thick forest!

3Listen to the shepherds crying

because enemies have ruined the rich pastures where they fed their flocks!

Listen to the young lions roaring

because enemies have destroyed the thickets along the Jordan River where they lived!

4This is what Yahweh my God said to me, “Act as a shepherd for a flock of sheep that people are about to slaughter. 5The people who buy the sheep slaughter them, and no one punishes those buyers. The people who sell the sheep say that they praise Yahweh because they are becoming rich. Not even the shepherds pity the sheep. 6That is because I, Yahweh, will no longer pity the people who live in this land. That is what I, Yahweh, declare. Instead, I will let everyone’s neighbors and their king dominate them. Those people will devastate this land, and I will not rescue anyone from their control.”

7So I became like a shepherd of a flock of sheep that people were about to slaughter. I took good care of the sheep, especially the weakest ones. Then I took two shepherd’s staffs. I named one staff “Favor” and the other staff, “Union.” And I took care of the sheep. 8In one month I got rid of the three other shepherds.

I became impatient with them, and they also hated me. 9So I said, “I will no longer be your shepherd. Let the sheep that are dying die, and let the sheep that are perishing perish. And let those that remain destroy each other.”

10Then I took my staff that I had named “Favor,” and I broke it to signify that Yahweh was canceling the covenant that he had made with all the peoples. 11So the covenant ended on that day. Then the afflicted people of the flock who were watching me knew that this was truly a message from Yahweh. 12I said to them, “If it seems right to you, pay me my wages; but if not, do not pay me.” So they weighed out my wages: thirty pieces of silver.

13Then Yahweh said to me, “Throw that money to the potter! What a pathetic price they decided to pay for me!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the temple of Yahweh. 14Then I broke my second staff, the one that I had named “Union,” to signify that the close family relationship between the people of Judah and the people of Israel would end.

15Then Yahweh said to me, “Take again the tools that a foolish shepherd uses, 16because surely I am going to appoint a shepherd over the people in this land, one who will not care for them. He will not help the sheep that are perishing, he will not search for the ones that have strayed, he will not heal the ones that are injured, and he will not feed the healthy ones. Instead, he will eat the meat of the fattest sheep and tear off their hooves.

17Terrible things will happen to that worthless shepherd

who abandons the flock that he should care for!

Enemies will attack his arm and his right eye with a sword!

As a result, his arm will lose all its strength

and his right eye will become completely blind!”

121This is a message that Yahweh gave concerning Israel. Yahweh, the one who created the sky, who formed the earth, and who breathed life into humanity, solemnly declares this:

2“Listen! I am about to cause the city of Jerusalem to be like an intoxicating drink that makes all the nations around it stagger helplessly when their armies besiege Jerusalem and the region of Judah. 3Then every nation on earth will come to attack Jerusalem, but I will make it like a solid rock that will badly hurt everyone that comes to attack it. 4This is what I, Yahweh, declare: On that day I will cause all the horses of the enemy armies to panic and all their riders to go insane. I will watch over the people of Judah and protect them, but I will cause all the horses of those enemy nations to go blind. 5Then the leaders of the clans of Judah will say to themselves that the people who live in Jerusalem are strong because Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, is their God. 6On that day I will make the leaders of the clans of Judah able to destroy their enemies completely and quickly. They will defeat all the surrounding peoples on every side of them, and the people of Jerusalem will live safely in their own city again.”

7Yahweh will first rescue the people who live in the villages of Judah, so that the descendants of King David and the people who live in Jerusalem will not consider themselves more important than the rest of the people of Judah. 8On that day Yahweh will protect the people who live in Jerusalem. Then even the weakest person among them will fight as powerfully as King David{, the great warrior,} once did. God will give the descendants of King David such great power that {as they lead the people,} it will seem as though Yahweh’s own angel is going ahead of them.

9“At that time, I will set out to destroy all the nations that come to attack Jerusalem. 10I will act very kindly toward the descendants of King David and the people who live in Jerusalem, and I will cause them to plead with me for mercy. They will look to me, the one whom they pierced, and they will mourn for me as strongly as parents mourn for an only son who has died. They will weep many tears for me, as many tears as people weep when a firstborn son dies.” 11On that day the people in Jerusalem will mourn very loudly. They will mourn as loudly as the people did at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo{, where they grieved for King Josiah after he died in battle}.

12All the people in the land will mourn, each clan by itself. The clan descended from King David will mourn by itself, and their wives will mourn by themselves. The clan descended from Nathan, {King David’s son,} will mourn by itself, and their wives will mourn by themselves. 13The clan descended from Levi will mourn by itself, and their wives will mourn by themselves. The clan descended from Shimei will mourn by itself, and their wives will mourn by themselves. 14All the clans that remain will each mourn by itself, and their wives will mourn by themselves.

131At that time, Yahweh will continually cleanse the descendants of King David and the people who live in Jerusalem; he will forgive the sins that they have committed and take away everything that has made them impure. 2Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, declares, “At that time I will destroy all the idols in the land, so that no one will even speak their names or remember them anymore. I will also drive out of the land those who falsely claim to be prophets, along with the impure spirit that controls them.

3If anyone still prophesies falsely, his own father and mother, the ones who gave birth to him, will tell him that he must die, because he has lied by claiming that he was speaking with my authority. Then, while he is prophesying, his own father and mother, who gave birth to him, will stab him to death.

4At that time, every one of those prophets will feel ashamed of the visions that he claimed to see when he prophesied. None of them will wear the rough garment of animal hair that prophets wear, because they will no longer try to deceive people. 5Instead, each one will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; a man sold me to this land’s owner when I was young.’ 6If someone asks him, ‘Then what are these wounds on your chest?’ he will answer, ‘Someone wounded me at the house of my friends.’”

7Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, says this: “I command that someone kill with a sword the leader who cares for my people,

the man who is my close associate.

When someone strikes that leader down,

the people whom he led will scatter in every direction,

and I myself will attack even the lowliest people among them.”

8Yahweh declares, “Throughout the whole land, two out of every three people will certainly die,

and only one third of the people will remain alive.

9I will cause that remaining third to suffer greatly in order to purify them,

just as a person refines silver and tests gold by heating them in a fire.

Then they will call out to me for help,

and I will answer them.

I will tell them that they are my people,

and they will declare that I, Yahweh, am their God.”

141Pay attention! Yahweh has appointed a time when enemies will plunder the city of Jerusalem, deciding who will take what valuables while they are still in the city where you have to watch them. 2Yahweh will gather the armies of all the nations to come and fight against Jerusalem. Those armies will capture the city, ransack the houses, and rape the women. Half of the people who live there they will take away to other lands as captives, but they will not remove the rest of the people from the city. 3Then Yahweh will go out and fight against those nations, just as he fought his enemies in battles long ago. 4On that day, Yahweh himself will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is east of Jerusalem. He will split the Mount of Olives in two from east to west, and a very large valley will open up between the two parts. Half of the mountain will move away toward the north, and half of it will move away toward the south. 5You people will escape through that valley between the mountains, because the valley will reach all the way to Azal. You will run away just as your ancestors ran away because of the earthquake that happened when Uzziah was the king of Judah. Then Yahweh my God will come, and all his holy angels will come with him. 6At that time, there will be no daylight; the bright lights in the sky will grow dim. 7That will be a unique day, and only Yahweh knows when it will happen. It will not follow the normal cycle of day and night. Even in the evening, when it is usually dark, there will still be light. 8At that time, fresh water will flow out from Jerusalem. Half of it will flow east to the Salt Sea, and half of it will flow west to the Great Sea. The water will keep flowing throughout the whole year.

9Then Yahweh will rule as king over the whole earth. At that time, people everywhere will worship Yahweh alone, and they will honor him alone as God. 10The whole land from Geba in the north to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become a flat plain. But Jerusalem will rise up high and will remain where it has always stood. The city will stretch from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the First Gate, on to the Gate of the Corners, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11People will live in Jerusalem, and enemies will never again completely destroy it. The people who live in Jerusalem will always be safe.

12Yahweh will cause all the nations who fought against Jerusalem to have these terrible diseases. Their flesh will rot away while they are still alive and standing. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13At that time, Yahweh will cause those people to panic completely. They will grab one another by the hand, and they will attack each other. 14The people of Judah will also fight with Jerusalem. They will gather the wealth of all the surrounding nations—huge amounts of gold, silver, and clothing. 15The horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in the camps of those enemies will suffer from that same disease.

16Then everyone who survives from all the nations that attacked Jerusalem will go up to Jerusalem every year to worship the King, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters, when the people live in temporary shelters. 17If any of the people groups on the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies, then Yahweh will not send any rain on their land{, and their crops will fail}. 18If the people of Egypt do not go up to Jerusalem to worship there, Yahweh will not judge them the same way. {Since they depend on the Nile River rather than on rain, Yahweh will} cause them to have the same diseases experienced by all the other nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 19That is how Yahweh will punish the people of Egypt and the people of every other nation that does not go up to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 20At that time, someone will engrave the words “Sacred to Yahweh” on the bells that hang on the horses. People will consider the cooking pots in the temple of Yahweh to be just as sacred as the bowls that the priests use in front of the altar. 21Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be sacred to Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies. Everyone who comes to offer sacrifices will take some of those pots and boil the meat of their sacrifices in them. At that time, there will no longer be any merchant selling goods in the temple of Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies.