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Bible (Jewish Publication Society 1917)/Zechariah

From Wikisource

Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, pages 759–770

1720811The Holy Scriptures — Zechariah

זכריה

ZECHARIAH

1In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying: 2'The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers. 3Therefore say thou unto them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Return unto Me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. 4Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Return ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings; but they did not hear, nor attend unto Me, saith the Lord, 5Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? 6But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? so that they turned and said: Like as the Lord of hosts purposed to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath He dealt with us.'

7Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying—8I saw in the night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom; and behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white. 9Then said I: 'O my lord, what are these?' And the angel that spoke with me said unto me: 'I will show thee what these are.' 10And the man that stood among the myrtle-trees answered and said: 'These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.' 11And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle-trees, and said: 'We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.' 12Then the angel of the Lord spoke and said: 'O Lord of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have compassion on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?' 13And the Lord answered the angel that spoke with me with good words, even comforting words—14so the angel that spoke with me said unto me : 'Proclaim thou, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy; 15and I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped for evil. 16Therefore thus saith the Lord: I return to Jerusalem with compassions: My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem. 17Again, proclaim, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.'

2And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. 2And I said unto the angel that spoke with me: 'What are these?' And he said unto me: 'These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.'

3And the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 4Then said I: 'What come these to do?' And he spoke, saying: 'These—the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head—these then are come to frighten them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.'

5And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. 6Then said I: 'Whither goest thou?' And he said unto me: 'To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.' 7And, behold, the angel that spoke with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, 8and said unto him: 'Run, speak to this young man, saying: Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls, for the multitude of men and cattle therein. 9For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.

10Ho, ho, flee then from the land of the north, saith the Lord; for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. 11Ho, Zion, escape, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.'

12For thus saith the Lord of hosts, who sent me after glory unto the nations which spoiled you: 'Surely, he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. 13For, behold, I will shake My hand over them, and they shall be a spoil to those that served them'; and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me.

14'Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. 15And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee'; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee. 16And the Lord shall inherit Judah as His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. 17Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord; for He is aroused out of His holy habitation.

3And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2And the Lord said unto Satan: 'The Lord rebuke thee, Satan, yea, the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this man a brand plucked out of the fire?' 3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 4And he answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying: 'Take the filthy garments from off him.' And unto him he said: 'Behold, I cause thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with robes.' 5And I said: 'Let them set a fair mitre upon his head.' So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments; and the angel of the Lord stood by. 6And the angel of the Lord forewarned Joshua, saying: 7'Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, and wilt also judge My house, and wilt also keep My courts, then I will give thee free access among these that stand by. 8Hear now, Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee; for they are men that are a sign; for, behold, I will bring forth My servant the Shoot. 9For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone are seven facets; behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts. And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig-tree.'

4And the angel that spoke with me returned, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. 2And he said unto me: 'What seest thou?' And I said: 'I have seen, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes, yea, seven, to the lamps, which are upon the top thereof; 3and two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.' 4And I answered and spoke to the angel that spoke with me, saying: 'What are these, my lord?' 5Then the angel that spoke with me answered and said unto me: 'Knowest thou not what these are? And I said: 'No, my lord.' 6Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying: 'This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying: Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. 7Who art thou, great mountain before Zerubbabel? thou shalt become a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stone with shoutings of Grace, grace, unto it.'

8Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: 9'The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10For who hath despised the day of small things? even they shall see with joy the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, even these seven, which are the eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro through the whole earth.'

11Then answered I, and said unto him: 'What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?' 12And I answered the second time, and said unto him: 'What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that empty the golden oil out of themselves?' 13And he answered me and said: 'Knowest thou not what these are?' And I said: 'No, my lord.' 14Then said he: 'These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.'

5Then again I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold a flying roll. 2And he said unto me: 'What seest thou?' And I answered: 'I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.' 3Then said he unto me: 'This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole land; for every one that stealeth shall be swept away on the one side like it; and every one that sweareth shall be swept away on the other side like it. 4I cause it to go forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by My name; and it shall abide in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.'

5Then the angel that spoke with me went forth, and said unto me: 'Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.' 6And I said: 'What is it?' And he said: 'This is the measure that goeth forth.' He said moreover: 'This is their eye in all the land—7and, behold, there was lifted up a round piece of lead—and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the measure.' 8And he said: 'This is Wickedness.' And he cast her down into the midst of the measure, and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

9Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there came forth two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork; and they lifted up the measure between the earth and the heaven. 10Then said I to the angel that spoke with me: 'Whither do these bear the measure?' 11And he said unto me: 'To build her a house in the land of Shinar; and when it is prepared, she shall be set there in her own place.'

6And again I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between the two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass. 2In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; 3and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grizzled bay horses. 4Then I answered and said unto the angel that spoke with me: 'What are these, my lord?' 5And the angel answered and said unto me: 'These chariots go forth to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. 6That wherein are the black horses goeth forth toward the north country; and the white went forth after them; and the grizzled went forth toward the south country; 7and the bay went forth.' And they sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth; and he said: 'Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth.' So they walked to and fro through the earth. 8Then cried he upon me, and spoke unto me, saying: 'Behold, they that go toward the north country have eased My spirit in the north country.'

9And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: 10'Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, that are come from Babylon; and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; 11yea, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set the one upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest; 12and speak unto him, saying: Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying: Behold, a man whose name is the Shoot, and who shall shoot up out of his place, and build the temple of the Lord; 13even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and there shall be a priest before his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. 14And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of the Lord. 15And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And it shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God—.'

7And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chislev; 2when Bethel-sarezer, and Regem-melech and his men, had sent to entreat the favour of the Lord, 3and to speak unto the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying: 'Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?' 4Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying: 5'Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto Me, even to Me? 6And when ye eat, and when ye drink, are ye not they that eat, and they that drink? 7Should ye not hearken to the words which the Lord hath proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?'

8And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying: 9Thus hath the Lord of hosts spoken, saying: Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother; 10and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart. 11But they refused to attend, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. 12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His spirit by the hand of the former prophets; therefore came there great wrath from the Lord of hosts. 13And it came to pass that, as He called, and they would not hear; so they shall call, and I will not hear, said the Lord of hosts; 14but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned; for they laid the pleasant land desolate.'

8And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying: 2'Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great fury.

3'Thus saith the Lord: I return unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called The city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts The holy mountain.

4Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women sit in the broad places of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age. 5And the broad places of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the broad places thereof.

6Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvellous in Mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts. 7Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save My people from the east country, and from the west country; 8and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

9Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets that were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, even the temple, that it might be built. 10For before those days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast, neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the Adversary; for I set all men every one against his neighbour. 11But now I will not be unto the remnant of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts. 12For as the seed of peace, the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. 13And it shall come to pass that, as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing; fear not, but let your hands be strong. 14For thus saith the Lord of hosts: As I purposed to do evil unto you, when your fathers provoked Me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not; 15 so again do I purpose in these days to do good unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear ye not. 16These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; 17and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.'

18And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying: 19'Thus saith the Lord of hosts. The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful seasons; therefore love ye truth and peace. 20Thus saith the Lord of hosts: It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities; 21and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying: Let us go speedily to entreat the favour of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I will go also. 22Yea, many peoples and mighty nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favour of the Lord. 23Thus saith the Lord of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'

9The burden of the word of the Lord.

In the land of Hadrach,
And in Damascus shall be His resting-place;
For the Lord's is the eye of man
And all the tribes of Israel.
2And Hamath also shall border thereon;
Tyre and Zidon, for she is very wise.
3AndTyre did build herself a stronghold,
And heaped up silver as the dust,
And fine gold as the mire of the streets.
4Behold, the Lord will impoverish her,
And He will smite her power into the sea;
And she shall be devoured with fire.
5Ashkelon shall see it, and fear,
Gaza also, and shall be sore pained,
And Ekron, for her expectation shall be ashamed;
And the king shall perish from Gaza,
And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
6And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod,
And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
7And I will take away his blood out of his mouth,
And his detestable things from between his teeth,
And he also shall be a remnant for our God;
And he shall be as a chief in Judah,
And Ekron as a Jebusite.
8And I will encamp about My house against the army,
That none pass through or return;
And no oppressor shall pass through them any more;
For now have I seen with Mine eyes.
9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion,
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem;
Behold, thy king cometh unto thee,
He is triumphant, and victorious,
Lowly, and riding upon an ass,
Even upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,
And the horse from Jerusalem,
And the battle bow shall be cut off,
And he shall speak peace unto the nations;
And his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
11As for thee also, because of the blood of thy covenant
I send forth thy prisoners out of the pit
Wherein is no water.
12Return to the stronghold,
Ye prisoners of hope;
Even to-day do I declare
That I will render double unto thee.
13For I bend Judah for Me,
I fill the bow with Ephraim;
And I will stir up thy sons, O Zion,
Against thy sons, O Javan,
And will make thee as the sword of a mighty man.
14And the Lord shall be seen over them,
And His arrow shall go forth as the lightning;
And the Lord God will blow the horn,
And will go with whirlwinds of the south.
15The Lord of hosts will defend them;
And they shall devour, and shall tread down the sling-stones;
And they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine;
And they shall be filled like the basins, like the corners of the altar.
16And the Lord their God shall save them in that day
As the flock of His people;
For they shall be as the stones of a crown,
Glittering over His land.
17For how great is their goodliness, and how great is their beauty!
Corn shall make the young men flourish,
And new wine the maids.
10Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain,
Even of the Lord that maketh lightnings;
And He will give them showers of rain,
To every one grass in the field.
2For the teraphim have spoken vanity,
And the diviners have seen a lie,
And the dreams speak falsely,
They comfort in vain;
Therefore they go their way like sheep,
They are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.
3Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds,
And I will punish the he-goats;
For the Lord of hosts hath remembered His flock the house of Judah,
And maketh them as His majestic horse in the battle.
4Out of them shall come forth the corner-stone,
Out of them the stake,
Out of them the battle bow,
Out of them every master together.
5And they shall be as mighty men,
Treading down in the mire of the streets in the battle,
And they shall fight, because the Lord is with them;
And the riders on horses shall be confounded.
6And I will strengthen the house of Judah,
And I will save the house of Joseph,
And I will bring them back, for I have compassion upon them,
And they shall be as though I had not cast them off;
For I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them.
7And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man,
And their heart shall rejoice as through wine;
Yea, their children shall see it, and rejoice,
Their heart shall be glad in the Lord.
8I will hiss for them, and gather them,
For I have redeemed them;
And they shall increase as they have increased.
9And I will sow them among the peoples,
And they shall remember Me in far countries;
And they shall live with their children, and shall return.
10I will bring them back also out of the land of Egypt,
And gather them out of Assyria;
And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon,
And place shall not suffice them.
11And over the sea affliction shall pass,
And the waves shall be smitten in the sea,
And all the depths of the Nile shall dry up;
And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down,
And the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.
12And I will strengthen them in the Lord;
And they shall walk up and down in His name,
Saith the Lord.
11Open thy doors, O Lebanon,
That the fire may devour thy cedars.
2Wail, O cypress-tree, for the cedar is fallen,
Because the glorious ones are spoiled;
Wail, O ye oaks of Bashan,
For the strong forest is come down.
3Hark! the wailing of the shepherds,
For their glory is spoiled;
Hark! the roaring of young lions,
For the thickets of the Jordan are spoiled.

4Thus said the Lord my God: 'Feed the flock of slaughter; 5whose buyers slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say: Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich; and their own shepherds pity them not. 6For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king; and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.' 7So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Graciousness, and the other I called Binders; and I fed the flock. 8And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; 'for My soul became impatient of them, and their soul also loathed Me.' 9Then said I: 'I will not feed you; that which dieth, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let them that are left eat every one the flesh of another.' 10And I took my staff Graciousness, and cut it asunder, 'that I might break My covenant which I had made with all the peoples.' 11And it was broken in that day; and the poor of the flock that gave heed unto me knew of a truth that it was the word of the Lord. 12And I said unto them: 'If ye think good, give me my hire; and if not, forbear.' So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver. 13And the Lord said unto me: 'Cast it into the treasury, the goodly price that I was prized at of them.' And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them into the treasury, in the house of the Lord. 14Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Binders, that the brotherhood between Judah and Israel might be broken.

15And the Lord said unto me : 'Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. 16For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not think of those that are cut off, neither will seek those that are young, nor heal that which is broken; neither will he feed that which standeth still, but he will eat the flesh of the fat, and will break their hoofs in pieces.'

17Woe to the worthless shepherd
That leaveth the flock!
The sword shall be upon his arm,
And upon his right eye;
His arm shall be clean dried up,
And his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

12The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel.

The saying of the Lord, who stretched forth the heavens,
And laid the foundation of the earth,
And formed the spirit of man within him.
2Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of staggering
Unto all the peoples round about,
And upon Judah also shall it fall to be in the siege against Jerusalem.

3And it shall come to pass in that day,

That I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all the peoples;
All that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded;
And all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.
4In that day, saith the Lord,
I will smite every horse with bewilderment,
And his rider with madness;
And I will open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah,
And will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.
5And the chiefs of Judah shall say in their heart:
'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength
Through the Lord of hosts their God.'
6In that day will I make the chiefs of Judah
Like a pan of fire among wood,
And like a torch of fire among sheaves;
And they shall devour all the peoples round about,
On the right hand and on the left;
And Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
7The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first,
That the glory of the house of David
And the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah.
8In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
And he that stumbleth among them at that day shall be as David,
And the house of David shall be as a godlike being,
As the angel of the Lord before them.
9And it shall come to pass in that day,
That I will seek to destroy all the nations
That come against Jerusalem.
10And I will pour upon the house of David,
And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
The spirit of grace and of supplication;
And they shall look unto Me because [1]they have thrust him through;
And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son,
And shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
11In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem,
As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
12And the land shall mourn, every family apart:
The family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart;
The family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
13The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart;
The family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;
14All the families that remain,
Every family apart, and their wives apart.
13In that day there shall be a fountain opened
To the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
For purification and for sprinkling.
2And it shall come to pass in that day,
Saith the Lord of hosts,
That I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land,
And they shall no more be remembered;
And also I will cause the prophets
And the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

3And it shall come to pass that, when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begot him shall say unto him: 'Thou shalt not live, for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord'; and his father and his mother that begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. 4And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be brought to shame every one through his vision, when he prophesieth; neither shall they wear a hairy mantle to deceive; 5but he shall say: 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondman from my youth.' 6And one shall say unto him: 'What are these wounds between thy hands?' Then he shall answer: 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'

7Awake, O sword, against My shepherd,
And against the man that is near unto Me,
Saith the Lord of hosts;
Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered;
And I will turn My hand upon the little ones.
8And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord,
Two parts therein shall be cut off and die;
But the third shall be left therein.
9And I will bring the third part through the fire,
And will refine them as silver is refined,
And will try them as gold is tried;
They shall call on My name,
And I will answer them;
I will say: 'It is My people',
And they shall say. 'The Lord is my God.'
14Behold, a day of the Lord cometh,
When thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle;
And the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled,
And the women ravished,
And half of the city shall go forth into captivity,
But the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3Then shall the Lord go forth,
And fight against those nations,
As when He fighteth in the day of battle.
4And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,
Which is before Jerusalem on the east,
And the mount of Olives shall be cleft in the midst thereof
Toward the east and toward the west,
So that there shall be a very great valley;
And half of the mountain shall remove toward the north,
And half of it toward the south.
5And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains;
For the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel;
Yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake
In the days of Uzziah king of Judah;
And the Lord my God shall come,
And all the holy ones with Thee.
6And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall not be light,
But heavy clouds and thick;
7And there shall be one day
Which shall be known as the Lord's,
Not day, and not night;
But it shall come to pass, that at evening time there shall be light.
8And it shall come-to pass in that day,
That living waters shall go out from Jerusalem:
Half of them, toward the eastern sea,
And half of them toward the western sea;
In summer and in winter shall it be.
9And the Lord shall be King over all the earth;
In that day shall the Lord be One, and His name one.

10All the land shall be turned as the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel unto the king's winepresses.

11And men shall dwell therein,
And there shall be no more extermination;
But Jerusalem shall dwell safely.
12And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite
All the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem:
Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,
And their eyes shall consume away in their sockets,
And their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13And it shall come to pass in that day,
That a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them;
And they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour,
And his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
14And Judah also shall fight against Jerusalem;
And the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together,
Gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
15And so shall be the plague of the horse,
Of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass,
And of all the beasts that shall be in those camps, as this plague.

16And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17And it shall be, that whoso of the families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain. 18And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, they shall have no overflow; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 20In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses: HOLY UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the basins before the altar. 21Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy unto the Lord of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein; and in that day there shall be no more a trafficker in the house of the Lord of hosts.



  1. That is, the nations. See verse 9.