Zechariah 10-11
New King James Version
Restoration of Judah and Israel
10 Ask (A)the Lord for (B)rain
In (C)the time of the [a]latter rain.
The Lord will make [b]flashing clouds;
He will give them showers of rain,
Grass in the field for everyone.
2 For the (D)idols[c] speak delusion;
The diviners envision (E)lies,
And tell false dreams;
They (F)comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wend their way like (G)sheep;
They are [d]in trouble (H)because there is no shepherd.
3 “My anger is kindled against the (I)shepherds,
(J)And I will punish the [e]goatherds.
For the Lord of hosts (K)will visit His flock,
The house of Judah,
And (L)will make them as His royal horse in the battle.
4 From him comes (M)the cornerstone,
From him (N)the tent peg,
From him the battle bow,
From him every [f]ruler together.
5 They shall be like mighty men,
Who (O)tread down their enemies
In the mire of the streets in the battle.
They shall fight because the Lord is with them,
And the riders on horses shall be put to shame.
6 “I will strengthen the house of Judah,
And I will save the house of Joseph.
(P)I will bring them back,
Because I (Q)have mercy on them.
They shall be as though I had not cast them aside;
For I am the Lord their God,
And I (R)will hear them.
7 Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man,
And their (S)heart shall rejoice as if with wine.
Yes, their children shall see it and be glad;
Their heart shall rejoice in the Lord.
8 I will (T)whistle for them and gather them,
For I will redeem them;
(U)And they shall increase as they once increased.
9 “I(V) will [g]sow them among the peoples,
And they shall (W)remember Me in far countries;
They shall live, together with their children,
And they shall return.
10 (X)I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt,
And gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon,
(Y)Until no more room is found for them.
11 (Z)He shall pass through the sea with affliction,
And strike the waves of the sea:
All the depths of [h]the River shall dry up.
Then (AA)the pride of Assyria shall be brought down,
And (AB)the scepter of Egypt shall depart.
12 “So I will strengthen them in the Lord,
And (AC)they shall walk up and down in His name,”
Says the Lord.
Desolation of Israel
11 Open (AD)your doors, O Lebanon,
That fire may devour your cedars.
2 Wail, O cypress, for the (AE)cedar has fallen,
Because the mighty trees are ruined.
Wail, O oaks of Bashan,
(AF)For the thick forest has come down.
3 There is the sound of wailing (AG)shepherds!
For their glory is in ruins.
There is the sound of roaring lions!
For the [i]pride of the Jordan is in ruins.
Prophecy of the Shepherds
4 Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter, 5 whose owners slaughter them and (AH)feel no guilt; those who sell them (AI)say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do (AJ)not pity them. 6 For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord. “But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They shall [j]attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”
7 So I fed the flock for slaughter, [k]in particular (AK)the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called [l]Beauty, and the other I called [m]Bonds; and I fed the flock. 8 I [n]dismissed the three shepherds (AL)in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9 Then I said, “I will not feed you. (AM)Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff, [o]Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day. Thus (AN)the[p] poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it is [q]agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they (AO)weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the (AP)potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. 14 Then I cut in two my other staff, [r]Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And the Lord said to me, (AQ)“Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. 16 For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in (AR)pieces.
17 “Woe(AS) to the worthless shepherd,
Who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm
And against his right eye;
His arm shall completely wither,
And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 10:1 Spring rain
- Zechariah 10:1 Or lightning flashes
- Zechariah 10:2 Heb. teraphim
- Zechariah 10:2 afflicted
- Zechariah 10:3 Leaders
- Zechariah 10:4 Or despot
- Zechariah 10:9 Or scatter
- Zechariah 10:11 The Nile
- Zechariah 11:3 Or floodplain, thicket
- Zechariah 11:6 Lit. strike
- Zechariah 11:7 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX for the Canaanites
- Zechariah 11:7 Or Grace
- Zechariah 11:7 Or Unity
- Zechariah 11:8 Or destroyed, lit. cut off
- Zechariah 11:10 Or Grace
- Zechariah 11:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX the Canaanites
- Zechariah 11:12 good in your sight
- Zechariah 11:14 Or Unity
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.