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11 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Wail, O fir-tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the [a]goodly ones are destroyed: wail, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the [b]strong forest is come down. A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! for their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! for the pride of the Jordan is laid waste.

Thus said Jehovah my God: Feed the flock of slaughter; whose [c]possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich; and [d]their own shepherds pity them not. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah; but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbor’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. So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily [e]the poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called [f]Beauty, and the other I called [g]Bands; and I fed the flock. And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me. Then said I, I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die; and [h]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. 10 And I took my staff Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 And it was broken in that day; and [i]thus [j]the poor of the flock that gave heed unto me knew that it was the word of Jehovah. 12 And 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. 13 And Jehovah said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them unto the potter, in the house of Jehovah. 14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 And Jehovah said unto me, Take unto thee yet again the instruments of a foolish shepherd. 16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not [k]visit those that are [l]cut off, neither will seek [m]those that are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which [n]is sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces. 17 Woe 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.

12 The [o]burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel.

Thus saith Jehovah, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him: Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and [p]upon Judah also [q]shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone 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. In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with terror, 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. And the chieftains of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Jehovah of hosts their God. In that day will I make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left; and they of Jerusalem shall yet again dwell in [r]their own place, even in Jerusalem. Jehovah 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. In that day shall Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he [s]that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them. 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 of supplication; and they shall look unto [t]me whom they have pierced; 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. 11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 12 And 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; 13 the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart; 14 all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

13 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah 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. And it shall come to pass that, when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of Jehovah; and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he prophesieth; neither shall they wear a hairy mantle to deceive: but he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondman from my youth. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds between thine [u]arms? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my [v]friends.

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith Jehovah of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn my hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part into 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 hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God.

14 Behold, a day of Jehovah cometh, when thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For 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, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall Jehovah go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And 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, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And [w]ye shall flee [x]by the valley of [y]my 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 Jehovah my God shall come, and all the holy ones with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that [z]there shall not be light; the bright ones shall withdraw themselves: but it shall be one day which is known unto Jehovah; not day, and not night; but it shall come to pass, that at evening time there shall be light. And 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.

And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall Jehovah be one, and his name one. 10 All the land shall be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she shall be lifted up, and shall dwell 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. 11 And men shall dwell therein, and there shall be no more [aa]curse; but Jerusalem shall dwell safely.

12 And this shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah 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. 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great [ab]tumult from Jehovah shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. 14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15 And 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 that plague.

16 And 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, Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso of all the families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, neither shall it be upon them; there shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will smite the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the [ac]punishment of Egypt, and the [ad]punishment of all the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holy unto Jehovah; and the pots in Jehovah’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy unto Jehovah of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and boil therein: and in that day there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah of hosts.

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 11:2 Or, glorious
  2. Zechariah 11:2 Or, fortified
  3. Zechariah 11:5 Or, buyers
  4. Zechariah 11:5 Or, their shepherd pitieth
  5. Zechariah 11:7 Or, the most miserable of sheep
  6. Zechariah 11:7 Or, Graciousness
  7. Zechariah 11:7 Or, Binders. Or, Union
  8. Zechariah 11:9 Or, that which is lost, let it be lost
  9. Zechariah 11:11 Or, the poor of the flock . . . knew of a truth
  10. Zechariah 11:11 Or, the most miserable of sheep
  11. Zechariah 11:16 Or, miss
  12. Zechariah 11:16 Or, lost
  13. Zechariah 11:16 Or, the young
  14. Zechariah 11:16 Hebrew standeth.
  15. Zechariah 12:1 Or, oracle
  16. Zechariah 12:2 Or, against
  17. Zechariah 12:2 Or, shall it fall to be
  18. Zechariah 12:6 Hebrew her.
  19. Zechariah 12:8 Or, that stumbleth
  20. Zechariah 12:10 According to some manuscripts, him.
  21. Zechariah 13:6 Hebrew hands.
  22. Zechariah 13:6 Or, lovers
  23. Zechariah 14:5 Or, as otherwise read, the valley of my mountains shall be stopped
  24. Zechariah 14:5 Or, to
  25. Zechariah 14:5 Or, the
  26. Zechariah 14:6 Or, the light shall not be bright nor dark
  27. Zechariah 14:11 Or, ban. Or, devoting to destruction
  28. Zechariah 14:13 Or, discomfiture
  29. Zechariah 14:19 Or, sin
  30. Zechariah 14:19 Or, sin

11 Open your doors, Lebanon,(A)
    so that fire(B) may devour your cedars!
Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
    the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks(C) of Bashan;
    the dense forest(D) has been cut down!(E)
Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
    their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;(F)
    the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!(G)

Two Shepherds

This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.(H) Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them.(I) For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors(J) and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”(K)

So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter,(L) particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested(M) me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.(N) Let those who are left eat(O) one another’s flesh.”

10 Then I took my staff called Favor(P) and broke it, revoking(Q) the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11 It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.(R)

13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver(S) and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.(T)

14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,(U)
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm(V) and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered,
    his right eye totally blinded!”(W)

Jerusalem’s Enemies to Be Destroyed

12 A prophecy:(X) The word of the Lord concerning Israel.

The Lord, who stretches out the heavens,(Y) who lays the foundation of the earth,(Z) and who forms the human spirit within a person,(AA) declares: “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup(AB) that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.(AC) Judah(AD) will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations(AE) of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock(AF) for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure(AG) themselves. On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.(AH) Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong,(AI) because the Lord Almighty is their God.’

“On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot(AJ) in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume(AK) all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact(AL) in her place.

“The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah.(AM) On that day the Lord will shield(AN) those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest(AO) among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God,(AP) like the angel of the Lord going before(AQ) them. On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations(AR) that attack Jerusalem.(AS)

Mourning for the One They Pierced

10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit[a](AT) of grace and supplication.(AU) They will look on[b] me, the one they have pierced,(AV) and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child,(AW) and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.(AX) 11 On that day the weeping(AY) in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.(AZ) 12 The land will mourn,(BA) each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives.(BB)

Cleansing From Sin

13 “On that day a fountain(BC) will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse(BD) them from sin and impurity.

“On that day, I will banish the names of the idols(BE) from the land, and they will be remembered no more,”(BF) declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets(BG) and the spirit of impurity from the land. And if anyone still prophesies, their father and mother, to whom they were born, will say to them, ‘You must die, because you have told lies(BH) in the Lord’s name.’ Then their own parents will stab the one who prophesies.(BI)

“On that day every prophet will be ashamed(BJ) of their prophetic vision. They will not put on a prophet’s garment(BK) of hair(BL) in order to deceive.(BM) Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.[c](BN) If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body[d]?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’

The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered

“Awake, sword,(BO) against my shepherd,(BP)
    against the man who is close to me!”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep will be scattered,(BQ)
    and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
    “two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
    yet one-third will be left in it.(BR)
This third I will put into the fire;(BS)
    I will refine them like silver(BT)
    and test them like gold.(BU)
They will call(BV) on my name(BW)
    and I will answer(BX) them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’(BY)
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.(BZ)’”

The Lord Comes and Reigns

14 A day of the Lord(CA) is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions(CB) will be plundered and divided up within your very walls.

I will gather all the nations(CC) to Jerusalem to fight against it;(CD) the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped.(CE) Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.(CF) Then the Lord will go out and fight(CG) against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle.(CH) On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,(CI) east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split(CJ) in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake[e](CK) in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come,(CL) and all the holy ones with him.(CM)

On that day there will be neither sunlight(CN) nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique(CO) day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night.(CP) When evening comes, there will be light.(CQ)

On that day living water(CR) will flow(CS) out from Jerusalem, half of it east(CT) to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.(CU)

The Lord will be king(CV) over the whole earth.(CW) On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.(CX)

10 The whole land, from Geba(CY) to Rimmon,(CZ) south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up(DA) high from the Benjamin Gate(DB) to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate,(DC) and from the Tower of Hananel(DD) to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place.(DE) 11 It will be inhabited;(DF) never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.(DG)

12 This is the plague with which the Lord will strike(DH) all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.(DI) 13 On that day people will be stricken by the Lord with great panic.(DJ) They will seize each other by the hand and attack one another.(DK) 14 Judah(DL) too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected(DM)—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing. 15 A similar plague(DN) will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.

16 Then the survivors(DO) from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship(DP) the King,(DQ) the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.(DR) 17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship(DS) the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain.(DT) 18 If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord[f] will bring on them the plague(DU) he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.(DV) 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.(DW)

20 On that day holy to the Lord(DX) will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots(DY) in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls(DZ) in front of the altar. 21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy(EA) to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day(EB) there will no longer be a Canaanite[g](EC) in the house(ED) of the Lord Almighty.(EE)

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 12:10 Or the Spirit
  2. Zechariah 12:10 Or to
  3. Zechariah 13:5 Or farmer; a man sold me in my youth
  4. Zechariah 13:6 Or wounds between your hands
  5. Zechariah 14:5 Or My mountain valley will be blocked and will extend to Azel. It will be blocked as it was blocked because of the earthquake
  6. Zechariah 14:18 Or part, then the Lord
  7. Zechariah 14:21 Or merchant