Zechariah (<i>GOD'S WORD</i>]

Zechariah (GOD'S WORD)

Zechariah 2 (GOD'S WORD)

    ¹ I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. ²I asked him, “Where are you going?” He answered, “I am going to measure Jerusalem to see how wide and how long it is.”
    ³ Then the angel who was speaking with me left. Another angel came out to meet him ⁴and said to him, “Run, and say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited like an unwalled village because it will have so many people and animals in it. ⁵I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD. I will be the glory within it.’
    ⁶ “Hurry, hurry! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD. I’ve scattered you to the four winds of heaven. ⁷Hurry, Zion! Escape, you inhabitants of Babylon! ⁸This is what the LORD of Armies says: Afterwards, the Glory sent me to the nations who looted you. Whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye. ⁹I’m going to shake my fist at the nations, and their own slaves will loot them. Then you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me. ¹⁰Sing for joy and rejoice, people of Zion. I’m going to come and live among you, declares the LORD. ¹¹On that day many nations will join the LORD and become my people. I will live among you. Then you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you. ¹²The LORD will claim Judah as his own in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.
    ¹³“Everyone be silent in the presence of the LORD. He is waking up and setting out from his holy dwelling place.”

Zechariah 3:1-5 (GOD'S WORD)

¹In the eighth month of Darius’ second year as king, the LORD spoke his word to the prophet Zechariah, who was the son of Berechiah and the
grandson of Iddo. He said, ²“The LORD was very angry with your ancestors. ³Tell the people, ‘This is what the LORD of Armies says: Return to me, declares the LORD of Armies, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Armies.’⁴Don’t be like your ancestors, who heard the earlier prophets preach to them, ‘This is what the LORD of Armies says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds.’ But they didn’t listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.⁵Your ancestors—where are they now? And the prophets—are they still alive?

Zechariah 4 (GOD'S WORD)

   ¹The angel who was speaking with me returned and woke me up as one might wake up someone who is sleeping. ²He asked me, "What do you see?"
   I answered, "I see a solid gold lamp stand with a bowl on top and seven lamps on it. There are seven spouts for each lamp that is on top of it. ³There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left."
   ⁴I asked the angel who was speaking with me, "What do these things mean, sir?"
   ⁵Then the angel asked me, "Don't you know what they mean?"
    "No, sir," I answered.
   ⁶Then he replied, "This is the word the Lord spoke to Zerubbabel: You won't succeed by might or by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Armies. ⁷What a high mountain you are! In front of Zerubbabel you will become a plain. He will bring out the topmost stone with shouts of 'Blessings,
blessings on it!'"

LIVING WATER FROM JERUSALEM

    ⁸On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea. It will continue in
summer and in winter.
    ⁹The LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be the only Lord and his name the only name.
    ¹⁰The whole earth will become like the plains from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site, from Benjamin Gate to the place of First Gate, Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. ¹¹People will live there, and it will never be threatened with destruction. Jerusalem will live securely.
    ¹²This will be the plague the LORD will use to strike all the people from the nations that have gone to war against Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
    ¹³On that day a large-scale panic from the LORD will spread among them. One person will grab the hand of another, and one will attack the other. ¹⁴Judah will also fight in Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected, a very large amount of gold, silver, and clothes. ¹⁵A similar plague will also affect horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all other animals in those camps.
    ¹⁶Everyone who is left from all the nations that attacked Jerusalem will come every year to worship the king, the LORD of Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Booths. ¹⁷If any of the families on the earth won’t go to Jerusalem to worship the king, the LORD of Armies, then rain won’t fall on them. ¹⁸If the people of Egypt won’t go or enter Jerusalem, then {rain won’t fall} on them. The plague the LORD uses to strike the nations will affect those who won’t come to celebrate the Festival of Booths. ¹⁹This will be {the punishment} for Egypt’s sin and for the sin of all the nations that won’t go to celebrate the Festival of Booths.
    ²⁰On that day “Holy to the LORD” will be written on the bells of the horses. And the cooking pots in the house of the LORD will be like the bowls in front of the altar. ²¹Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of Armies. All who come to sacrifice will take some of them and cook in them. On that day there will no longer be any Canaanite in the house of the LORD of Armies.

Zechariah 5:1-11 (GOD'S WORD)

¹I looked up again and saw a flying scroll.
   ²The angel asked me, “What do you see?” “I see a flying scroll,” I answered. “It’s 30 feet long and 15 feet wide.”
   ³Then he said to me, “This is a curse that will go out all over the earth. The one side of the scroll says that every thief will be forced away. The other side of the scroll says that everyone who takes an oath will be forced away. ⁴I will send out a curse, declares the LORD of Armies, and it will enter the houses of thieves and the houses of those who take oaths in my name. It will stay in their
houses and destroy the timber and stone.”
    ⁵The angel who was speaking with me came forward. He said, “Look up, and see what’s coming.”
   ⁶“What is it?” I asked. “A basket is coming,” he said. Then he added, “This is what the people’s sins look like all over the earth.”a ⁷A lead cover bon the basketn was raised, and
a woman was sitting in the basket. ⁸The angel said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and forced the lead cover down on top of it.
    ⁹I looked up and saw two women coming forward with wind in their wings. They had wings like those of a stork. They carried the basket into the sky.
    ¹⁰I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”
    ¹¹He answered me, “They are going to build a house for it in Shinar [Babylonia]. When the house is ready, they will set the basket there on a stand.”

Zechariah 6:1-8 (GOD'S WORD)

¹I looked up again and saw four chariots going out from between the two mountains. They were mountains of bronze. ²The first chariot had red horses. The second had black horses. ³The third had white horses. And the fourth had strong, spotted horses. ⁴I asked the angel who was speaking with me, "What do these horses mean, sir?"
    ⁵The angel answered, "They are the four spirits of heaven. They are going out after standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. ⁶The chariot with the black horses is going toward the north, the the white horses are following them. The spotted ones are going toward the south."
    ⁷When these strong horses went out, they were eager to patrol the earth.
      He said, "Go, patrol the earth!" And they patrolled the earth.
    ⁸Then he called out to me, "Look! Those who went to the north have made my Spirit rest in the north."

Zechariah 6:9-15 (GOD'S WORD)

PRIEST AND KING
⁹ The LORD spoke his word to me. He said, ¹⁰“Take an offering from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon. This same day go to the house of Josiah, son of Zephaniah. ¹¹Take the silver and gold, make a crown, and put it on the head of Chief Priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak. ¹²Then say to him, ‘This is what the LORD of Armies says: Here is the man whose name is Branch. He will branch out from where he is, and he will rebuild the LORD’s temple. ¹³He will rebuild the LORD’s temple and receive royal honor. He will sit and rule from his throne. He will be a priest on his throne. There will be a peaceful understanding between them. ¹⁴The crown will be a reminder to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen (son of Zephaniah) in the LORD’s temple. ¹⁵Those who are far away will come and rebuild the LORD’s temple. Then you will know the LORD of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen if you obey the LORD your God completely.’ ”

Zechariah 11:4-14 (GOD'S WORD)

   ⁴This is what the LORD my God says: Take care of the sheep that are about to be slaughtered. ⁵Those who buy them will kill them and go unpunished. Those who sell them will say, “Praise the LORD! I’ve become rich!” Even their own shepherds will have no pity on them.
   ⁶The LORD declares, “I will no longer have pity on those who live in the land. I am going to hand the people over to their neighbors and their king, who will crush the land. And I won’t rescue any of them from their power.”
   ⁷So I became the shepherd of the sheep that were to be slaughtered and also of the oppressed sheep. I took two shepherd staffs and named one Favor and the other Unity. And I took care of the sheep. ⁸I got rid of three shepherds in one month. I became impatient with the sheep, and they also became disgusted with me.⁹So I said, “I won’t be your shepherd. Let those that are dying die. Let those that are missing stay missing. And let those that are left devour each other.”
    ¹⁰Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it in pieces, to break the promisea that I had made to all the nations. 11So it was broken on that day, and the oppressed among the sheep who were watching me realized that it was the word of the LORD.
    ¹²Then I said to them, “If it’s alright with you, pay me my wages. But if it’s not, don’t.” And they paid me my wages—30 pieces of silver.
    ¹³The LORD told me, “Give it to the potter.” So I took the 30 pieces of silver. Such a magnificent price was set by them! I gave the pieces of silver to the potter at the house of the LORD.
    ¹⁴Then I broke my second staff, called Unity, in pieces, to break off the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Zechariah 12:1-14 (GOD'S WORD)

  ¹This is the prophetic revelation, the word of the LORD about Israel. The LORD—who spread out the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit in a person—says,       ²“I’m going to make Jerusalem like a cup bof winen that makes all the surrounding people stagger. They will attack Judah along with Jerusalem. ³On that day I will make Jerusalem
a stone too heavy for all the nations to lift. All who try to lift it will be severely injured. All the nations in the world will gather bto fightn against Jerusalem.”
    ⁴The LORD declares, “On that day I will strike every horse with panic and every rider with madness. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will strike all the horses of the nations blind. ⁵Then the leaders of Judah will think to themselves, ‘The people who live in Jerusalem are strong because of the LORD of Armies, their God.’
   ⁶“On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a fire on a pile of wood and like a burning torch among freshly cut straw. They will burn up all the surrounding nations to the right and to the left. But the people of Jerusalem will remain safe in Jerusalem.
    ⁷“The LORD will save Judah’s tents first so that the honor of David’s family and the honor of those who live in Jerusalem will not be greater than the honor of Judah. ⁸On that day the LORD will defend those who live in Jerusalem so that even those who stumble will be like David, and David’s family will be like God, like the Messenger of the LORD ahead of them.
   ⁹“On that day I will seek to destroy all the nations who attack Jerusalem.¹⁰"I Will pour out the Spirit of blessing and mercy on David's family and on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look at me, whom they have stabbed. Then they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they will cry bitterly for him as one cries for a firstborn son. ¹¹On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as intense as the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹²The land will mourn, each family by itself: the family of David by itself, and the wives by themselves; the family of Nathan by itself, and the wives by themselves; ¹³the family of Levi by itself, and the wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and the wives by themselves. ¹⁴All the families that are left {will mourn}, each by itself, and the wives by themselves."

Zechariah 13:6 (GOD'S WORD)

⁶"When someone asks him, 'What are these scars on your chest?' he will answer, 'I was hurt at my friend's house.'

Zechariah 13:7-9 (GOD'S WORD)

THE SHEPHERD STRUCK, THE SHEEP SCATTERED

   ⁷    “Arise, sword, against my shepherd,
            against the man who is my friend,” declares the LORD of Armies.
        “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.
            Then I will turn my hand against the little ones.”
⁸ The LORD declares,
    “Throughout the land two-thirds will be cut off and die.
        Yet, one-third will be left in it.
⁹     I will bring this third [of the people] through the fire.
    I will refine them as silver is refined.
    I will test them as gold is tested.
            They will call on me, and I will answer them.
                I will say, ‘They are my people.’
                    They will reply, ‘The LORD is our God.’ ”

Zechariah 14 (GOD'S WORD)

¹A day is going to come for the LORD when the loot you have taken will be divided among you. ²I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half of the people in the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people won't be taken from the city.
³Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as he does when he fights a battle. ⁴ On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will be split in two, forming a very large valley from east to west. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half will move toward the south. ⁵Then you will flee to the valley of my mountains, because this valley between the mountains will go as far as Azel. You will flee as you did from the earthquake at the time of King Uzziah of Judah. The LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones will be with him.

⁶On that day there will be neither heat nor freezing cold. ⁷There will be one day--a day known to the LORD--with no difference between day and night. It will be light even in the evening.

Living Water From Jerusalem

   ⁸On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea. It will continue in summer and in winter.
   ⁹The LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be the only LORD and his name the only name.
   ¹⁰The whole earth will become like the plains from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site, from Benjamin Gate to the place of First Gate, Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. ¹¹People will live there, and it will never be threatened with destruction. Jerusalem will live securely.
    ¹²This will be the plague the LORD will use to strike all the people from the nations that have gone to war against Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
    ¹³On that day a large-scale panic from the LORD will spread among them. One person will grab the hand of another, and one will attack the other. ¹⁴Judah will also fight in Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected, a very large amount of gold, silver, and clothes. ¹⁵A similar plague will also affect horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all other animals in those camps.
    ¹⁶Everyone who is left from all the nations that attacked Jerusalem will come every year to worship the king, the LORD of Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Booths. ¹⁷If any of the families on the earth won’t go to Jerusalem to worship the king, the LORD of Armies, then rain won’t fall on them. ¹⁸If the people of Egypt won’t go or enter Jerusalem, then {rain won’t fall} on them. The plague the LORD uses to strike the nations will affect those who won’t come to celebrate the Festival of Booths. ¹⁹This will be {the punishment} for Egypt’s sin and for the sin of all the nations that won’t go to celebrate the Festival of Booths.
    ²⁰On that day “Holy to the LORD” will be written on the bells of the horses. And the cooking pots in the house of the LORD will be like the bowls in front of the altar. ²¹Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of Armies. All who come to sacrifice will take some of them and cook in them. On that day there will no longer be any Canaanitec in the house of the LORD of Armies.