the east and from the lands of the west, 8and I will bring them home to dwell in Jerusalem. They shall be My people, and I will be their God—in truth and sincerity.
9Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Take courage, you who now hear these words which the prophets spoke when the foundations were laid for the rebuilding of the Temple, the House of the LORD of Hosts.
10aFor before that time, the earnings of men were nil, and profits from beasts were nothing. It was not safe to go about one’s business on account of enemies; and I set all men against one another. 11But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as before—declares the LORD of Hosts— 12but what it sows shall prosper: The vine shall produce its fruit, the ground shall produce its yield, and the skies shall provide their moisture. I will bestow all these things upon the remnant of this people. 13And just as you were a curseb among the nations, O House of Judah and House of Israel, so, when I vindicate you, you shall become a blessing.b Have no fear; take courage!
14For thus said the LORD of Hosts: Just as I planned to afflict you and did not relent when your fathers provoked Me to anger—said the LORD of Hosts—15so, at this time, I have turned and planned to do good to Jerusalem and to the House of Judah. Have no fear! 16These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to one another, render true and perfect justice in your gates. 17And do not contrive evil against one another, and do not love perjury, because all those are things that I hate—declares the LORD.
18And the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying, 19Thus said the LORD of Hosts: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth month, the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of the tenth monthc shall become occasions for joy and gladness, happy festivals for the House of Judah; but you must love honesty and integrity.
20Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Peoples and the inhabitants of many cities shall yet come—21the inhabitants of one shall go to the other and say, “Let us go and entreat the favor of the LORD, let us seek the LORD of Hosts; I will go, too.” 22The many peoples and the multitude of nations shall come to seek the LORD of Hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD. 23Thus said the LORD of Hosts: In those days, ten men from nations of every tongue will take hold—they will take hold of every Jew by a corner of his cloak and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
9
A pronouncement: The word of the LORD.
He will reside in the land of Hadrach and Damascus;
For all men’s eyes will turn to the LORD—
Like all the tribes of Israel—
2Including Hamath, which borders on it,a
And Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
3Tyre has built herself a fortress;
She has amassed silver like dust,
And gold like the mud in the streets.
4But my Lord will impoverish her;
He will defeat her forces at sea,
And she herself shall be consumed by fire.
5Ashkelon shall see it and be frightened,
Gaza shall tremble violently,
And Ekron, at the collapse of her hopes.
Kingship shall vanish from Gaza,
Ashkelon shall be without inhabitants,
6And b-a mongrel people-b shall settle in Ashdod.
I will uproot the grandeur of Philistia.
7But I will clean out the blood from its mouth,
And the detestable things from between its teeth.
Its survivors, too, shall belong to our God:
They shall become like a clan in Judah,
And Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.
8And I will encamp in My House c-against armies,-c
Against any that come and go,
And no oppressor shall ever overrun them again;
For I have now taken note d-with My own eyes.-d
9Rejoice greatly, Fair Zion;
Raise a shout, Fair Jerusalem!
Lo, your king is coming to you.
He is victorious, triumphant,
Yet humble, riding on an ass,
On a donkey foaled by a she-ass.
10Hee shall banish chariots from Ephraim
And horses from Jerusalem;
The warrior’s bow shall be banished.
He shall call on the nations to surrender,f
And his rule shall extend from sea to sea
And from ocean to land’s end.
11gYou, for your part, have releasedh
Your prisoners from the dry pit,i
For the sake of the blood of your covenant,
12[Saying], “Return to Bizzaron,j
You prisoners of hope.”
In return [I] announce this day:
I will repay you double.
13For I have drawn Judah taut,
And applied [My hand] to Ephraim as to a bow,
And I will arouse your sons, O Zion,
Against your sons, O Javan,
And make you like a warrior’s sword.
14And the LORD will manifest Himself to them,k
And His arrows shall flash like lightning;
My Lord GOD shall sound the ram’s horn
And advance in a stormy tempest.l
15The LORD of Hosts will protect them:
m[His] slingstones shall devour and conquer;
They shall n-drink, shall rage as with-n wine,
And be filled [with it] like a dashing bowl,
Like the corners of an altar.
16The LORD their God shall prosper them
On that day;
[He shall pasture] His people like sheep.
[They shall be] like crown jewels glittering on His soil.
17How lovely, how beautiful they shall be,
Producing young men like new grain,
Young women like new wine!
10
Ask the LORD for rain
In the a-season of late rain.-a
It is the LORD who causes storms;b
And He will provide rainstorms c-for them,
Grass in the fields for everyone.-c
2For the teraphimd spoke delusion,
The augurs predicted falsely;
And dreamers speak lies
And console with illusions.
That is why My people have strayedb like a flock,
They sufferb for lack of a shepherd.
3My anger is roused against the shepherds,
And I will punish the he-goats.e
For the LORD of Hosts has taken thought
In behalf of His flock, the House of Judah;
He will make them like majestic chargers in battle.
4From them shall come f-cornerstones,
From them tent pegs,-f
From them bows of combat,
And every captain shall also arise from them.
5And together they shall be like warriors in battle,
Tramping in the dirt of the streets;
They shall fight, for the LORD shall be with them,
And they shall put horsemen to shame.
6I will give victory to the House of Judah,
And triumph to the House of Joseph.
I will restore them, for I have pardoned them,
And they shall be as though I had never disowned them;
For I the LORD am their God,
And I will answer their prayers.
7g-Ephraim shall be like a warrior,
And they-g shall exult as with wine;
Their children shall see it and rejoice,
They shall exult in the LORD.
8I will whistle to them and gather them,
For I will redeem them;
They shall increase b-and continue increasing.-b
9For though I sowed them among the nations,
In the distant places they shall remember Me,
They shall escape with their children and shall return.
10I will bring them back from the land of Egypt
And gather them from Assyria;
And I will bring them to the lands of Gilead and Lebanon,
And even they shall not suffice for them.
11b-A hemmed-in force shall pass over the sea
And shall stir up waves in the sea;-b
And all the deeps of the Nile shall dry up.
Down shall come the pride of Assyria,
And the scepter of Egypt shall pass away.
12But I will make themh mighty through the LORD,
And they shall i-march proudly-i in His name
—declares the LORD.
11
Throw open your gates, O Lebanon,
And let fire consume your cedars!
2Howl, cypresses, for cedars have fallen!
How the mighty are ravaged!
Howl, you oaks of Bashan,
For the stately forest is laid low!
3Hark, the wailing of the shepherds,
For their a-rich pastures-a are ravaged;
Hark, the roaring of the great beasts,
For the jungle of the Jordan is ravaged.
4Thus said my God the LORD: Tend the sheep meant for slaughter, 5whose buyers will slaughter them with impunity, whose seller will say, “Praised be the LORD! I’ll get rich,” and whose shepherd will not pity them. 6For I will pity the inhabitants of the land no more—declares the LORD—but I will place every man at the mercy of every other man and at the mercy of his king; they shall break the country to bits, and I will not rescue it from their hands.
7So I tended the sheep meant for slaughter, b-for those poor men of the sheep.-b I got two staffs, one of which I named Favor and the other Unity, and I proceeded to tend the sheep. 8But I lost c-the three shepherds-c in one month; then my patience with them was at an end, and they in turn were disgusted with me. 9So I declared, “I am not going to tend you; let the one that is to die die and the one that is to get lost get lost; and let the rest devour each other’s flesh!”
10Taking my staff Favor, I cleft it in two, so as to annul the covenant I had made with all the peoples;d 11and when it was annulled that day, e-the same poor men of the sheep-e who watchedf me realized that it was a message from the LORD. 12Then I said to them, “If you are satisfied, pay me my wages; if not, don’t.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty shekels of silver—13 a-the noble sum that I was worth in their estimation.-a The LORD said to me, “Deposit it in the treasury.”a And I took the thirty shekels and deposited it in the treasury in the House of the LORD. 14Then I cleft in two my second staff, Unity, in order to annul the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.g
15The LORD said to me further: Get yourself the gear of a foolish shepherd. 16For I am going to raise up in the land a shepherd who will neither miss the lost [sheep], nor seek the strayed,a nor heal the injured, nor sustain the frail,a but will feast on the flesh of