Zechariah 5
1Then again I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll. 2He said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”
3Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land, for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side. 4I will cause it to go out,” says the LORD of Armies, “and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the middle of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones.”
5Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift up now your eyes and see what this is that is appearing.”
6I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the ephah basket that is appearing.” He said moreover, “This is their appearance in all the land— 7and behold, a lead cover weighing one talent was lifted up—and there was a woman sitting in the middle of the ephah basket.” 8He said, “This is Wickedness;” and he threw her down into the middle of the ephah basket; and he threw the lead weight on its mouth.
9Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, there were two women; and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky. 10Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are these carrying the ephah basket?”
11He said to me, “To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place.”
Zechariah 6
1Again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2In the first chariot were red horses. In the second chariot were black horses. 3In the third chariot were white horses. In the fourth chariot were dappled horses, all of them powerful. 4Then I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5The angel answered me, “These are the four winds of the sky, which go out from standing before the Lord of all the earth. 6The one with the black horses goes out toward the north country; and the white went out after them; and the dappled went out toward the south country.” 7The strong went out, and sought to go that they might walk back and forth through the earth. He said, “Go around and through the earth!” So they walked back and forth through the earth.
8Then he called to me, and spoke to me, saying, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country.”
9The LORD’s word came to me, saying, 10“Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon. 11Yes, take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest; 12and speak to him, saying, ‘The LORD of Armies says, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch! He will grow up out of his place; and he will build the LORD’s temple. 13He will build the LORD’s temple. He will bear the glory, and will sit and rule on his throne. He will be a priest on his throne. The counsel of peace will be between them both. 14The crowns shall be to Helem, to Tobijah, to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the LORD’s temple.
15Those who are far off shall come and build in the LORD’s temple; and you shall know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen, if you will diligently obey the LORD your God’s voice.”’”
Zechariah 7
1In the fourth year of King Darius, the LORD’s word came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev. 2The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech and their men to entreat the LORD’s favor, 3and to speak to the priests of the house of the LORD of Armies and to the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?”
4Then the word of the LORD of Armies came to me, saying, 5“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me? 6When you eat and when you drink, don’t you eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7Aren’t these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”
8The LORD’s word came to Zechariah, saying, 9“Thus has the LORD of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother. 10Don’t oppress the widow, the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’ 11But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. 12Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law and the words which the LORD of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the LORD of Armies. 13It has come to pass that, as he called and they refused to listen, so they will call and I will not listen,” said the LORD of Armies; 14“but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”
Zechariah 8
1The word of the LORD of Armies came to me. 2The LORD of Armies says: “I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.”
3The LORD says: “I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called ‘The City of Truth;’ and the mountain of the LORD of Armies, ‘The Holy Mountain.’”
4The LORD of Armies says: “Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand because of their old age. 5The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.”
6The LORD of Armies says: “If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes?” says the LORD of Armies.
7The LORD of Armies says: “Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country. 8I will bring them, and they will dwell within Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.”
9The LORD of Armies says: “Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of Armies was laid, even the temple, that it might be built. 10For before those days there was no wages for man nor any wages for an animal, neither was there any peace to him who went out or came in, because of the adversary. For I set all men everyone against his neighbor. 11But now I will not be to the remnant of this people as in the former days,” says the LORD of Armies. 12“For the seed of peace and the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. 13It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Don’t be afraid. Let your hands be strong.”
14For the LORD of Armies says: “As I thought to do evil to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath,” says the LORD of Armies, “and I didn’t repent, 15so again I have thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Don’t be afraid. 16These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates, 17and let none of you devise evil in your hearts against his neighbor, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate,” says the LORD.
18The word of the LORD of Armies came to me. 19The LORD of Armies says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.”
20The LORD of Armies says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come. 21The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, ‘Let’s go speedily to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of Armies. I will go also.’ 22Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the LORD of Armies in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.” 23The LORD of Armies says: “In those days, ten men out of all the languages of the nations will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, ‘We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”
Zechariah 9
1A revelation.
The LORD’s word is against the land of Hadrach,
and will rest upon Damascus—
for the eye of man
and of all the tribes of Israel is toward the LORD—
2and Hamath, also, which borders on it,
Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise.
3Tyre built herself a stronghold,
and heaped up silver like the dust,
and fine gold like the mire of the streets.
4Behold, the Lord will dispossess her,
and he will strike her power in the sea;
and she will be devoured with fire.
Ashkelon will see it, and fear;
Gaza also, and will writhe in agony;
as will Ekron, for her expectation will be disappointed;
and the king will perish from Gaza,
and Ashkelon will not be inhabited.
6Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod,
and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
7I will take away his blood out of his mouth,
and his abominations from between his teeth;
and he also will be a remnant for our God;
and he will be as a chieftain in Judah,
and Ekron as a Jebusite.
8I will encamp around my house against the army,
that no one pass through or return;
and no oppressor will pass through them any more:
for now I have seen with my eyes.
Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!
Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King comes to you!
He is righteous, and having salvation;
lowly, and riding on a donkey,
even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the horse from Jerusalem.
The battle bow will be cut off;
and he will speak peace to the nations.
His dominion will be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you also,
because of the blood of your covenant,
I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
12Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope!
Even today I declare that I will restore double to you.
13For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for me.
I have loaded the bow with Ephraim.
I will stir up your sons, Zion,
against your sons, Greece,
and will make you like the sword of a mighty man.
The LORD will be seen over them.
His arrow will flash like lightning.
The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet,
and will go with whirlwinds of the south.
15The LORD of Armies will defend them.
They will destroy and overcome with sling stones.
They will drink, and roar as through wine.
They will be filled like bowls,
like the corners of the altar.
The LORD their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people;
for they are like the jewels of a crown,
lifted on high over his land.
17For how great is his goodness,
and how great is his beauty!
Grain will make the young men flourish,
and new wine the virgins.
Zechariah 10
1Ask of the LORD rain in the spring time,
the LORD who makes storm clouds,
and he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field.
2For the teraphim have spoken vanity,
and the diviners have seen a lie;
and they have told false dreams.
They comfort in vain.
Therefore they go their way like sheep.
They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd.
My anger is kindled against the shepherds,
and I will punish the male goats,
for the LORD of Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah,
and will make them as his majestic horse in the battle.
4From him will come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
from him every ruler together.
5They will be as mighty men,
treading down muddy streets in the battle.
They will fight, because the LORD is with them.
The riders on horses will be confounded.
“I will strengthen the house of Judah,
and I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back,
for I have mercy on them.
They will be as though I had not cast them off,
for I am the LORD their God, and I will hear them.
7Ephraim will be like a mighty man,
and their heart will rejoice as through wine.
Yes, their children will see it and rejoice.
Their heart will be glad in the LORD.
8I will signal for them and gather them,
for I have redeemed them.
They will increase as they were before.
9I will sow them among the peoples.
They will remember me in far countries.
They will live with their children and will return.
10I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt,
and gather them out of Assyria.
I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon;
and there won’t be room enough for them.
11He will pass through the sea of affliction,
and will strike the waves in the sea,
and all the depths of the Nile will dry up;
and the pride of Assyria will be brought down,
and the scepter of Egypt will depart.
12I will strengthen them in the LORD.
They will walk up and down in his name,” says the LORD.
Zechariah 11
1Open your doors, Lebanon,
that the fire may devour your cedars.
2Wail, cypress tree, for the cedar has fallen,
because the stately ones are destroyed.
Wail, you oaks of Bashan,
for the strong forest has come down.
3A 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 ruined.
4The LORD my God says: “Feed the flock of slaughter. 5Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds don’t pity them. 6For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the LORD; “but, behold, I will deliver every one of the men into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.”
7So I fed the flock to be slaughtered, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called “Favor” and the other I called “Union”, and I fed the flock. 8I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me. 9Then I said, “I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.” 10I took my staff Favor and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was the LORD’s word. 12I said to them, “If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.” So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13The LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter—the handsome price that I was valued at by them!” I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the LORD’s house. 14Then I cut apart my other staff, Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15The LORD said to me, “Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the meat of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces. 17Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!”
Zechariah 12
1A revelation of the LORD’s word concerning Israel: The LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says: 2“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and it will also be on Judah in the siege against Jerusalem. 3It will happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it. 4In that day,” says the LORD, “I will strike every horse with terror and his rider with madness. I will open my eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5The chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of Armies their God.’
6In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.
7The LORD also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of David’s house and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah. 8In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and David’s house will be like God, like the LORD’s angel before them. 9It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10I will pour on David’s house and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. They will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for his firstborn. 11In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo. 12The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of David’s house 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 who remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.
Zechariah 13
1“In that day there will be a fountain opened to David’s house and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
2It will come to pass in that day, says the LORD of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land. 3It will happen that when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, ‘You must die, because you speak lies in the LORD’s name;’ and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies. 4It will happen in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they won’t wear a hairy mantle to deceive, 5but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.’ 6One will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’
“Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
and against the man who is close to me,” says the LORD of Armies.
“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
8It shall happen that in all the land,” says the LORD,
“two parts in it will be cut off and die;
but the third will be left in it.
9I will bring the third part into the fire,
and will refine them as silver is refined,
and will test them like gold is tested.
They will call on my name, and I will hear them.
I will say, ‘It is my people;’
and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”
Zechariah 14
1Behold, a day of the LORD comes, when your plunder will be divided within you. 2For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5You shall flee by the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel. Yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. The LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.
6It will happen in that day that there will not be light, cold, or frost. 7It will be a unique day which is known to the LORD—not day, and not night; but it will come to pass that at evening time there will be light.
8It will happen in that day that living waters will go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea. It will be so in summer and in winter.
9The LORD will be King over all the earth. In that day the LORD will be one, and his name one.
10All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. 11Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but Jerusalem will dwell safely.
12This will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have fought against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth. 13It will happen in that day that a great panic from the LORD will be among them; and they will each seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor. 14Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, silver, and clothing, in great abundance.
15A plague like this will fall on the horse, on the mule, on the camel, on the donkey, and on all the animals that will be in those camps.
16It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of Armies, and to keep the feast of booths. 17It will be that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn’t go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Armies, on them there will be no rain. 18If the family of Egypt doesn’t go up and doesn’t come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which the LORD will strike the nations that don’t go up to keep the feast of booths. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that don’t go up to keep the feast of booths.
20In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD”; and the pots in the LORD’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of Armies.
Malachi 1
1A revelation, the LORD’s word to Israel by Malachi.
2“I have loved you,” says the LORD. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says the LORD, “Yet I loved Jacob; 3but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.” 4Whereas Edom says, “We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places,” the LORD of Armies says, “They shall build, but I will throw down; and men will call them ‘The Wicked Land,’ even the people against whom the LORD shows wrath forever.”
5Your eyes will see, and you will say, “The LORD is great—even beyond the border of Israel!”
6“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD of Armies to you priests who despise my name. “You say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ In that you say, ‘The LORD’s table is contemptible.’ 8When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn’t that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person?” says the LORD of Armies.
9“Now, please entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?” says the LORD of Armies.
10“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Armies, “neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 11For from the rising of the sun even to its going down, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations,” says the LORD of Armies. 12“But you profane it when you say, ‘The LORD’s table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.’ 13You say also, ‘Behold, what a weariness it is!’ And you have sniffed at it”, says the LORD of Armies; “and you have brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?” says the LORD.
14“But the deceiver is cursed who has in his flock a male, and vows and sacrifices to the Lord a defective thing; for I am a great King,” says the LORD of Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”
Malachi 2
1“Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. 2If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says the LORD of Armies, “then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart. 3Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and will spread dung on your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it. 4You will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant may be with Levi,” says the LORD of Armies. 5“My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him that he might be reverent toward me; and he was reverent toward me, and stood in awe of my name. 6The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity. 7For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of Armies. 8But you have turned away from the path. You have caused many to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Armies. 9“Therefore I have also made you contemptible and wicked before all the people, according to the way you have not kept my ways, but have had respect for persons in the law. 10Don’t we all have one father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12The LORD will cut off the man who does this, him who wakes and him who answers, out of the tents of Jacob and him who offers an offering to the LORD of Armies.
13“This again you do: you cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, because he doesn’t regard the offering any more, neither receives it with good will at your hand. 14Yet you say, ‘Why?’ Because the LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and the wife of your covenant. 15Did he not make you one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. 16One who hates and divorces”, says the LORD, the God of Israel, “covers his garment with violence!” says the LORD of Armies. “Therefore pay attention to your spirit, that you don’t be unfaithful.
17You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the LORD’s sight, and he delights in them;’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’