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Chapter 9

Restoration of the Land of Israel[a]

An oracle:[b] the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach,
    and Damascus is its destination,
For the cities of Aram are the Lord’s,
    as are all the tribes of Israel.
Hamath also on its border,
    Tyre too, and Sidon, no matter how clever they be.
Tyre built itself a stronghold,
    and heaped up silver like dust,
    and gold like the mud of the streets.
But now the Lord will dispossess it,
    and cast its wealth into the sea,
    and it will be devoured by fire.
Ashkelon will see it and be afraid;
    Gaza too will be in great anguish;
    Ekron also, for its hope will wither.
The king will disappear from Gaza,
    Ashkelon will not be inhabited,
    and the illegitimate will rule in Ashdod.
I will destroy the pride of the Philistines
    and take from their mouths their bloody prey,
    their disgusting meat from between their teeth.
They will become merely a remnant for our God,(A)
    and will be like a clan in Judah;
    Ekron will be like the Jebusites.[c]
I will encamp at my house,
    a garrison against invaders;
No oppressor will overrun them again,
    for now I have seen their affliction.

The King’s Entry into Jerusalem[d]

Exult greatly, O daughter Zion!
    Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
Behold: your king[e] is coming to you,
    a just savior is he,
Humble, and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(B)
10 He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim,(C)
    and the horse from Jerusalem;
The warrior’s bow will be banished,
    and he will proclaim peace to the nations.(D)
His dominion will be from sea to sea,
    and from the River[f] to the ends of the earth.(E)

Restoration of the People

11 As for you, by the blood of your covenant,[g](F)
    I have freed your prisoners from a waterless pit.
12 Return to a fortress,[h]
    O prisoners of hope;
This very day, I announce
    I am restoring double to you.
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow,
    I have set Ephraim as its arrow;
I will arouse your sons, O Zion,
    against your sons, O Yavan,[i]
    and I will use you as a warrior’s sword.
14 The Lord will appear over them,
    God’s arrow will shoot forth as lightning;
The Lord God will sound the ram’s horn,
    and come in a storm from the south.(G)
15 The Lord of hosts will protect them;
    they will devour and conquer with sling stones,
    they will drink and become heated as with wine;
    they will be full like bowls—like the corners of the altar.(H)
16 And the Lord their God will save them:
    the people, like a flock on that day;(I)
For like gemstones of a crown[j]
    they will shine on the land.
17 Then how good and how lovely!
    Grain will make the young men flourish,
    and new wine the young women.(J)

Chapter 10

The Lord Strengthens Judah and Rescues Ephraim

Ask the Lord for rain in the spring season,(K)
    the Lord who brings storm clouds, and heavy rains,(L)
    who gives to everyone grain in the fields.
For the teraphim[k] have spoken nonsense,(M)
    the diviners have seen false visions;
Deceitful dreams they have told,
    empty comfort they have offered.
This is why they wandered like sheep,
    wretched, for they have no shepherd.(N)
My wrath is kindled against the shepherds,[l]
    and I will punish the leaders.
For the Lord of hosts attends to the flock, the house of Judah,
    and will make them like a splendid horse in battle.
From them will come the tower,
    from them the tent peg,
    from them the bow of war,
    from them every officer.
Together they will be like warriors,
    trampling the mud of the streets in battle.
They will wage war because the Lord is with them,
    and will put the horsemen to shame.
I will strengthen the house of Judah,(O)
    the house of Joseph[m] I will save;
I will bring them back, because I have mercy on them;
    they will be as if I had never cast them off,
    for I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them.(P)
Then Ephraim will be like a hero,
    and their hearts will be cheered as by wine.(Q)
Their children will see and rejoice—
    their hearts will exult in the Lord.
I will whistle for them and gather them in;
    for I will redeem them
    and they will be as numerous as before.[n]
I sowed them among the nations,
    yet in distant lands they will remember me;
    they will bear their children and return.(R)
10 I will bring them back from the land of Egypt,
    and gather them from Assyria.
To the land of Gilead and to Lebanon I will bring them,
    until no room is found for them.
11 I will cross over to Egypt
    and smite the waves of the sea,
    and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
The pride of Assyria will be cast down,
    and the scepter of Egypt disappear.
12 I will strengthen them in the Lord,(S)
    in whose name they will walk—oracle of the Lord.

Chapter 11

The Cry of Trees, Shepherds, and Lions

Open your doors, Lebanon,
    that fire may devour your cedars!
Wail, cypress trees,
    for the cedars are fallen,
    the mighty are destroyed!
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
    for the dense forest is cut down!
Listen! the wailing of shepherds,
    their glory has been destroyed.
Listen! the roaring of young lions,
    the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.

The Shepherd Narrative.[o](T) Thus says the Lord, my God: Shepherd the flock to be slaughtered.(U) For they who buy them slay them and are not held accountable; while those who sell them say, “Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich!” Even their own shepherds will not pity them. For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the earth—oracle of the Lord.—Yes, I will deliver them into each other’s power, or into the power of their kings; they will crush the earth, and I will not deliver it out of their power.

So I shepherded the flock to be slaughtered for the merchants of the flock. I took two staffs: one I called Delight, and the other Union. Thus I shepherded the flock. In a single month, I did away with the three shepherds, for I wearied of them, and they disdained me. “I will not shepherd you,” I said. “Whoever is to die shall die; whoever is to be done away with shall be done away with; and those who are left shall devour one another’s flesh.”

10 Then I took my staff Delight and snapped it in two, breaking my covenant which I had made with all peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day. The merchants of the flock, who were watching me, understood that this was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, withhold them.”(V) And they counted out my wages,(W) thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, Throw it in the treasury—the handsome price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the treasury in the house of the Lord. 14 Then I snapped in two my second staff, Union, breaking the kinship between Judah and Israel.

15 The Lord said to me: This time take the gear of a foolish shepherd.(X) 16 For I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will take no note of those that disappear, nor seek the strays, nor heal the injured,(Y) nor feed the exhausted; but he will eat the flesh of the fat ones and tear off their hoofs!

Oracle to the Worthless Shepherd

17 Ah! my worthless shepherd
    who forsakes the flock!(Z)
May the sword fall upon his arm
    and upon his right eye;
His arm will surely wither,
    and his right eye surely go blind!

Footnotes

  1. 9:1–8 The opening verses of Second Zechariah delineate the ideal boundaries of a restored Israel. Echoing the ideas of Haggai and First Zechariah (chaps. 1–8), the prophet reiterates the notion that the rebuilt Temple will bring about peace. The areas to be returned to Israel include Syria (Aram), with the cities of Hadrach and Damascus; Phoenicia, with the cities of Tyre and Sidon; and Philistia, with the cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Ashdod.
  2. 9:1 An oracle: this designation also introduces Zec 12:1 and Mal 1:1, suggesting a connection among the three units. The term functions as both a title to the larger literary unit (Zec 9–11) and a part of the message of the opening oracular statement.
  3. 9:7 The Jebusites: the pre-Israelite inhabitants of Jerusalem, conquered by David and incorporated into Israel.
  4. 9:9–10 These two verses form the centerpiece of chap. 9. The restoration of a royal figure connects the first part of the chapter (vv. 1–8), which depicts the restored land of Israel, with the second part (vv. 11–17), which concerns the restoration of the people Israel.
  5. 9:9 Your king: a just savior, a figure of humble demeanor, but riding on a donkey like royalty in the ancient Near East (Gn 49:11; Jgs 5:10; 10:4). The announcement of the coming of such a king marks a departure from the view of the royal figure as a conquering warrior. This depiction is in keeping with the tone of First Zechariah (3:8; 4:6–10; 6:12) but contrasts with Haggai (2:20–23). New Testament authors apply this prophecy to Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Mt 21:4–5; Jn 12:14–15).
  6. 9:10 The River: probably the Euphrates; see note on Ps 72:8.
  7. 9:11 The blood of your covenant: the covenant between the Lord and Israel sealed with sacrificial blood (Ex 24:8).
  8. 9:12 Fortress: the Hebrew word for “fortress” (bissaron) plays upon the Hebrew word for Zion (siyyon). Those who return to Zion will be protected by the Lord. O prisoners of hope: imagery of exile, conveying a sense that the future in Israel will be better.
  9. 9:13 Your sons, O Yavan: the reference is to the Greeks and their struggle with the Persians for control of Syria-Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean in the mid-fifth century B.C.
  10. 9:16 Like gemstones of a crown: imagery reminiscent of First Zechariah (3:9; 4:7, 10; 6:11, 14) and evocative of the Temple and the priestly headgear (cf. Ex 29:6 and Lv 8:9).
  11. 10:2 Teraphim: household idols or cult objects (see Gn 31:19, 30–35; Jgs 17:5; 1 Sm 19:11–17), or ancestor statuettes (see 2 Kgs 23:24; Hos 3:4).
  12. 10:3 Against the shepherds: bad leaders or false prophets.
  13. 10:6 The house of Joseph: represents the Northern Kingdom (Israel), as does Ephraim in v. 7 below.
  14. 10:8 Gather them in…be as numerous as before: God’s intention is to bring back the exiles and redeem them as at the time of the exodus. This image, resumed in vv. 10–11, anticipates an expanded population, echoes the ancestral promise (Gn 1:22, 28; 9:1, 7; 35:11), and also suggests an awareness of the acute demographic decline of Jews in Palestine in the Persian period.
  15. 11:4–17 This narrative has features of an allegory, a parable, and a commissioning narrative. The use of a symbolic action (vv. 7, 10, 14), however, places this text squarely in the tradition of classical prophecy. For example, the staff “Delight” signifies the Mosaic covenant, and the staff “Union” signifies the union of Israel and Judah. Breaking the staffs signifies the breaking of the Mosaic covenant (resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile) and the historical schism between north and south. In this narrative the prophet is the “shepherd” of God’s flock, which is to be slaughtered. The “three shepherds” of v. 8 represent either leaders responsible for the decay in Israelite society or false prophets (cf. vv. 15, 17 and 13:2–6). The service of the good shepherd is contemptuously valued at thirty pieces of silver, the legal indemnity for a gored slave (Ex 21:32). The prophet throws the money into the Temple treasury, showing how poorly God’s love is requited (cf. Mt 26:14–16; 27:5). With great rhetorical irony, payment is rejected. The entire wage-payment scenario may be regarded as another symbolic action, embedded within the primary action.

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

A prophecy:(A)

The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak
    and will come to rest on Damascus(B)
for the eyes of all people and all the tribes of Israel
    are on the Lord[a]
and on Hamath(C) too, which borders on it,
    and on Tyre(D) and Sidon,(E) though they are very skillful.
Tyre has built herself a stronghold;
    she has heaped up silver like dust,
    and gold like the dirt of the streets.(F)
But the Lord will take away her possessions
    and destroy(G) her power on the sea,
    and she will be consumed by fire.(H)
Ashkelon(I) will see it and fear;
    Gaza will writhe in agony,
    and Ekron too, for her hope will wither.
Gaza will lose her king
    and Ashkelon will be deserted.
A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod,
    and I will put an end(J) to the pride of the Philistines.
I will take the blood from their mouths,
    the forbidden food from between their teeth.
Those who are left will belong to our God(K)
    and become a clan in Judah,
    and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.(L)
But I will encamp(M) at my temple
    to guard it against marauding forces.(N)
Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,
    for now I am keeping watch.(O)

The Coming of Zion’s King

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!(P)
    Shout,(Q) Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,(R)
    righteous and victorious,(S)
lowly and riding on a donkey,(T)
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(U)
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
    and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
    and the battle bow will be broken.(V)
He will proclaim peace(W) to the nations.
    His rule will extend from sea to sea
    and from the River[b] to the ends of the earth.(X)
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant(Y) with you,
    I will free your prisoners(Z) from the waterless pit.(AA)
12 Return to your fortress,(AB) you prisoners of hope;
    even now I announce that I will restore twice(AC) as much to you.
13 I will bend Judah as I bend my bow(AD)
    and fill it with Ephraim.(AE)
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
    against your sons, Greece,(AF)
    and make you like a warrior’s sword.(AG)

The Lord Will Appear

14 Then the Lord will appear over them;(AH)
    his arrow will flash like lightning.(AI)
The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet;(AJ)
    he will march in the storms(AK) of the south,
15     and the Lord Almighty will shield(AL) them.
They will destroy
    and overcome with slingstones.(AM)
They will drink and roar as with wine;(AN)
    they will be full like a bowl(AO)
    used for sprinkling[c] the corners(AP) of the altar.
16 The Lord their God will save his people on that day(AQ)
    as a shepherd saves his flock.
They will sparkle in his land
    like jewels in a crown.(AR)
17 How attractive and beautiful they will be!
    Grain will make the young men thrive,
    and new wine the young women.

The Lord Will Care for Judah

10 Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;
    it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain(AS) to all people,
    and plants of the field(AT) to everyone.
The idols(AU) speak deceitfully,
    diviners(AV) see visions that lie;
they tell dreams(AW) that are false,
    they give comfort in vain.(AX)
Therefore the people wander like sheep
    oppressed for lack of a shepherd.(AY)

“My anger burns against the shepherds,
    and I will punish the leaders;(AZ)
for the Lord Almighty will care
    for his flock, the people of Judah,
    and make them like a proud horse in battle.(BA)
From Judah will come the cornerstone,(BB)
    from him the tent peg,(BC)
from him the battle bow,(BD)
    from him every ruler.
Together they[d] will be like warriors in battle
    trampling their enemy into the mud of the streets.(BE)
They will fight because the Lord is with them,
    and they will put the enemy horsemen to shame.(BF)

“I will strengthen(BG) Judah
    and save the tribes of Joseph.
I will restore them
    because I have compassion(BH) on them.(BI)
They will be as though
    I had not rejected them,
for I am the Lord their God
    and I will answer(BJ) them.
The Ephraimites will become like warriors,
    and their hearts will be glad as with wine.(BK)
Their children will see it and be joyful;
    their hearts will rejoice(BL) in the Lord.
I will signal(BM) for them
    and gather them in.
Surely I will redeem them;
    they will be as numerous(BN) as before.
Though I scatter them among the peoples,
    yet in distant lands they will remember me.(BO)
They and their children will survive,
    and they will return.
10 I will bring them back from Egypt
    and gather them from Assyria.(BP)
I will bring them to Gilead(BQ) and Lebanon,
    and there will not be room(BR) enough for them.
11 They will pass through the sea of trouble;
    the surging sea will be subdued
    and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.(BS)
Assyria’s pride(BT) will be brought down
    and Egypt’s scepter(BU) will pass away.(BV)
12 I will strengthen(BW) them in the Lord
    and in his name they will live securely,(BX)
declares the Lord.

11 Open your doors, Lebanon,(BY)
    so that fire(BZ) may devour your cedars!
Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
    the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks(CA) of Bashan;
    the dense forest(CB) has been cut down!(CC)
Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
    their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;(CD)
    the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!(CE)

Two Shepherds

This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.(CF) 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.(CG) 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(CH) and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”(CI)

So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter,(CJ) 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(CK) me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.(CL) Let those who are left eat(CM) one another’s flesh.”

10 Then I took my staff called Favor(CN) and broke it, revoking(CO) 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.(CP)

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(CQ) and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.(CR)

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,(CS)
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm(CT) and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered,
    his right eye totally blinded!”(CU)

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 9:1 Or Damascus. / For the eye of the Lord is on all people, / as well as on the tribes of Israel,
  2. Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates
  3. Zechariah 9:15 Or bowl, / like
  4. Zechariah 10:5 Or ruler, all of them together. / They

The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the Lord.

And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.

And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.

Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.

Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;

13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.

14 And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

15 The Lord of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.

16 And the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.

17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

10 Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.

For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.

Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.

Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together.

And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.

And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and will hear them.

And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the Lord.

I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.

And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.

10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.

11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.

12 And I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord.

11 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.

Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter;

Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.

For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour'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.

And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.

Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.

Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.

11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the Lord.

12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord.

14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 And the Lord said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd.

16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.

17 Woe to the idol 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.