Zechariah 8-14 - Prayer Tents

Promised Blessings for Jerusalem

8Then another message came to me from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:H1697H3068H6635H5592“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Mount Zion is passionate and strong; I am consumed with passion for Jerusalem!H559H3068H6635H7065H6726H1419H7068H7065H1419H25343“And now the Lord says: I am returning to Mount Zion, and I will live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.H559H3068H7725H6726H7931H8432H3389H3389H7121H5892H571H2022H3068H6635H6944H20224“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Once again old men and women will walk Jerusalem’s streets with their canes and will sit together in the city squares.H559H3068H6635H2205H2205H3427H7339H3389H376H4938H3027H7230H31175And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls at play.H7339H5892H4390H3206H3207H7832H73396“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me? says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H559H3068H6635H6381H5869H7611H5971H3117H6381H5869H5002H3068H66357“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: You can be sure that I will rescue my people from the east and from the west.H559H3068H6635H3467H5971H4217H776H3996H8121H7768I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be faithful and just toward them as their God.H935H7931H8432H3389H5971H430H571H66669“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Be strong and finish the task! Ever since the laying of the foundation of the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, you have heard what the prophets have been saying about completing the building.H559H3068H6635H3027H2388H8085H3117H1697H6310H5030H3117H3245H1004H3068H6635H3245H1964H112910Before the work on the Temple began, there were no jobs and no money to hire people or animals. No traveler was safe from the enemy, for there were enemies on all sides. I had turned everyone against each other.H6440H3117H1961H7939H120H7939H929H7965H3318H935H6862H7971H120H376H745311“But now I will not treat the remnant of my people as I treated them before, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H7611H5971H7223H3117H5002H3068H663512For I am planting seeds of peace and prosperity among you. The grapevines will be heavy with fruit. The earth will produce its crops, and the heavens will release the dew. Once more I will cause the remnant in Judah and Israel to inherit these blessings.H2233H7965H1612H5414H6529H776H5414H2981H8064H5414H2919H7611H5971H515713Among the other nations, Judah and Israel became symbols of a cursed nation. But no longer! Now I will rescue you and make you both a symbol and a source of blessing. So don’t be afraid. Be strong, and get on with rebuilding the Temple!H7045H1471H1004H3063H1004H3478H3467H1293H3372H3027H238814“For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: I was determined to punish you when your ancestors angered me, and I did not change my mind, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H559H3068H6635H2161H7489H1H7107H559H3068H6635H516215But now I am determined to bless Jerusalem and the people of Judah. So don’t be afraid.H7725H2161H3117H3190H3389H1004H3063H337216But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other. Render verdicts in your courts that are just and that lead to peace.H1697H6213H1696H376H571H7453H8199H4941H571H7965H817917Don’t scheme against each other. Stop your love of telling lies that you swear are the truth. I hate all these things, says the Lord.”H376H2803H7451H3824H7453H157H8267H7621H8130H5002H306818Here is another message that came to me from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H1697H3068H6635H55919“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The traditional fasts and times of mourning you have kept in early summer, midsummer, autumn, and winter are now ended. They will become festivals of joy and celebration for the people of Judah. So love truth and peace.H559H3068H6635H6685H7243H6685H2549H6685H7637H6685H6224H1004H3063H8342H8057H2896H4150H157H571H796520“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: People from nations and cities around the world will travel to Jerusalem.H559H3068H6635H935H5971H3427H7227H589221The people of one city will say to the people of another, ‘Come with us to Jerusalem to ask the Lord to bless us. Let’s worship the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I’m determined to go.’H3427H259H1980H259H559H3212H1980H2470H6440H3068H1245H3068H6635H321222Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing.H7227H5971H6099H1471H935H1245H3068H6635H3389H2470H6440H306823“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In those days ten men from different nations and languages of the world will clutch at the sleeve of one Jew. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”H559H3068H6635H3117H6235H582H2388H3956H1471H2388H3671H376H3064H559H3212H8085H430

Judgment against Israel’s Enemies

9This is the message from the Lord against the land of Aram and the city of Damascus, for the eyes of humanity, including all the tribes of Israel, are on the Lord.H4853H1697H3068H776H2317H1834H4496H5869H120H7626H3478H3068 2Doom is certain for Hamath, near Damascus, and for the cities of Tyre and Sidon, though they are so clever.H2574H1379H6865H6721H3966H2449 3Tyre has built a strong fortress and has made silver and gold as plentiful as dust in the streets!H6865H1129H4692H6651H3701H6083H2742H2916H2351 4But now the Lord will strip away Tyre’s possessions and hurl its fortifications into the sea, and it will be burned to the ground.H136H3423H5221H2428H3220H398H784 5The city of Ashkelon will see Tyre fall and will be filled with fear. Gaza will shake with terror, as will Ekron, for their hopes will be dashed. Gaza’s king will be killed, and Ashkelon will be deserted.H831H7200H3372H5804H3966H2342H6138H4007H3001H4428H6H5804H831H3427 6Foreigners will occupy the city of Ashdod. I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.H4464H3427H795H3772H1347H6430 7I will grab the bloody meat from their mouths and snatch the detestable sacrifices from their teeth. Then the surviving Philistines will worship our God and become like a clan in Judah. The Philistines of Ekron will join my people, as the ancient Jebusites once did.H5493H1818H6310H8251H8127H7604H430H441H3063H6138H2983 8I will guard my Temple and protect it from invading armies. I am watching closely to ensure that no more foreign oppressors overrun my people’s land.H2583H1004H4675H5674H7725H5065H5674H7200H5869

Zion’s Coming King

9Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.H1523H3966H1323H6726H7321H1323H3389H4428H935H6662H3467H6041H7392H2543H5895H1121H860 10I will remove the battle chariots from Israel and the warhorses from Jerusalem. I will destroy all the weapons used in battle, and your king will bring peace to the nations. His realm will stretch from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.H3772H7393H669H5483H3389H4421H7198H3772H1696H7965H1471H4915H3220H3220H5104H657H776 11Because of the covenant I made with you, sealed with blood, I will free your prisoners from death in a waterless dungeon.H1818H1285H7971H615H953H4325 12Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners who still have hope! I promise this very day that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles.H7725H1225H615H8615H3117H5046H7725H4932 13Judah is my bow, and Israel is my arrow. Jerusalem is my sword, and like a warrior, I will brandish it against the Greeks.H1869H3063H4390H7198H669H5782H1121H6726H1121H3120H7760H2719H1368 14The Lord will appear above his people; his arrows will fly like lightning! The Sovereign Lord will sound the ram’s horn and attack like a whirlwind from the southern desert.H3068H7200H2671H3318H1300H136H3069H8628H7782H1980H5591H8486 15The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will protect his people, and they will defeat their enemies by hurling great stones. They will shout in battle as though drunk with wine. They will be filled with blood like a bowl, drenched with blood like the corners of the altar.H3068H6635H1598H398H3533H7050H68H8354H1993H3196H4390H4219H2106H4196 16On that day the Lord their God will rescue his people, just as a shepherd rescues his sheep. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.H3068H430H3467H3117H6629H5971H68H5145H5264H127 17How wonderful and beautiful they will be! The young men will thrive on abundant grain, and the young women will flourish on new wine.H2898H3308H1715H970H5107H8492H1330

The Lord Will Restore His People

10Ask the Lord for rain in the spring, for he makes the storm clouds. And he will send showers of rain so every field becomes a lush pasture.H7592H3068H4306H6256H4456H3068H6213H2385H5414H1653H4306H376H6212H7704 2Household gods give worthless advice, fortune-tellers predict only lies, and interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort. So my people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd.H8655H1696H205H7080H2372H8267H1696H7723H2472H5162H1892H5265H6629H6031H7462 3“My anger burns against your shepherds, and I will punish these leaders. For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has arrived to look after Judah, his flock. He will make them strong and glorious, like a proud warhorse in battle.H639H2734H7462H6485H6260H3068H6635H6485H5739H1004H3063H7760H1935H5483H4421 4From Judah will come the cornerstone, the tent peg, the bow for battle, and all the rulers.H3318H6438H3489H4421H7198H5065H3162 5They will be like mighty warriors in battle, trampling their enemies in the mud under their feet. Since the Lord is with them as they fight, they will overthrow even the enemy’s horsemen.H1368H947H2916H2351H4421H3898H3068H7392H5483H3001 6“I will strengthen Judah and save Israel; I will restore them because of my compassion. It will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the Lord their God, who will hear their cries.H1396H1004H3063H3467H1004H3130H3427H7355H834H2186H3068H430H6030 7The people of Israel will become like mighty warriors, and their hearts will be made happy as if by wine. Their children, too, will see it and be glad; their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.H669H1368H3820H8055H3196H1121H7200H8055H3820H1523H3068 8When I whistle to them, they will come running, for I have redeemed them. From the few who are left, they will grow as numerous as they were before.H8319H6908H6299H7235H7235 9Though I have scattered them like seeds among the nations, they will still remember me in distant lands. They and their children will survive and return again to Israel.H2232H5971H2142H4801H2421H1121H7725 10I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will resettle them in Gilead and Lebanon until there is no more room for them all.H7725H776H4714H6908H804H935H776H1568H3844H4672 11They will pass safely through the sea of distress, for the waves of the sea will be held back, and the waters of the Nile will dry up. The pride of Assyria will be crushed, and the rule of Egypt will end.H5674H3220H6869H5221H1530H3220H4688H2975H3001H1347H804H3381H7626H4714H5493 12By my power I will make my people strong, and by my authority they will go wherever they wish. I, the Lord, have spoken!”H1396H3068H1980H8034H5002H3068

11Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedar forests.H6605H1817H3844H784H398H730 2Weep, you cypress trees, for all the ruined cedars; the most majestic ones have fallen. Weep, you oaks of Bashan, for the thick forests have been cut down.H3213H1265H730H5307H117H7703H3213H437H1316H3293H1208H1219H3381 3Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their rich pastures are destroyed. Hear the young lions roaring, for their thickets in the Jordan Valley are ruined.H6963H3215H7462H155H7703H6963H7581H3715H1347H3383H7703

The Good and Evil Shepherds

4This is what the Lord my God says: “Go and care for the flock that is intended for slaughter.H559H3068H430H7462H6629H2028 5The buyers slaughter their sheep without remorse. The sellers say, ‘Praise the Lord! Now I’m rich!’ Even the shepherds have no compassion for them.H7069H2026H816H4376H559H1288H3068H6238H7462H2550 6Likewise, I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” says the Lord. “I will let them fall into each other’s hands and into the hands of their king. They will turn the land into a wilderness, and I will not rescue them.”H2550H3427H776H5002H3068H4672H120H376H7453H3027H3027H4428H3807H776H3027H5337 7So I cared for the flock intended for slaughter—the flock that was oppressed. Then I took two shepherd’s staffs and named one Favor and the other Union.H7462H6629H2028H3651H6041H6629H3947H8147H4731H259H7121H5278H259H7121H2254H7462H6629 8I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month. But I became impatient with these sheep, and they hated me, too.H7969H7462H3582H259H3391H5315H7114H5315H973 9So I told them, “I won’t be your shepherd any longer. If you die, you die. If you are killed, you are killed. And let those who remain devour each other!”H559H7462H4191H4191H3582H3582H7604H398H802H1320H7468 10Then I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, showing that I had revoked the covenant I had made with all the nations.H3947H4731H5278H1438H6565H1285H3772H5971 11That was the end of my covenant with them. The suffering flock was watching me, and they knew that the Lord was speaking through my actions.H6565H3117H6041H6629H8104H3045H1697H3068 12And I said to them, “If you like, give me my wages, whatever I am worth; but only if you want to.” So they counted out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.H559H5869H2896H3051H7939H2308H8254H7939H7970H3701 13And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent sum at which they valued me! So I took the thirty coins and threw them to the potter in the Temple of the Lord.H3068H559H7993H3335H145H3366H3365H3947H7970H3701H7993H3335H1004H3068 14Then I took my other staff, Union, and cut it in two, showing that the bond of unity between Judah and Israel was broken.H1438H8145H4731H2254H6565H264H3063H3478 15Then the Lord said to me, “Go again and play the part of a worthless shepherd.H3068H559H3947H3627H196H7462 16This illustrates how I will give this nation a shepherd who will not care for those who are dying, nor look after the young, nor heal the injured, nor feed the healthy. Instead, this shepherd will eat the meat of the fattest sheep and tear off their hooves.H6965H7462H776H6485H3582H1245H5289H7495H7665H3557H5324H398H1320H1277H6561H6541H6561 17“What sorrow awaits this worthless shepherd who abandons the flock! The sword will cut his arm and pierce his right eye. His arm will become useless, and his right eye completely blind.”H1945H457H7473H5800H6629H2719H2220H3225H5869H2220H3001H3001H3225H5869H3543H3543

Future Deliverance for Jerusalem

12This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord: “This message is from the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit.H4853H1697H3068H3478H5002H3068H5186H8064H3245H776H3335H7307H120H7130 2I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah.H7760H3389H5592H7478H5971H5439H4692H3063H3389 3On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves.H3117H7760H3389H4614H68H5971H6006H8295H8295H1471H776H622 4“On that day,” says the Lord, “I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of their enemies.H3117H5002H3068H5221H5483H8541H7392H7697H6491H5869H1004H3063H5221H5483H5971H5788 5And the clans of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The people of Jerusalem have found strength in the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, their God.’H441H3063H559H3820H3427H3389H556H3068H6635H430 6“On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a flame that sets a woodpile ablaze or like a burning torch among sheaves of grain. They will burn up all the neighboring nations right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure.H3117H7760H441H3063H3595H784H6086H3940H784H5995H398H5971H5439H3225H8040H3389H3427H3389 7“The Lord will give victory to the rest of Judah first, before Jerusalem, so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah.H3068H3467H168H3063H7223H8597H1004H1732H8597H3427H3389H1431H3063 8On that day the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! And the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the Lord who goes before them!H3117H3068H1598H3427H3389H3782H3117H1732H1004H1732H430H4397H3068H6440 9For on that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.H3117H1245H8045H1471H935H3389 10“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.H8210H1004H1732H3427H3389H7307H2580H8469H5027H1856H4553H5594H3173H4843H4843H1060 11The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.H3117H1431H4553H3389H4553H1910H1237H4023 12“All Israel will mourn, each clan by itself, and with the husbands separate from their wives. The clan of David will mourn alone, as will the clan of Nathan,H776H5594H4940H4940H905H4940H1004H1732H802H4940H1004H5416H802 13the clan of Levi, and the clan of Shimei.H4940H1004H3878H802H4940H8097H802 14Each of the surviving clans from Judah will mourn separately, and with the husbands separate from their wives.H4940H7604H4940H802