Day 333 of 365

¹It happened in the fourth year of king Darius that the word of the Lord 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 hosts, 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 hosts 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, do you not 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 Negev and the lowland were inhabited?'"

⁸The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying,

⁹"Thus has the Lord of hosts spoken, saying, 'Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.

¹⁰Do not oppress the widow, nor 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 hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.

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 hosts;

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."

¹The word of the Lord of hosts came to me.

²Thus says the Lord of hosts: "I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath."

³Thus says the Lord: "I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called 'The City of Truth;' and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, 'The Holy Mountain.'"

⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

⁵The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets."

⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts: "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 hosts.

⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;

⁸and I will bring them, and they will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness."

⁹Thus says the Lord of hosts: "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 hosts 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 hosts.

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; and 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 will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Do not be afraid. Let your hands be strong."

¹⁴For thus says the Lord of hosts: "As I thought to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath," says the Lord of hosts, "and I did not repent;

¹⁵so again have I thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not 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 hosts came to me.

¹⁹Thus says the Lord of hosts: "The fasts of the fourth fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace."

²⁰Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come;

²¹and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, 'Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts. I will go also.'

²²Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of the Lord."

²³Thus says the Lord of hosts: "In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they 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.'"

¹An oracle. The word of the Lord 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.

⁵Ashkelon 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 none pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.

⁹Rejoice 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; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

¹¹As 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 filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and will make you like the sword of a mighty man.

¹⁴The Lord will be seen over them; and his arrow will go forth like lightning; and the Lord God will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south.

¹⁵The Lord of hosts will defend them; and they will destroy and overcome with sling stones; and they will drink, and roar as through wine; and they will be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar.

¹⁶The 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.

¹Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous! Praise is fitting for the upright.

²Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre. Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings.

³Sing to him a new song. Play skillfully with a shout of joy!

⁴For the word of the Lord is right. All his work is done in faithfulness.

⁵He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the loving kindness of the Lord.

⁶By the Lord's word, the heavens were made; all their army by the breath of his mouth.

⁷He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deeps in storehouses.

⁸Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

⁹For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.

¹¹The counsel of the Lord stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.

¹³The Lord looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men.

¹⁴From the place of his habitation he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,

¹⁵he who fashions all of their hearts; and he considers all of their works.

¹⁶There is no king saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

¹⁷A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither does he deliver any by his great power.

¹⁸Behold, the Lord's eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness;

¹⁹to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine.

²⁰Our soul has waited for the Lord. He is our help and our shield.

²¹For our heart rejoices in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.

²²Let your loving kindness be on us, Lord, since we have hoped in you.

¹When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;

²put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.

³Do not be desirous of his dainties, seeing they are deceitful food.

⁴Do not weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.

⁵Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

⁶Do not eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and do not crave his delicacies:

⁷for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

⁸The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up, and lose your good words.

⁹Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary stone. Do not encroach on the fields of the fatherless:

¹¹for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine:

¹⁶yes, my heart will rejoice, when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners; but rather fear the Lord all the day long.

¹⁸Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!

²⁰Do not be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

²²Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy the truth, and do not sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.

²⁵Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!

²⁶My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

²⁸Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

³⁰Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.

³¹Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.

³²In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.

³⁴Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:

³⁵"They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I do not feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another."