Revised Version 1885 (RV1885)

1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of theLordcame unto Zechariah in the fourthdayof the ninth month, even in Chislev.

2 Nowthey ofBeth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to entreat the favour of theLord,

3 andto speak unto the priests of the house of theLordof hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

4 Then came the word of theLordof hosts unto me, saying,

5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventhmonth, even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

6 And when ye eat, and when ye drink, do not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

7 Should yenothearthe words which theLordhath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?

8 And the word of theLordcame unto Zechariah, saying,

9 Thus hath theLordof hosts spoken, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother:

10 and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which theLordof hosts had sent by his spirit by the hand of the former prophets: therefore came there great wrath from theLordof hosts.

13 And it came to pass that, as he cried, and they would not hear; so they shall cry, and I will not hear, said theLordof hosts;

14 but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

1 And the word of theLordof hosts cameto me, saying,

2 Thus saith theLordof hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great fury.

3 Thus saith theLord: I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city of truth; and the mountain of theLordof hosts The holy mountain.

4 Thus saith theLordof hosts: There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

6 Thus saith theLordof hosts: If it be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in mine eyes? saith theLordof hosts.

7 Thus saith theLordof hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country:

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

9 Thus saith theLordof hosts, Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of theLordof hosts was laid, even the temple, that it might be built.

10 For before those days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the adversary: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.

11 But now I will not be unto the remnant of this people as in the former days, saith theLordof hosts.

12 Forthere shall bethe seed of peace; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.

13 And it shall come to pass that, as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not,butlet your hands be strong.

14 For thus saith theLordof hosts: As I thought to do evil unto you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith theLordof hosts, and I repented not;

15 so again have I thought in these days to do good unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.

16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:

17 and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith theLord.

18 And the word of theLordof hosts came unto me, saying,

19 Thus saith theLordof hosts: The fast of the fourthmonth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love truth and peace.

20 Thus saith theLordof hosts:It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities:

21 and the inhabitants of onecityshall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to entreat the favour of theLord, and to seek theLordof hosts: I will go also.

22 Yea, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek theLordof hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favour of theLord.

23 Thus saith theLordof hosts: In those daysit shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.

1 The burden of the word of theLordupon the land of Hadrach, and Damascusshall beits resting place: for the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward theLord:

2 and Hamath also which bordereth thereon: Tyre and Zidon, because she is very wise.

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

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

5 Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also, and shall be sore pained; and Ekron, for her expectation shall be ashamed: and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

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

7 And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also shall be a remnant for our God: and he shall be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

8 And I will encamp about mine house against the army, that none pass through or return: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.

9 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, even 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 nations: and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

11 As for thee also, because of 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 today do I declare that I will render double unto thee.

13 For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and will make thee as the sword of a mighty man.

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

15 TheLordof hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and shall tread down the sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine: and they shall be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar.

16 And theLordtheir God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: forthey shall be asthe stones of a crown, lifted on high over his land.

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

1 Ask ye of theLordrain in the time of the latter rain,even oftheLordthat maketh lightnings; and he shall give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.

2 For 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 afflicted, because there is no shepherd.

3 Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats: for theLordof hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and shall make them as his goodly horse in the battle.

4 From him shall come forth the corner stone, from him the nail, from him the battle bow, from him every exactor together.

5 And they shall be as mighty men, treading downtheir enemiesin the mire of the streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because theLordis with them: and the riders on horses shall be confounded.

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

7 Andthey ofEphraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and rejoice; their heart shall be glad in theLord.

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

9 And I will sow them among the peoples; and they shall remember me in far countries: and they shall live with their children, and shall return.

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; andplaceshall not be found for them.

11 And he shall pass through the sea of affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the Nile 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 theLord; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith theLord.

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

2 Howl, O fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the goodly ones are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest is come down.

3 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.

4 Thus said theLordmy God: Feed the flock of slaughter;

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

6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith theLord: 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.

7 So I fed the flock of slaughter, verily the 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.

8 And I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.

9 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 them which are left eat every one the flesh of another.

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

11 And it was broken in that day: and thus the poor of the flock that gave heed unto me knew that it was the word of theLord.

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

13 And theLordsaid unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirtypiecesof silver, and cast them unto the potter, in the house of theLord.

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

15 And theLordsaid unto me, Take unto thee yet again 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 those that be scattered, nor heal that that is broken; neither shall he feed that which is sound, but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and shall tear their hoofs in pieces.

17 Woe to the worthless 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.

1 The burden of the word of theLordconcerning Israel.Thussaith theLord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him:

2 behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem.

3 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.

4 In that day, saith theLord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.

5 And the chieftains of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in theLordof hosts their God.

6 In that day will I make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a torch of fire among sheaves; and they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall yet again dwell in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

7 TheLordalso shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah.

8 In that day shall theLorddefend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of theLordbefore them.

9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced: and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

13 the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;

14 all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.

2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith theLordof hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

3 And it shall come to pass that, when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shall not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of theLord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.

4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he prophesieth; neither shall they wear a hairy mantle to deceive:

5 but he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondman from my youth.

6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds between thine arms? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith theLordof hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith theLord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, TheLordis my God.

1 Behold, a day of theLordcometh, when thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished: and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

3 Then shall theLordgo forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west,and there shall bea very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

5 And ye shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and theLordmy God shall come, and all the holy ones with thee.

6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be with brightness and with gloom:

7 but it shall be one day which is known unto theLord; not day, and not night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time there shall be light.

8 And it shall come to pass in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

9 And theLordshall be king over all the earth: in that day shall theLordbe one, and his name one.

10 All the land shall be turned as the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she shall be lifted up, and shall dwell in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel unto the king’s winepresses.

11 And men shall dwell therein, and there shall be no more curse; but Jerusalem shall dwell safely.

12 And this shall be the plague wherewith theLordwill smite all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from theLordshall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

14 And Judah also shall fight against Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in those camps, as this plague.

16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, theLordof hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

17 And it shall be, that whoso ofallthe families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, theLordof hosts, upon them there shall be no rain.

18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, neithershall it beupon them; there shall be the plague, wherewith theLordwill smite the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLY UNTO THELord; and the pots in theLord’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy unto theLordof hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of theLordof hosts.