Christ the Branch. CHAP. VII, VIII. Cause of the captivity. unto me, saying, Behold, these that go to- 8 And the word of the LORD came 9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, 9 And the word of the LORD came saying, Execute true judgment, and shew unto me, saying, mercy and compassions every man to his 10 Take of them of the captivity, even brother: of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, 10 And oppress not the widow, nor the which are come from Babylon, and come fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and thou the same day, and go into the house let none of you imagine evil against his of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; brother in your heart. 11 Then take silver and gold, and 11 But they refused to hearken, and make crowns, and set them upon the head pulled away the shoulder, and stopped of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high their ears, that they should not hear. priest; 12 Yea, they made their hearts as an 12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus adamant stone, lest they should hear the speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, law, and the words which the LORD of Behold the man whose name is The hosts hath sent in his Spirit by the former BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of prophets; therefore came a great wrath his place, and he shall build the temple of from the LORD of hosts. the LORD: 13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as 13 Even he shall build the temple of he cried, and they would not hear; so they the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, cried, and I would not hear, saith the and shall sit and rule upon his throne: and LORD of hosts: he shall be a priest upon his throne: and 14 But I scattered them with a whirlthe counsel of peace shall be between wind among all the nations whom they them both. knew not. Thus the land was desolate 14 And the crowns shall be to Helem, after them, that no man passed through nor and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to returned: for they laid the pleasant land Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial desolate. in the temple of the LORD. 15 And they that are far off shall come CHAP. VII. came to me, saying, and build in the temple of the LORD, and AGAIN the word of the LORD of hosts ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath 2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was sent me unto you. And this shall come to jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice was jealous for her with great fury. of the LORD your God. CHAP. VII. ND it came to pass in the fourth year 3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called, LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth LORD of hosts, The holy mountain. day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu; 4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There 2 When they had sent unto the house of shall yet old men and old women dwell in God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and the streets of Jerusalem, and every man their men, to pray before the LORD, with his staff in his hand for very age. 3 And to speak unto the priests which 5 And the streets of the city shall be were in the house of the LORD of hosts, full of boys and girls playing in the streets and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep thereof. in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years! 4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, 6 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD 5 Speak unto all the people of the land, of hosts. and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Beand mourned in the fifth and seventh hold, I will save my people from the east month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? 6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? 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. 7 Should ye not hear the words which 9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let the LORD hath cried by the former pro- your hands be strong, ye that hear in these phets when Jerusalem was inhabited and days these words by the mouth of the proin prosperity, and the cities thereof round phets, which were in the day that the about her, when men inhabited the south foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts and the plain? was laid, that the temple might be built Encouraged to build the temple. ZECHARIAH. Zion is exhorted to rejoice. 10 For before these days there was no eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, hire for man, nor any hire for beast; nei- shall be toward the LORD. ther was there any peace to him that went 2 And Hamath also shall border thereout or came in because of the affliction: by; Tyrus and Zidon, though it be very for I set all men every one against his wise. 3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong neighbour. 11 But now I will not be unto the resi- hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, due of this people as in the former days, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. saith the LORD of hosts. 4 Behold, the LORD will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire. 12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the 5 Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong. 14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not: 15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not. 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. 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: 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. 8 And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that 16 ¶ These are the things that ye shall returneth and no oppressor shall pass do; Speak ye every man the truth to his through them any more: for now have I neighbour; execute the judgment of truth seen with mine eyes. 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 the LORD. 18 ¶ And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying, 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, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, 19 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The and the battle-bow shall be cut off: and fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the he shall speak peace unto the heathen: fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the and his dominion shall be from sea even to fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of sea, and from the river even to the ends of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful the earth. feasts; therefore love the truth and peace. 11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy 20 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: It covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners shall yet come to pass, that there shall out of the pit wherein is no water. come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: 21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. 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 22 Yea, many people and strong nations Greece, and made thee as the sword of a shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in mighty man. Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. 14 And the LORD shall be seen over 23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In them, and his arrow shall go forth as the those days it shall come to pass, that ten lightning: and the Lord Gop shall blow men shall take hold, out of all languages the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the nations, even shall take hold of the of the south. skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We 15 The LORD of hosts shall defend will go with you: for we have heard that them; and they shall devour and subdue God is with you. with sling-stones; and they shall drink, CHAP. IX. and make a noise as through wine; and Tin the land of Hadrach, and Damas-corners of the altar. HE burden of the word of the LORD they shall be filled like bowls, and as the cus shall be the rest thereof: when the 16 And the LORD their God shall savé Judah's restoration foretold. CHAP. X, XI. The destruction of Jerusalem. 12 And I will strengthen them in the them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a LORD; and they shall walk up and down crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his in his name, saith the LORD. 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. CHAP. X. ASK ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them show CHAP. XI. PEN thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 2 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. 3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: ers of rain, to every one grass in the a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. held. 4 Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed 2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told the flock of the slaughter; 5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they themselves not guilty and they that sell were troubled because there was no shep-them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them herd. 3 Mine anger was kindled against the not. 6 For I will no more pity the inhabitshepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock ants of the land, saith the LORD: but lo, the house of Judah, and hath made them I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of as his goodly horse in the battle. 4 Out of him came forth the corner, his king: and they shall smite the land, out of him the nail, out of him the battle- and out of their hand I will not deliver bow, out of him every oppressor toge-them. ther. 5 T 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. 6 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. 7 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. 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 people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their! children, and turn again. 7 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. 8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 1: that 9 Then said I, I will not feed you: 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 T 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. ye think 12 And I said unto them, If 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 And I took the thirty 10 I will bring them again also out of prized at of them. the land of Egypt, and gather them out of pieces of silver, and cast them to the potAssyria; and I will bring them into the ter in the house of the LORD. land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. 14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the bro 11 And he shall pass through the sea therhood between Judah and Israel. with affliction, and shall smite the waves 15 And the LORD said unto me, Take in the sea, and all the deeps of the river unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish 16 For lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be 701 Of Judah's restoration. ZECHARIAH. The death of Christ. cut off, neither shall seek the young one, THE CHAP. XII. 13 The family of the house of Levi HE burden of the word of the LORD Shimei apart, and their wives apart; apart,and their wives apart; the family of for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. family apart, and their wives apart. N that day there shall be a fountain 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and about, when they shall be in the siege for uncleanness. both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 2 And it shall come to pass in that 3 And in that day will I make Je- day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will rusalem a burdensome stone for all peo- cut off the names of the idols out of the ple: all that burden themselves with it land, and they shall no more be rememshall be cut in pieces, though all the people bered: and also I will cause the prophets of the earth be gathered together against it. and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. 4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and any shall yet prophesy, then his father 3 And it shall come to pass, that when his rider with madness: and I will open and his mother that begat him shall say mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou will smite every horse of the people with speakest lies in the name of the LORD: blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say him shall thrust him through when he proand his father and his mother that begat in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusa-phesieth. lem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. 4 And it shall come to pass in that day, 6 T In that day will I make the govern- one of his vision, when he hath prophethat the prophets shall be ashamed every ors of Judah like a hearth of fire among sied; neither shall they wear a rough garthe wood, and like a torch of fire in a ment to deceive: sheaf; and they shall devour all the peo ple round about, on the right hand and on am a husbandman; for man taught me to 5 But he shall say, I am no prophet. I the left and Jerusalem shall be inhabit- keep cattle from my youth. ed again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 7 The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. 6 And one shall say unto him, What are shall answer, Those with which I was these wounds in thine hands? Then he wounded in the house of my friends. herd, and against the man that is my fel7¶ Awake, O sword, against my Shep8 In that day shall the LORD defend the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scatterlow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is ed; and I will turn my hand upon the feeble among them at that day shall be as little ones. David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before the land, saith the LORD, two parts there in 8 And it shall come to pass, that in all them. be left therein. shall be cut off and die; but the third shall 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 9 And I will bring the third part through 10 And I will pour upon the house of refined, and will try them as gold is tried: the fire, and will refine them as silver is David, and upon the inhabitants of Jeru- they shall call on my name, and I will salem, the spirit of grace and of suppli- hear them: I will say, It is my people; cations: and they shall look upon me whom and they shall say, The LORD is my God. 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 first-born. CHAP. XIV. midst of thee. The coming of Christ, and CHAP. I. the graces of his kingdom. 2 For I will gather all nations against that have fought against Jerusalem; Their Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be flesh shall consume away while they stand taken, and the houses rifled, and the wo- upon their feet, and their eyes shall conmen ravished; and half of the city shall sume away in their holes, and their tongue go forth into captivity, and the residue of shall consume away in their mouth. the people shall not be cut off from the 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and among them; and they shall lay hold fight against those nations, as when he every one on the band of his neighbour, fought in the day of battle. and his hand shall rise up against the hand 4 T And his feet shall stand in that day of his neighbour. and half of the mountain shall remove to- 15 And so shall be the plague of the 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the in these tents, as this plague. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not 8 And it shall be in that day, that living up, and come not, that have no rain; waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half there shall be the plague, wherewith the of them toward the former sea, and half LORD will smite the heathen that come not of them toward the hinder sea: in sum-up to keep the feast of tabernacles. mer and in winter shall it be. 19 This shall be the punishment of 9 And the LORD shall be King over all Egypt, and the punishment of all nations the earth in that day shall there be one that come not up to keep the feast of LORD, and his name one. tabernacles. 10 All the land shall be turned as a 20 ¶ In that day shall there be upon the plain from Geba to Rimmon, south of Je-Bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO rusalem and it shall be lifted up, and in- THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's habited in her place, from Benjamin's house shall be like the bowls before the gate unto the place of the first gate, unto altar. the corner gate, and from the tower of 21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Hananeel unto the king's wine-presses. Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of 11 And men shall dwell in it, and there hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall shall be no more utter destruction; but come and take of them, and seethe thereJerusalem shall be safely inhabited. in: and in that day there shall be no more 12 T And this shall be the plague where- the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of with the LORD will smite all the people hosts. CHAP. I. 1 MALACHI. tains and his heritage waste for the dragons HE burden of the word of the LORD of the wilderness. The Israel by Malachi. to 4 Whereas Edom saith, We are im2 I have loved you, saith the LORD. poverished, but we will return and build Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? the desolate places; thus saith the LORD Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw LORD: : yet I loved Jacob, down; and they shall call them, The 3 And I hated Esau, and laid his moun-border of wickedness, and, The people 1 |