Zechariah 9; Zechariah 10; Zechariah 11; Zechariah 12; Revelation 20

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Zechariah 9

1 This is the Lord's message: He has decreed punishment for the land of Hadrach and for the city of Damascus. Not only the tribes of Israel but also the capital of Syria belong to the Lord.
2 Hamath, which borders on Hadrach, also belongs to him, and so do the cities of Tyre and Sidon, with all their skill.
3 Tyre has built fortifications for herself and has piled up so much silver and gold that it is as common as dirt!
4 But the Lord will take away everything she has. He will throw her wealth into the sea, and the city will be burned to the ground.
5 The city of Ashkelon will see this and be afraid. The city of Gaza will see it and suffer great pain. So will Ekron, and her hopes will be shattered. Gaza will lose her king, and Ashkelon will be left deserted.
6 People of mixed race will live in Ashdod. The Lord says, "I will humble all these proud Philistines.
7 They will no longer eat meat with blood in it, or other forbidden food. All the survivors will become part of my people and be like a clan in the tribe of Judah. Ekron will become part of my people, as the Jebusites did.
8 I will guard my land and keep armies from passing through it. I will not allow tyrants to oppress my people any more. I have seen how my people have suffered."
9 Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion! Shout for joy, you people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you! He comes triumphant and victorious, but humble and riding on a donkey - on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 The Lord says, "I will remove the war chariots from Israel and take the horses from Jerusalem; the bows used in battle will be destroyed. Your king will make peace among the nations; he will rule from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth."
11 The Lord says, "Because of my covenant with you that was sealed by the blood of sacrifices, I will set your people free - free from the waterless pit of exile.
12 Return, you exiles who now have hope; return to your place of safety. Now I tell you that I will repay you twice over with blessing for all you have suffered.
13 I will use Judah like a soldier's bow and Israel like the arrows. I will use the men of Zion like a sword, to fight the men of Greece."
14 The Lord will appear above his people; he will shoot his arrows like lightning. The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet; he will march in the storms from the south.
15 The Lord Almighty will protect his people, and they will destroy their enemies. They will shout in battle like drunk men and will shed the blood of their enemies; it will flow like the blood of a sacrifice poured on the altar from a bowl.
16 When that day comes, the Lord will save his people, as a shepherd saves his flock from danger. They will shine in his land like the jewels of a crown.
17 How good and beautiful the land will be! The young people will grow strong on its grain and wine.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Zechariah 10

1 Ask the Lord for rain in the spring of the year. It is the Lord who sends rain clouds and showers, making the fields green for everyone.
2 People consult idols and fortunetellers, but the answers they get are lies and nonsense. Some interpret dreams, but only mislead you; the comfort they give is useless. So the people wander about like lost sheep. They are in trouble because they have no leader.
3 The Lord says, "I am angry with those foreigners who rule my people, and I am going to punish them. The people of Judah are mine, and I, the Lord Almighty, will take care of them. They will be my powerful war-horses.
4 From among them will come rulers, leaders, and commanders to govern my people.
5 The people of Judah will be victorious like soldiers who trample their enemies in the mud of the streets. They will fight because the Lord is with them, and they will defeat even the enemy cavalry.
6 "I will make the people of Judah strong; I will rescue the people of Israel. I will have compassion on them and bring them all back home. They will be as though I had never rejected them. I am the Lord their God; I will answer their prayers.
7 The people of Israel will be strong like soldiers, happy like those who have been drinking wine. Their descendants will remember this victory and be glad because of what the Lord has done.
8 "I will call my people and gather them together. I will rescue them and make them as numerous as they used to be.
9 Though I have scattered them among the nations, yet in far-off places they will remember me. They and their children will survive and return home together.
10 From Egypt and Assyria I will bring them home and settle them in their own country. I will settle them in Gilead and Lebanon also; the whole land will be filled with people.
11 When they pass through their sea of trouble, I, the Lord, will strike the waves, and the depths of the Nile will go dry. Proud Assyria will be humbled, and mighty Egypt will lose her power.
12 I will make my people strong; they will worship and obey me." The Lord has spoken.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Zechariah 11

1 Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire can burn down your cedar trees!
2 Weep and wail, cypress trees - the cedars have fallen; those glorious trees have been destroyed! Weep and wail, oaks of Bashan - the dense forest has been cut down!
3 The rulers cry out in grief; their glory is gone! Listen to the roaring of the lions; their forest home along the Jordan is destroyed!
4 The Lord my God said to me, "Act the part of the shepherd of a flock of sheep that are going to be butchered.
5 Their owners kill them and go unpunished. They sell the meat and say, "Praise the Lord! We are rich!' Even their own shepherds have no pity on them."
6 (The Lord said, "I will no longer pity anyone on earth. I myself will put all the people in the power of their rulers. These rulers will devastate the earth, and I will not save it from their power.")
7 Those who bought and sold the sheep hired me, and I became the shepherd of the sheep that were going to be butchered. I took two sticks: one I called "Favor" and the other "Unity." And I took care of the flock.
8 I lost patience with three other shepherds, who hated me, and I got rid of them all in a single month.
9 Then I said to the flock, "I will not be your shepherd any longer. Let those die who are to die. Let those be destroyed who are to be destroyed. Those who are left will destroy one another."
10 Then I took the stick called "Favor" and broke it, to cancel the covenant which the Lord had made with all the nations.
11 So the covenant was canceled on that day. Those who bought and sold the sheep were watching me, and they knew that the Lord was speaking through what I did.
12 I said to them, "If you are willing, give me my wages. But if not, keep them." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver as my wages.
13 The Lord said to me, "Put them in the Temple treasury." So I took the thirty pieces of silver - the magnificent sum they thought I was worth - and put them in the Temple treasury.
14 Then I broke the second stick, the one called "Unity," and the unity of Judah and Israel was shattered.
15 Then the Lord said to me, "Once again act the part of a shepherd, this time a worthless one.
16 I have put a shepherd in charge of my flock, but he does not help the sheep that are threatened by destruction; nor does he look for the lost, or heal those that are hurt, or feed the healthy. Instead, he eats the meat of the fattest sheep and tears off their hoofs.
17 That worthless shepherd is doomed! He has abandoned his flock. War will totally destroy his power. His arm will wither, and his right eye will go blind."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Zechariah 12

1 This is a message about Israel from the Lord, the Lord who spread out the skies, created the earth, and gave life to man. He says,
2 "I will make Jerusalem like a cup of wine; the nations around her will drink and stagger like drunks. And when they besiege Jerusalem, the cities of the rest of Judah will also be besieged.
3 But when that time comes, I will make Jerusalem like a heavy stone - any nation that tries to lift it will be hurt. All the nations of the world will join forces to attack her.
4 At that time I will terrify all their horses and make all their riders go crazy. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will make the horses of their enemies blind.
5 Then the clans of Judah will say to themselves, "The Lord God Almighty gives strength to his people who live in Jerusalem.'
6 "At that time I will make the clans of Judah like a fire in a forest or in a field of ripe grain - they will destroy all the surrounding nations. The people of Jerusalem will remain safe in the city.
7 "I, the Lord, will give victory to the armies of Judah first, so that the honor which the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem will receive will be no greater than that of the rest of Judah.
8 At that time the Lord will protect those who live in Jerusalem, and even the weakest among them will become as strong as David was. The descendants of David will lead them like the angel of the Lord, like God himself.
9 At that time I will destroy every nation that tries to attack Jerusalem.
10 "I will fill the descendants of David and the other people of Jerusalem with the spirit of mercy and the spirit of prayer. They will look at the one whom they stabbed to death, and they will mourn for him like those who mourn for an only child. They will mourn bitterly, like those who have lost their first-born son.
11 At that time the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
12 Each family in the land will mourn by itself: the family descended from David, the family descended from Nathan, the family descended from Levi, the family descended from Shimei, and all the other families. Each family will mourn by itself, and the men of each family will mourn separately from the women.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Revelation 20

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a heavy chain.
2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent - that is, the Devil, or Satan - and chained him up for a thousand years.
3 The angel threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that he must be set loose for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given the power to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth that Jesus revealed and the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image, nor had they received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand years.
5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first raising of the dead.
6 Happy and greatly blessed are those who are included in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them; they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years.
7 After the thousand years are over, Satan will be set loose from his prison,
8 and he will go out to deceive the nations scattered over the whole world, that is, Gog and Magog. Satan will bring them all together for battle, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore.
9 They spread out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city that he loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them.
10 Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence and were seen no more.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
13 Then the sea gave up its dead. Death and the world of the dead also gave up the dead they held. And all were judged according to what they had done.
14 Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.)
15 Those who did not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.