Rejoice thou greatly, O daughter Zion; be glad, O daughter Jerusalem. For lo, thy King cometh unto thee, even the righteous and Saviour: Lowly and simple is he, he rideth upon an ass, and upon the foal of an ass.

[As for] you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will release your prisoners from {the waterless pit}.

For I have bent Judah [as] my bow; I have set Ephraim [as an arrow]. I will set in motion your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Javan. I will wield you like the sword of a warrior.

And Jehovah doth appear for them, And gone forth as lightning hath His arrow, And the Lord Jehovah with a trumpet bloweth, And He hath gone with whirlwinds of the south.

The Lord of armies will be a cover for them; and they will overcome, crushing under foot the armed men; they will take their blood for drink like wine: they will be full like the sides of the altar.

And Yahweh their God will save them on that day, as the flock of his people; for [they are like] the stones of a diadem, glittering on his land.

For how [great is] his goodness, and how [great is] his beauty! Grain will make the young men thrive, and new wine [the] young women.

Pray the LORD then betimes to give you the latter rain, so shall the LORD make clouds, and give you rain enough for all the increase of the field:

For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams: they comfort in vain. Therefore they have gone away as a flock, they are in distress, because there is no shepherd.

Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats; for Jehovah of hosts visiteth his flock, the house of Judah, and maketh them as his majestic horse in the battle.

And they shall be as mighty men, treading down the mire of the streets in the battle; and they shall fight, for Jehovah is with them, and the riders on horses shall be put to shame.

And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and the house of Joseph I will save. And I will bring them back, because I have compassion on them, and they will be as if I had not rejected them, for I [am] Yahweh their God, and I will answer them.

I will whistle to them and gather them, for I have redeemed them, and they will become numerous as they have been numerous [before].

And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and from Assyria I will gather them. To the land of Gilead and Lebanon I will bring them, until no [room] will be found for them [there].

I will strengthen them in Yahweh,
and they will march in His name—
this is Yahweh’s declaration.

Wail, O juniper, for [the] cedar has fallen, for [the] magnificent [trees] are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan, for the impenetrable forest has come down!

[Listen to] the wailing of the shepherds, for their splendor is ruined! [Listen to] the roar of [the] young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are ruined!

Thus says the LORD my God; Feed the flock for the slaughter;

The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, 'Blessed [be] Yahweh, for I have become rich.' Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

For I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land," {declares} Yahweh. "Look, I [am] going to cause humankind to fall, each into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they will devastate the land, and I will not deliver [anyone] from their hand."

So I tended the flock doomed to slaughter, for the sheep-merchants, - and took unto me two staves, the one, I called Grace, and, the other, I called Union, thus I tended the sheep,

And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for {I grew impatient} with them, and {they also became tired of me}.

And I said, I will not take care of you: If death comes to any, let death be its fate; if any is cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest take one another's flesh for food.

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

And the LORD said unto me, "Cast it unto the potter" - a goodly price for me to be valued at of them. And I took the thirty silver pens, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

The LORD said to me, "Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

For look, I [am] raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the [ones that are] perishing; he will not seek the young man, he will not heal the [ones that are] crushed and he will not sustain the healthy [ones]; he will devour the flesh of the {fattened ones} and tear apart [even] their hoofs.

Alas! for my worthless shepherd, who forsaketh the flock, A sword upon his arm, and upon his right eye! - his arm, shall be, utterly withered, and, his right eye, shall be, wholly darkened.

The heavy burden which the LORD hath devised for Israel. Thus sayeth the LORD, which spread the heavens abroad, laid the foundation of the earth, and giveth man the breath of life,

'Look, I [am] going to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding nations; it will also be against Judah in the siege against Jerusalem.

{And then} on that day I will make Jerusalem a stone weight for all the peoples. All those lifting it up will grievously hurt themselves, and all the nations of the earth will assemble against it.

Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the Lord of hosts, their God.’

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

On that day the wailing will be great in Jerusalem, like the wailing for Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

At that time, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for those who live in Jerusalem so they can be cleansed from sin and ceremonial impurity.

" 'On that day a well will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, {to cleanse them from sin and from impurity}.

And then, sayeth the LORD of Hosts, I will destroy the names of Idols out of the land: so that they shall no more be put in remembrance. As for the false prophets also and the unclean spirit, I shall take them out of the land:

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

And it will come about in that day that the prophets will be shamed, every man on account of his vision, when he is talking as a prophet; and they will not put on a robe of hair for purposes of deceit:

but he will say, "I [am] not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man has acquired me since my youth."

Look! A day [is] coming for Yahweh, when your plunder will be divided in your midst.

For I will gather together all the Heathen, to fight against Jerusalem: so that the city shall be won, the houses spoiled, and the women defiled. The half of the city shall go away into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be carried out of the city.

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

For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.

And Jehovah was for king over all the earth: in that day Jehovah shall be one, and his name one.

People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.

And it shall come to pass, that, as for every one that is left out of all the nations that came against Jerusalem, that they shall come up, from year to year, to bow down to the king, Yahweh of hosts, and to celebrate the festival of booths.

And look: what generation upon earth goeth not up to Jerusalem for to worship the King, even the LORD of Hosts: upon the same shall come no rain.

This will be the punishment for Egypt and all nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents."

And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of armies: and all those who make offerings will come and take them for boiling their offerings: in that day there will be no more traders in the house of the Lord of armies.

You have been loved by me, says the Lord. But you say, Where was your love for us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? says the Lord: but Jacob was loved by me,

and hated Esau: Yea I have made his hills waste, and his heritage a wilderness for dragons."

If Edom say, We are broken down, but we will build again the ruined places, thus saith Jehovah of hosts: They shall build, but I will throw down; and men shall call them the territory of wickedness, and the people against whom Jehovah hath indignation for ever.

In bringing near upon mine altar, polluted food, while yet ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? Because ye say, As for the table of Yahweh, a thing to be despised, it is;

When you offer a blind [animal] for sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer [the] lame and the one who is ill, is that not wrong? Present it, please, to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? {Will he show you favor}?" says Yahweh of hosts.

And now make your prayer before God, that he may have mercy upon us: for such things have ye done. Shall he regard your persons, think ye, sayeth the LORD of Hosts?

Who is there among you that would even shut the doors? and ye would not kindle fire on mine altar for nothing. I have no delight in you, saith Jehovah of hosts, neither will I accept an oblation at your hand.

From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name [is] great among the nations, and in every place incense [is] being presented to my name, and a pure offering. For my name [is] great among the nations," says Yahweh of hosts.

But ye are profaning me, - in that ye say, As for the table of the Lord, polluted it is, and, as for his produce, contemptible is his food.

You also say, 'How tiresome it is.' You turn up your nose at it," says the Lord who rules over all, "and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?" asks the Lord.

"Cursed is the one who cheats, who has in his flock a male and vows [it], but [instead] sacrifices a blemished one to the Lord! For I [am] a great king," says Yahweh of hosts, "and my name [is] awesome among the nations."

"And so then, O priests, this command [is] for you:

If ye will not hear and if ye will not set upon your heart to give honor to my name, said Jehovah of armies, and I sent a curse upon you, and I cursed your blessings, and also I cursed it for your not setting upon the heart.

And ye have known that I have sent unto you this charge, For My covenant being with Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts.

My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear with which he feared me, and was afraid before my name.

For the lips of [the] priest should guard knowledge, and they should seek instruction from his mouth, for he [is] the messenger of Yahweh of hosts.

But as for you, ye are gone clean out of the way, and have caused the multitude to be offended at the law: ye have broken the covenant of Levi, sayeth the LORD of Hosts.

"Therefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according to the way you have not kept my ways, but have had respect for persons in the law.

Judah hath dealt unfaithfully, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the sanctuary of Jehovah which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

As for the man who does this, may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who presents an offering to the Lord of hosts.

But you ask, "{For what reason}?" Because Yahweh stands as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been unfaithful, even though she [is] your marriage partner and {your wife by covenant}.

No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.

"For hate divorce," says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "and he [who] covers his clothing [with] violence," says Yahweh of hosts. "{You must be attentive to} your spirit and you must not be unfaithful."

See, I am sending my servant, and he will make ready the way before me; and the Lord, whom you are looking for, will suddenly come to his Temple; and the angel of the agreement, in whom you have delight, see, he is coming, says the Lord of armies.

And who [can] endure the day of his coming? And who [is] the one who can stand {when he appears}? For he [is] like a refiner's fire, like launderers' alkali.

"Then I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against those who swear {falsely}, and against the oppressors of [the] hired worker [with his] wages, [the] widow and [the] orphan, and {the abusers of} [the] alien, and [yet] do not fear me," says Yahweh of hosts.

"For I, Yahweh, have not changed, and you, O children of Jacob, have not perished.

For from the days of your fathers ye departed from my laws, and ye watched not. Turn back to me and I will turn back to you, said Jehovah of armies. And ye said, In what shall we turn back?

Will man defraud God? For ye defraud me. And ye said, In what did we defraud thee? The tenths and the offerings.

You [are] being cursed with curse, for you [are] robbing me, the whole nation [of you]!

Bring the whole tithe to {the storehouse}, so that there will be food in my house, and test me please in this," says Yahweh of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour forth for you {an overflowing blessing}.

I will rebuke the devourer for you; it will not destroy the fruit of your soil; your vine in the field will not be unfruitful," says Yahweh of hosts.

And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts.

Ye have said, 'It is but lost labour, to serve God: What profit have we for keeping his commandments, and for walking humbly before the LORD of Hosts?

And now we hold the proud for happy; yea, they that work wickedness are built up; yea, they tempt God, and they escape.

Then they that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another; and Jehovah observed it, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name.

Therefore shall they be mine, saith Yahweh of hosts, in the day for which, I, am preparing treasure, - and I will deal tenderly with them, just as a man, dealeth tenderly, with his own son who is serving him.

"For look! The day [is] about to come, burning like an oven, and all the arrogant and every {evildoer} will be stubble. The coming day will consume them," says Yahweh of hosts. "It will not leave behind for them root or branch.

But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like {fattened calves}.

You will trample down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I [am] going to act," says Yahweh of hosts.

Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, the statutes and ordinances.

And by him the hearts of fathers will be turned to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers; for fear that I may come and put the earth under a curse.

And of Jesus Christ, the birth was thus: For his mother Mary having been betrothed to Joseph, before their coming together she was found to have conceived from the Holy Spirit,

But [as] he was considering these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary [as] your wife, for what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.

All this happened for the fulfilment of what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

saying, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star at its rising and have come to worship him."

So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet,

'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you will go out a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

Then Herod secretly sent for the stargazers, and found out from them exactly the time the star appeared.