Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today we conclude the book of Zechariah,
reading chapters 11 through 14. Chapter 11 Open
your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your
cedars. Wail, O Cyprus, for the cedar has fallen,
because the mighty trees are ruined. Wail, O
oaks of Bashan, for the thick forest has come
down. There is the sound of wailing shepherds,
for their glory is in ruins. There is the sound
of roaring lions, for the pride of the Jordan
is in ruins. Thus says the Lord my God, feed
the flock for slaughter, whose owners slaughter
them and feel no guilt. Those who sell them say,
Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich, and their
shepherds do not pity them, for I will no longer
pity the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord.
But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor's
hand and into the hand of his king. They shall
attack the land, and I will not deliver them
from their hand. So I fed the flock for slaughter,
in particular the poor of the flock. I took for
myself two staffs, the one I called Beauty and
the other I called Bonds, and I fed the flock.
I dismissed the three shepherds in one month.
My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred
me. Then I said, I will not feed you. Let what
is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let
those that are left eat each other's flesh. And
I took my staff, beauty, and cut it in two, that
I might break the covenant which I had made with
all the peoples. So it was broken on that day.
Thus the poor of the flock who were watching
me knew that it was the word of the Lord. Then
I said to them, If it is agreeable to you, give
me my wages, and if not, refrain. So they weighed
out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And
the Lord said to me, Throw it to the potter.
That princely price they set on me. So I took
the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into
the house of the Lord for the potter. Then I
cut in two my other staff, bonds, that I might
break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
And the Lord said to me, Next, take for yourself
the implements of a foolish shepherd. For indeed
I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will
not care for those who are cut off, nor seek
the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor
feed those that still stand. but he will eat
the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in
pieces. Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves
the flock! A sword shall be against his arm and
against his right eye. His arm shall completely
wither, and his right eye shall be totally blinded.
Chapter 12 The burden of the word of the Lord
against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches
out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth,
and forms the spirit of man within him. Behold,
I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to
all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege
against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen
in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very
heavy stone for all peoples. All who would heave
it away will surely be cut in pieces, though
all nations of the earth are gathered against
it. In that day, says the Lord, I will strike
every horse with confusion and its rider with
madness. I will open my eyes on the house of
Judah. and will strike every horse of the peoples
with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall
say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem
are my strength, and the Lord of hosts their
God. In that day I will make the governors of
Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like
a fiery torch in the sheaves. They shall devour
all the surrounding peoples on the right hand
and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited
again in her own place, Jerusalem. The Lord will
save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory
of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants
of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that
of Judah. In that day the Lord will defend the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. The one who is feeble
among them in that day shall be like David, and
the house of David shall be like God, like the
angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in
that day that I will seek to destroy all the
nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will
pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication.
Then they will look on me whom they pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for
his only son and grieve for him as one grieves
for a firstborn. In that day, There shall be
a great morning in Jerusalem, like the morning
at Hadad Ramon in the plain of Megiddo. And the
land shall mourn, every family by itself, the
family of the house of David by itself, and their
wives by themselves, the family of the house
of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves,
the family of the house of Levi by itself, and
their wives by themselves, the family of Shimei
by itself, and their wives by themselves. all
the families that remain every family by itself
and their wives by themselves. Chapter 13 In
that day a fountain shall be opened for the house
of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem
for sin and for uncleanness. It shall be in that
day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will cut
off the names of the idols from the land, and
they shall no longer be remembered. I will also
cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to
depart from the land. It shall come to pass that
if anyone still prophesies, then his father and
mother who begot him will say to him, You shall
not live, because you have spoken lies in the
name of the Lord. And his father and mother who
begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies.
And it shall be in that day that every prophet
will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies.
They will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive.
But he will say, I am no prophet, I am a farmer,
for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
And one will say to him, What are these wounds
between your arms? Then he will answer, Those
with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against
the man who is my companion, says the Lord of
hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will
be scattered. Then I will turn my hand against
the little ones, and it shall come to pass in
all the land, says the Lord, that two thirds
in it shall be cut off and die, but one third
shall be left in it. I will bring the one third
through the fire. will refine them as silver
is refined, and test them as gold is tested.
They will call on my name, and I will answer
them. I will say, This is my people, and each
one will say, The Lord is my God. Chapter 14
Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your
spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will
gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem.
The city shall be taken. The houses rifled, and
the women ravished. Half of the city shall go
into captivity, but the remnant of the people
shall not be cut off from the city. Then the
Lord will go forth and fight against those nations,
as he fights in the day of battle. And in that
day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount
of Olives shall be split in two, from east to
west, making a very large valley. Half of the
mountain shall move toward the north, and half
of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through
my mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall
reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee, as you fled
from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king
of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and
all the saints with you. It shall come to pass
in that day that there will be no light. the
lights will diminish it shall be one day which
is known to the lord neither day nor night but
at evening time it shall happen that it will
be light and in that day it shall be that living
waters shall flow from jerusalem half of them
toward the eastern sea and half of them toward
the western sea in both summer and winter it
shall occur and the lord shall be king over all
the earth in that day it shall be The Lord is
one, and his name one. All the land shall be
turned into a plain from Geba to Ramon, south
of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and
inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate
to the place of the first gate and the corner
gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king's
wine presses. The people shall dwell in it, and
no longer shall there be utter destruction. But
Jerusalem... shall be safely inhabited and this
shall be the plague with which the lord will
strike all the people who fought against jerusalem
their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on
their feet their eyes shall dissolve in their
sockets and their tongues shall dissolve in their
mouth it shall come to pass in that day that
a great panic from the lord will be among them
Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor
and raise his hand against his neighbor's hand.
Judah also will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth
of all the surrounding nations shall be gathered
together, gold, silver, and apparel in great
abundance. Such also shall be the plague, on
the horse and the mule, on the camel and the
donkey, and on all the cattle that will be in
those camps, so shall this plague be. And it
shall come to pass that everyone who is left
of all the nations which came against Jerusalem
shall go up from year to year to worship the
King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast
of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever
of the families of the earth do not come up to
Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts,
on them there will be no rain. If the family
of Egypt will not come up and enter it, they
shall have no rain. They shall receive the plague
with which the Lord strikes the nations who do
not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the
punishment of all the nations that do not come
up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. In that
day, holiness to the Lord shall be engraved on
the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord's
house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be
holiness to the Lord of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices
shall come and take them and cook in them. In
that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite
in the house of the Lord of hosts. I hope you
enjoyed today's reading as much as I did. And
I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow to
continue on our journey. God bless you and have
a great day.