1 My brothers, have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ without showing favoritism. 2 For example, suppose a man enters your worship assembly [1] wearing gold rings and fine clothing, and a poor man also enters wearing filthy clothing. 3 If you look with favor on the man wearing fine clothing and say, “Sit here in this good place,” but you tell the poor man, “Stand over there” or “Sit down here [2] at my feet,” 4 have you not made a distinction among yourselves and become judges with evil opinions? 5 Listen, my dear brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him? 6 But you dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and don’t they drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who blaspheme the noble name that was pronounced over you? 8 However, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” [3] you are doing well. 9 But if you show favoritism, you are committing a sin, since you are convicted by this law as transgressors.
Keep the Whole Law
10 In fact, whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point has become guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For the one who said, “Do not commit adultery,” [4] also said, “Do not commit murder.” [5] Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law of freedom. 13 For there will be judgment without mercy on the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy triumphs [6] over judgment.
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19 Remember this, [1] my dear brothers: Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. 20 Certainly, a man’s anger does not bring about what is right before God. 21 So after getting rid of all moral filthiness and overflowing wickedness, receive with humility the word planted in you. It is able to save your souls.
22 Be people who do what the word says, not people who only hear it. Such people are deceiving themselves. 23 In fact, if anyone hears the word and does not do what it says, he is like a man who carefully looks at his own natural face in a mirror. 24 Indeed, he carefully looks at himself; then, he goes away and immediately forgets what he looked like. 25 But the one who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continues to do so—since he does not hear and forget but actually does what it says—that person will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone considers himself to be religious but deceives his own heart because he does not bridle his tongue, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled in the sight of God the Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Footnotes
James 1:19 A few witnesses to the text read Therefore instead of Remember this.
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1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes who are scattered [1] abroad:
Greetings.
Patient Endurance, Wisdom, Prayer, and Faith
2 Consider it complete joy, my brothers, [2] whenever you fall into various kinds of trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces patient endurance. 4 And let patient endurance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any one of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives it to all without reservation and without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, without doubting, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 In fact, that person should not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Rich and Poor
9 Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his high position, 10 and the rich one in his humble position, because he will pass away like a flower of the grass. 11 Indeed, the sun rises with burning heat and dries up the grass. Its blossom falls off, and its beauty perishes. In the same way also, the rich person will wither away in his busy pursuits.
Temptation
12 Blessed is the man who endures a trial patiently, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God [3] promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.
Receive and Do What God’s Word Says
16 Do not be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, who does not change or shift like a shadow. [4]18 Just as he planned, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creations.
Footnotes
James 1:1 Literally in the Diaspora or in the dispersion
James 1:2 When context indicates it, the Greek word for brothers may refer to all fellow believers, male and female.
James 1:12 Some witnesses to the text read the Lord. Other witnesses read he. (“Witnesses to the text” mentioned in footnotes may include Greek manuscripts, lectionaries, translations, and quotations in the church fathers.)
James 1:17 Or with whom there is no change or even a shadow of turning
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7 Since the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Armies.
You say, “In what way should we return?”
8 Will a man rob God? You are robbing me!
You say, “How have we robbed you?”
In regard to the tithe and the special offering. [1]9 You are being cursed since all of you, the whole nation, are robbing me. 10 Bring the complete tithe to the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Just test me in this, says the Lord of Armies. See whether I do not open for you the windows [2] of heaven and pour down blessing on you, until there is more than enough. 11 I will restrain the devouring swarm so that it will not destroy your produce from your soil. Your vine in the field will not be without fruit, says the Lord of Armies. 12 All the nations will call you blessed, because you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of Armies.
13 Your words against me are harsh, says the Lord.
You ask, “How have we spoken against you?” 14 You say, “Serving God is pointless. What have we gained by carefully keeping his requirements and by walking around like mourners before the Lord of Armies? 15 Now we will call the arrogant blessed. Even evildoers are built up. They even test God and get away with it.”
Israel’s Response
16 Then those who fear the Lord spoke with each other. The Lord gave them his attention and listened. A book of remembrance was written in front of him for those who fear the Lord and have regard for his name.
17 They will be mine, says the Lord of Armies, on the day I make them my treasured possession. I will spare them just as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then you will again see the distinction between a righteous person and a wicked person, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
Malachi 4
1 Look! The day is coming, burning like a blast furnace. [3] All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord of Armies, a day that will not leave behind a root or branch for them. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness [4] will rise, and there will be healing in its wings. You will go out and jump around like calves from the stall. 3 You will trample the wicked. They will surely be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I take action, says the Lord of Armies.
4 Remember the law of my servant Moses, which I commanded to him at Horeb to serve as statutes and judgments over all Israel.
5 Look! I am going to send Elijah the prophet to you before the great and fearful day of the Lord comes! [5]6 He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with complete destruction.
Footnotes
Malachi 3:8 Or the elevated offering
Malachi 3:10 Or floodgates
Malachi 4:1 English verses 4:1-6 are verses 3:19-24 in Hebrew.
Malachi 4:2 Or the Sun of Righteousness will rise, and there will be healing in his wings. The question here is whether the words sun of righteousness are a title for the Messiah or a picture of the blessings of the Messianic era.
Malachi 4:5 This is fulfilled by John the Baptist (Matthew 11:7-14 and Luke 1:17).
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Instruction From the Prophet:
The Covenant Is Broken by Divorce
10 Don’t we all have one Father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why then do we violate our vows to each other, polluting the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has acted unfaithfully. A detestable thing was done in Israel and in Jerusalem when Judah polluted the holy place [1] of the Lord, which the Lord loves. Judah is married to the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any man who does this, both the one who is awake and the one who answers, [2] even if he brings an offering to the Lord of Armies!
13 This is the second thing you do: You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and crying, because there is no longer any favorable response to your offering, and God is not pleased with anything from your hand. 14 So you ask, “Why is this happening?” This is why—because the Lord is a witness in the case between you and the wife you married when you were young, because you have betrayed her—though she was your partner, the wife with whom you made a covenant! 15 No one has done this who has a remnant of the Spirit. [3] And why one? He is seeking offspring from God. [4] So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not act unfaithfully against the wife you married when you were young. 16 He hates divorce! That is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. He hates it when a person wears violence as a garment. That is what the Lord of Armies says. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful.
17 You have made the Lord weary with your words. You say, “How have we made him weary?” Whenever you say that anyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s eyes or that the Lord takes pleasure in evildoers. Or whenever you say, “Where is the God of justice?”
An Oracle From the Lord About the Messiah
Malachi 3
1 Look! I am sending my messenger! [5] He will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord, whom you are seeking, will come to his temple! The Messenger of the Covenant, [6] in whom you delight, will surely come, says the Lord of Armies.
2 But who can endure the day when he comes? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like launderers bleach! [7]3 He will be seated like a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver. They will belong to the Lord and bring him an offering in righteousness.
4 Judah and Jerusalem’s offerings will be pleasing to the Lord as they were in the days of old, in years long ago.
5 I will approach you to judge you. I will be quick to give testimony against those who practice occult arts, those who commit adultery, those who swear false oaths, those who cheat workers out of their wages, those who wrong a widow and a fatherless child, those who turn away a resident alien—all those who do not fear me, says the Lord of Armies.
6 Certainly I, the Lord, do not change. That is why you, sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.
Footnotes
Malachi 2:11 Or holiness
Malachi 2:12 Because the meaning of this phrase is uncertain, the EHV retains a literal translation. It seems to mean every last one of them. It may mean something like the one who does this knowingly, and the one who has been warned.
Malachi 2:15 Verse 15 is very difficult. There is no consensus about the translation. The Hebrew text translated very literally reads: and not one—he has done; and a remnant of spirit to him, and what the one? Desiring seed God. The translation above is an effort to connect these thoughts into a smooth translation. Other suggested translations for the first part of the sentence are: has not one God made them or has not God made them one; and for the second part of the sentence: he has left a remnant of the Spirit or they are his, in flesh and spirit. What is clear in the verse is that God’s purpose for the lifelong union of one man and one woman is godly offspring and that God hates wrongful divorce.
Malachi 2:15 Either the man is seeking godly offspring or God seeks offspring. There is no consensus on the translation of this verse. The biggest difficulty is the uncertainty about who or what the word one in the previous sentence refers to.
Malachi 3:1 This is fulfilled by John the Baptist.
Malachi 3:1 Or the Angel of the Covenant. This refers to Christ, who is also called the Angel of the Lord.
Malachi 3:2 Literally lye. Lye was used to bleach wool.
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1 An oracle. [1] The word of the Lord to Israel through [2] Malachi.
An Oracle From the Lord:
God’s Love for Israel
2 I have loved you, says the Lord.
But you say, “How have you loved us?”
Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? declares the Lord. I loved Jacob, 3 but I hated Esau. I turned Esau’s mountains into a desolate place, and I turned the territory he possessed over to the wild jackals.
4 Edom will certainly say, “We have been beaten down, but we will return, and we will rebuild the ruins.”
This is what the Lord of Armies says. They may rebuild, but I will tear it down. Edom will be called a wicked territory, and the Edomites will be called the people whom the Lord has denounced forever. 5 Your eyes will see this, and you will say, “The Lord is great—even beyond the border of Israel!”
An Oracle From the Lord:
Improper Sacrifices Insult God
6 A son honors his father. A servant honors his master. If I am a father, where is my honor? If I am a master, where is the reverence owed to me? This is what the Lord of Armies says to you. The priests are the ones who despise my name.
You say, “How have we despised your name?”
7 You despise my name by bringing defiled food to my altar.
But you say, “How have we defiled you?”
You defile me when you say, “The Lord’s table deserves no respect.” 8 When you bring a blind animal as a sacrifice, isn’t that evil? When you bring something lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Try bringing that to your governor. Would he be pleased with you? Would he receive you with favor? This is what the Lord of Armies says.
Interjection by Israel
9 Now ask for God’s favor so that he may be gracious to us.
An Oracle From the Lord:
Improper Sacrifices Insult God
With offerings like this from your hand, will he receive you with favor? This is what the Lord of Armies says. 10 I wish there was someone among you who would shut the temple doors so you would not keep lighting useless fires on my altar! I find nothing pleasing about you, says the Lord of Armies. I am not pleased with an offering from your hand.
11 Yes, from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, my name will be great among the nations! In every place incense and a pure offering will be presented to my name, because my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of Armies.
12 But you are profaning my name when you say, “The Lord’s table is polluted, and we despise the things offered on it, the food that is on it.” 13 You also say, “What drudgery!” and you snort at it with contempt, says the Lord of Armies. You bring something torn, [3] something lame, something sick, and present it as an offering. Should I be pleased with something like that from your hand? says the Lord.
14 Cursed is the cheater who vows to offer a male animal from his flock, but then he sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord instead. Indeed, I am a great king, says the Lord of Armies, and my name will be feared among the nations.
A Warning to the Priests From the Lord
Malachi 2
1 Now, you priests, this commandment is for you.
2 If you do not listen, if you do not set your heart on giving glory to my name, says the Lord of Armies, then I will send the curse [4] against you. I will curse your blessings. In fact, I have already cursed your offerings because you are not putting your heart into it. 3 Yes, I will rebuke your offspring. [5] I will smear animal bowels and their contents on your faces, the bowels produced by your festivals, and you will be hauled off with them. [6]
4 You will know that I sent you this commandment, so that my covenant with Levi may continue, says the Lord of Armies. 5 My covenant with him was life and peace, which I gave to him. It was a covenant of reverence, [7] and he revered me. He respected my name. 6 The true law was in his mouth, and no injustice was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness. He turned many away from guilt. 7 The lips of a priest should be guardians of knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth because he is a messenger of the Lord of Armies.
8 But you priests have turned from the way. You have made many people stumble in regard to the law. [8] You have ruined the covenant with Levi, says the Lord of Armies. 9 So I have made you despised and humiliated in the view of all the people, because you are not keeping my ways but are showing favoritism in carrying out the law.
Footnotes
Malachi 1:1 The Hebrew term massa often has the connotation of a threatening prophecy. Sometimes it simply is a prophecy.
Malachi 1:1 Literally by the hand of
Malachi 1:13 Or stolen
Malachi 2:2 The curse refers to the set of blessings and curses in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 27 and 28.
Malachi 2:3 Literally seed
Malachi 2:3 The animal bowels and their contents were the waste produced by Israel’s festival sacrifices. It was to be dumped at a distance from the holy place.
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1 Listen! A day is coming for the Lord, when the plunder taken from you will be divided in your presence.
2 I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be taken, the houses plundered, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
The Lord Will Be King Over All the Earth
3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half toward the south. 5 You will flee through my mountain valley, because the mountain valley will reach to Azal. Yes, you will flee, just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones will come with him. [1]
6 On that day there will be no light. The light sources will freeze over. [2]7 It will be a unique day—known to the Lord—neither day nor night. But at evening time there will be light.
8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea [3] and half of it toward the western sea. [4] It will continue to flow in summer and in winter.
9 The Lord will be King over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be the one, and his name will be the one.
10 The whole land will be changed into a plain, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be elevated and remain in her place, from the Benjamin Gate to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. 11 It will be inhabited, and it will no longer be devoted to destruction. Jerusalem will dwell in security.
12 This will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have waged war against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 On that day there will be a great panic from the Lord among them. They will seize each other by the hand, and the hand of each one will be raised up against his neighbor. 14 Even Judah will fight against [5] Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance. 15 In the same way a plague will afflict the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and all the animals that will be in those camps.
16 Then every survivor who is left from all the nations that went up against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 17 But if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Armies, no rain will fall on them. 18 If the family of clans from Egypt will not go up and enter in, they will be struck by the plague that the Lord used to strike the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Shelters. 19 This will be the punishment for Egypt as well as the punishment for all the nations that will not go up to celebrate the Festival of Shelters.
20 In that day this will be inscribed on the bells of the horses: “Holy to the Lord.” The cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the sprinkling bowls in front of the altar. 21 Every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of Armies, and all who sacrifice will come and take some of them and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite [6] in the house of the Lord of Armies.
Footnotes
Zechariah 14:5 Him is the reading of many Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions. The reading of the main Hebrew text is you singular.
Zechariah 14:6 Or, following the ancient versions, there will be no light or cold or frost or there will be no light, but cold and frost
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1 An oracle, the word of the Lord concerning Israel. This is what the Lord declares, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of a man within him:
2 Look! I will make Jerusalem a cup that causes all the surrounding peoples to stagger. When there is a siege against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. 3 On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will be seriously injured, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.
4 On that day, declares the Lord, I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness. But I will keep my eye on the house of Judah, and I will strike with blindness every horse that belongs to the other peoples. 5 Each of the leaders of the clans of Judah will say in his heart, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength through the Lord of Armies, their God.”
6 On that day I will make the leaders of the clans of Judah like a firepot that ignites the woods, and like a flaming torch among the sheaves. They will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right and on the left. The people of Jerusalem will once again live in their own place—in Jerusalem!
7 The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not become greater than that of Judah. 8 On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Anyone among them who is feeble will be like David on that day, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the Lord, before them. 9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
They Will Mourn for the One They Pierced
10 “I [1] will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace, who pleads for mercy. [2] Then they will look at me, the one they have pierced.”
They will mourn for him [3] as one mourns for an only child. They will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves over his firstborn. 11 On that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, as great as the mourning for Hadad Rimmon [4] in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, each family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan [5] by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei [6] by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, each family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
A Fountain to Wash Away Sin
Zechariah 13
1 On that day [7] a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
2 In that day, declares the Lord of Armies, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the prophets and the impure spirit from the land. 3 If anyone still prophesies, his father and his mother who gave birth to him will tell him, “You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord!” Then his father and his mother who gave birth to him will stab him when he prophesies.
4 In that day each of those prophets will be ashamed of his vision. When he prophesies, he will not put on a prophet’s garment made of hair in order to deceive. 5 Instead he will say, “I am not a prophet. I have been a tiller of the soil since my youth, when a man bought me.” 6 Someone will ask him, “What are these wounds on your body?” [8] He will reply, “I received these wounds in the house of my friends.”
Strike the Shepherd, and the Sheep Will Be Scattered
7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is my associate, declares the Lord of Armies. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones. [9]
8 This will take place in the whole land, declares the Lord: Two thirds of those who remain in it will be cut off and perish, but one third will be left in it. 9 I will put that third into the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and I will 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 they will say, “The Lord is my God.”
Footnotes
Zechariah 12:10 The speaker is the coming Messiah.
Zechariah 12:10 Or a spirit that pleads for grace and mercy
Zechariah 12:10 Sudden, unmarked shifts from first person (look at me) to third person (mourn for him) are not unusual in prophecy. The words set off by quotation marks are the words of the Messiah. The following words are commentary spoken by the prophet.
Zechariah 12:11 Or at Hadad Rimmon. Hadad Rimmon may be the name of a heathen god, whose death was mourned like the death of Tammuz. Or it may be the name of a place where Israel mourned the death of Josiah.
Zechariah 12:12 Not the well-known prophet Nathan, but Nathan the son of David who was an ancestor of Jesus (Luke 3:31)
Zechariah 12:13 One of the divisions of the Levites
Zechariah 13:1 This may refer specifically to Good Friday (see 3:9) or it may refer to the New Testament era.
Zechariah 13:6 Heathen priests gashed themselves as part of their frenzied prayers.
Zechariah 13:7 Or but I will turn my hand back to the little ones
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1 Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars. 2 Wail, you fir trees, because the cedars have fallen. The majestic trees have been destroyed. Wail, oaks of Bashan, for the impenetrable forest has been felled. 3 There is a sound of shepherds wailing, because their splendor has been destroyed. There is a sound of young lions roaring, for the dense thickets of the Jordan have been destroyed.
The Rejection of the Good Shepherd
4 This is what the Lord, my God, said.
Shepherd the flock which is to be slaughtered. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them and are not held accountable, and those who sell them say, “Bless the Lord! I have become rich!” Their own shepherds show them no compassion, 6 because I will no longer show compassion to the people of the land, declares the Lord.
Look, I will bring it about that each one of them will fall into the hand of his neighbor and into the hand of his king. They will crush the land, and I will rescue no one from their hands.
7 So I [1] shepherded the flock which is to be slaughtered, especially the most afflicted of the flock. I took two staffs for myself. One I called Favor and the other Union. Then I shepherded the flock. 8 I removed three shepherds in one month. I grew very impatient with the flock, and they really detested me. 9 So I said, “I will not shepherd you. Whatever is dying, let it die. Whatever is being destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.”
10 I took my staff, Favor, and I broke it in two, to cancel my covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was cancelled on that day, and the most miserable of the flock, who were watching me, knew that this was the word of the Lord.
12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages. But if it does not, withhold them.” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver as my wages.
13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter, this magnificent price at which they valued me.” So I took the thirty pieces of silver, and I threw them into the House of the Lord, to the potter.
14 Then I broke my second staff, Union, to break the brotherhood between the house of Judah and the house of Israel.
A Foolish Shepherd
15 Then the Lord said to me:
Take up once again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16 Watch closely. I myself am going to raise up a shepherd in the land, one who will pay no attention to those who are being lost, who will not search for the scattered, who will not heal the injured, who will not nourish those who remain standing, but who nevertheless will devour the meat of the fat sheep and even tear off their hoofs. 17 Woe to my worthless shepherd, the one who deserts the flock. May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm wither away to nothing, and his right eye become completely blind.
Footnotes
Zechariah 11:7 The pronoun I refers, first of all, to Zechariah, who serves as a type of Christ, the Good Shepherd. This incident seems to lead up to the death of Zechariah in the temple. The ultimate fulfillment is in Jesus the Good Shepherd, who was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. The bad shepherds in the next section are the unfaithful priests and spiritual leaders of Israel and ultimately the Antichrist.
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1 A threatening oracle. The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrak, and against Damascus, its resting place, because the eye of the Lord is on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel. 2 It is also against Hamath, which borders on Damascus, and Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. 3 Tyre has built a stronghold for herself and has piled up silver like dust, and gold like dirt from the streets. 4 Look, the Lord will seize everything she possesses and throw her wealth into the sea, and she will be consumed by fire. 5 Ashkelon will see it and be afraid. Gaza will writhe in anguish, and Ekron too, because her hopes have been dashed. The kingship will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon will no longer be inhabited. 6 A mixed race will live in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. 7 I will remove their blood from their mouths and their detestable things from between their teeth. Philistia too will be a remnant for our God, and it will be like a clan in Judah. Ekron will be like the Jebusites. 8 I will set up camp around my house, as a guard against those passing back and forth. The oppressor will never again march over them, because now I am watching with my own eyes.
Your Savior and King Is Coming!
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your King is coming to you. He is righteous and brings salvation. He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow will be taken away, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. His kingdom will extend from sea to sea, from the River [1] to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12 Return to the stronghold, you prisoners who have hope. This very day I declare that I will restore double to you. 13 For I will bend Judah as my bow, and I will load it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and I will make you like a strong warrior’s sword.
The Lord Will Appear
14 The Lord will appear above them, and his arrow will go out like lightning. The Lord God will sound the ram’s horn, and he will go forth in the windstorms from the south. 15 The Lord of Armies will defend them, and they will eat. They will overpower their enemies with sling stones. Then they will drink, and they will be boisterous as if drunk with wine. They will be filled like a sprinkling bowl used at the corners of the altar. 16 On that day the Lord their God will save them as the flock of his people. For like the jewels of a crown they will shine on his land. 17 Yes, what goodness it will have! What beauty! Grain will make the young men thrive, and new wine will make the young women thrive.
The Lord Will Provide
Zechariah 10
1 Ask the Lord, who makes storm clouds, to give rain at the right time for the spring rains, and he will provide showers of rain, and there will be crops in the field for everyone.
2 But household gods speak wicked deception, and the omen readers see illusions. They report trivial dreams and give false comfort. That is why the people wander like sheep. They are in trouble [2] because they have no shepherd.
The Lord’s Warning and Promise
3 My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders of the flock, because the Lord of Armies cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and he will make them like his majestic horse in battle. 4 From him will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every commander. 5 Together they will be like strong warriors, going out into battle, trampling the enemy into the mud of the streets. They will fight, because the Lord is with them, and those who ride horses will be put to shame.
6 I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them, because I have compassion on them. It will be as if I had not rejected them, because I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them. 7 Then Ephraim will become like a strong warrior, and their hearts will be glad as if from wine. Their children will see it and be glad. Their hearts will rejoice in the Lord. 8 I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them. They will be as numerous as they were in the past. 9 Though I scattered them among the peoples, yet in distant places they will remember me. They will survive and return with their children. 10 I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and I will gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be enough room for them. 11 They [3] will pass through the sea of distress, but the Lord will strike the waves in the sea. All the depths of the Nile will become dry. The pride of Assyria will be brought low. The scepter of Egypt will depart. 12 I will make them strong in the Lord, and they will walk in his name, declares the Lord.
Footnotes
Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates
Zechariah 10:2 Or are miserable
Zechariah 10:11 Or he. The Hebrew verb is singular.
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2 This is what the Lord of Armies says. I am zealous for Zion with great zeal, and with great wrath I am zealous for her.
3 This is what the Lord says. I will certainly return to Zion, and I will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of Armies will be called the holy mountain.
4 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, all of them with canes [1] in their hand due to old age. 5 Then the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.
6 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Although in those days this may seem unattainable to the surviving remnant of this people, will it also seem unattainable to me? declares the Lord of Armies.
7 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Look, I will save my people from the land where the sun rises and from the land where the sun sets, 8 and I will bring them to settle in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.
9 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built—you who in these days are listening to these words from the mouths of the prophets, who were present on the day when the foundation of the house of the Lord of Armies was laid. 10 For before those days, there was no one who could pay for workmen or for animals. There was no peace from the adversary for anyone who went out or came in, because I had set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not treat the surviving remnant of this people as in earlier days, declares the Lord of Armies.
12 Sowing will take place in peace. The vine will yield its fruit. The earth will yield its produce. The sky will provide its dew. I will give all these things as a possession to the surviving remnant of this people. 13 Just as you once were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so now I will save you. You will be a blessing. Do not be afraid. Let your hands be strong.
14 For this is what the Lord of Armies [2] says. Just as I planned to bring disaster upon you when your fathers made me angry, says the Lord of Armies, so that I did not relent, 15 so in these days I plan to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah once again. Do not be afraid.
16 These are the things that you are to do: Speak the truth to one another. Render judgments that uphold truth, justice, and peace in your gates. 17 Do not plot evil in your hearts against each other. Do not love false oaths. Indeed I hate all these things, declares the Lord.
18 The word of the Lord of Armies came to me:
19 This is what the Lord of Armies says. The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become times of rejoicing, joy, and gladness for the house of Judah. Therefore, all of you are to love truth and peace.
20 This is what the Lord of Armies says. People will still come as the inhabitants of many cities. 21 Then the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, “Let us go immediately to plead for the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of Armies. I myself will go.” 22 Then many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of Armies in Jerusalem and to plead for the favor of the Lord.
23 This is what the Lord of Armies says. In those days, ten men from among the speakers of every language of the nations will take firm hold of the hem of a Jew’s garment and say, “Let us go along with you, because we have heard that God is with you.”
Footnotes
Zechariah 8:4 Or staffs
Zechariah 8:14 Traditionally Lord of Hosts or Lord of Sebaoth
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1 In the fourth year of King Darius, [1] the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev. [2]
2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem Melek with their men to plead for the favor of the Lord3 by asking the priests who were at the house of the Lord of Armies and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to me:
5 Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests.
When you fasted and lamented during the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and drink, is it not for yourselves that you eat and drink? 7 Weren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and when the Negev and the Shephelah [3] were inhabited?
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah:
9 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Execute true justice. Each man is to show kindness and compassion to his brother. 10 Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless child, the foreigner living among you, or the poor. Make sure that none of you plan evil in your heart against your brother.
11 But they refused to pay attention. They turned a stubborn shoulder and covered their ears so that they would not hear. 12 They made their hearts like the hardest rock [4] so that they would not hear the law and the words that the Lord of Armies sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. As a result, the fierce anger from the Lord of Armies was great.
13 When I called, they would not listen. So when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord of Armies. 14 I scattered them with a windstorm, among all the nations which they did not know. So the land was left desolate behind them. No one traveled back and forth through it. They made the pleasant land desolate.
Footnotes
Zechariah 7:1 That is, 518 bc
Zechariah 7:1 That is, November/December
Zechariah 7:7 The Negev and Shephelah are the dry southland and the western foothills of Judah.
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1 Again I lifted up my eyes and looked. I saw a flying scroll!
2 He asked me, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a flying scroll! It is thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.” [1]
3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of the whole earth: On the basis of the curse, everyone who steals will be expelled in one direction, and everyone who swears falsely will be expelled in the other direction. [2]4 I will send it out, declares the Lord of Armies, and it will go to the house of the thief and to the house of the one who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in his house and consume it, both wood and stone.”
The Seventh Vision: A Woman in a Basket
5 Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and said to me, “Lift up your eyes, now, and see what is going out.”
6 So I asked, “What is it?”
He replied, “This is the basket [3] that is going out.”
He also said, “This is their guilt [4] in all the earth.”
7 As I watched, the lead cover was lifted, and I saw that there was a woman sitting inside the basket.
8 He said, “This is Wickedness.” Then he pushed her down inside the basket, and he pushed the lead weight onto its opening.
9 Then I lifted up my eyes and looked again. There were two women coming toward me! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork. They lifted up the basket between the earth and the heavens.
10 So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”
11 He told me, “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar. [5] When it is ready, it will be set there on its foundation.”
The Eighth Vision: Four Chariots
Zechariah 6
1 Then I turned and lifted up my eyes and looked again. There were four chariots coming out from between two mountains. The mountains were made of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses. The second chariot had black horses. 3 The third chariot had white horses. The fourth chariot had dappled horses. All of them were powerful. 4 So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits [6] of the heavens, going forth from their stations to present themselves to the Lord of all the earth. 6 The driver with the black horses is going toward the land of the north, and the one with the white horses is following after them, and the one with the dappled horses is going toward the land of the south.”
7 Now the powerful horses came out, and they were eager to range throughout the earth. He said, “Go! Range throughout the earth.” So they ranged throughout the earth.
8 Then he called out to me and told me, “Look! Those who are going out toward the land of the north have caused my Spirit to rest in the land of the north.”
The Crowning of Joshua
9 The word of the Lord came to me:
10 Take an offering from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon—and on that very day go into the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and place it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
12 Tell him that this is what the Lord of Armies says:
There is a man whose name is the Branch, because he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. 13 He is the one who will build the temple of the Lord. He will be clothed with majesty, and he will sit and rule on his throne. He will be a priest on his throne, and there will be peaceful relations between the two offices. [7]
14 The crown will be kept in the temple as a memorial [8] for Helem [9] and Tobijah and Jedaiah and Hen, [10] son of Zephaniah.
15 Those who are far away will come and build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Footnotes
Zechariah 5:2 Twenty cubits by ten cubits
Zechariah 5:3 Another interpretation is that this verse refers to writing on two sides of the scroll, rather than to two directions.
Zechariah 5:6 Hebrew ephah, here and in verses 7-11
Zechariah 5:6 The translation follows Greek and Syriac manuscripts and one Hebrew manuscript. Other Hebrew manuscripts read their eyes. In Hebrew script the words eye and guilt look very much alike.
Zechariah 5:11 That is, Babylon
Zechariah 6:5 Or winds
Zechariah 6:13 Joshua, who receives the crown, did not himself hold the two offices of priest and king, but as a type, he points to Christ, who did hold both offices.
Zechariah 6:14 Or reminder
Zechariah 6:14 Probably another name for Heldai (verse 10)
Zechariah 6:14 Or the gracious one, probably another name for Josiah (verse 10)
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The Fourth Vision: Joshua and Satan Stand Before the Angel of the Lord
Zechariah 3
1 Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan was standing at his right hand to accuse him.
2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Isn’t this man a burning stick plucked from a fire?”
3 Now Joshua was clothed in filthy clothing and was standing in front of the Angel. 4 Then the Angel of the Lord spoke to those who were standing in front of him: “Remove his filthy clothing.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken your guilt away from you, so that I may clothe you in a special robe.”
5 I said, [1] “Let them place a clean turban on his head.” So they placed a clean turban on his head and got him dressed, while the Angel of the Lord was standing by.
6 Then the Angel of the Lord spoke solemnly to Joshua:
7 This is what the Lord of Armies says. If you will walk in my ways and carry out my ministry, then you will also govern my house and watch over my courts, and I will give you access among those who are standing here.
8 Now listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates who sit in front of you—because these men are a sign. Look! I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 Look carefully at the stone that I placed in front of Joshua! On one stone with seven facets [2] I will engrave an inscription, declares the Lord of Armies, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day.
10 On that day, declares the Lord of Armies, each one of you will invite his neighbor to join him under his vine and under his fig tree.
The Fifth Vision: A Lampstand and Two Olive Trees
Zechariah 4
1 Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and woke me up in the same way that a man is awakened from sleep. 2 He said to me, “What do you see?”
I said, “Look! Right there, I see a lampstand, made entirely of gold, with a basin on top of it, with seven lamps on it, and there are seven channels leading to the lamps that are on top of it. [3]3 There are two olive trees beside it, one to the right of the bowl, and one to its left.”
4 I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 The angel who was speaking with me answered me, “Don’t you know what these are?”
I answered, “No, my lord.”
6 So he said to me:
This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Armies. 7 What are you, you great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a level plain. Then he will bring out the capstone with shouts of “Grace! Grace be with it!”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me:
9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will also finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you.
10 For who despises the day of small things? They will rejoice to see the plumb line [4] in the hand of Zerubbabel.
These seven are the eyes of the Lord that range throughout the whole earth.
11 Then I asked him, “What are these two olive trees to the right and left of the lampstand?” 12 I asked him a second time, “What are the two olive branches that are beside the two gold conduits that pour out the golden oil?”
13 He said to me, “Don’t you know what these are?”
I said, “No, my lord.”
14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones [5] who stand by the Lord of all the earth.”
Footnotes
Zechariah 3:5 This seems to be an interjection by the prophet Zechariah.
Zechariah 3:9 Literally eyes
Zechariah 4:2 Or perhaps there are seven spouts and seven wicks on each lamp. The details concerning the construction of the lampstand are uncertain.
Zechariah 4:10 The builder uses the plumb line to show that the walls he has built are straight, not leaning. The modern equivalent is a level.
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1 In the eighth month of the second year [1] of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.
2 The Lord was very angry with your forefathers. [2]3 Therefore, now you are to tell this people that this is what the Lord of Armies says to them.
Return to me, declares the Lord of Armies, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Armies. 4 Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed, “This is what the Lord of Armies says. Return, return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.”
But our forefathers did not listen, nor did they pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Your forefathers—where are they now? And those prophets—did they go on living indefinitely? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded to my servants the prophets, caught up with our forefathers, didn’t they?
Then they [3] returned [4] and said, “Because of our ways and our deeds, the Lord of Armies has done to us just as he planned to do to us.”
Eight Night Visions
The First Vision: The Man Among the Myrtle Trees
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, that is, the month of Shebat, [5] in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.
8 I saw a vision at night. In it I saw a man seated on a red horse, standing among myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, sorrel, [6] and white horses.
9 So I asked, “My lord, what are these?”
The angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”
10 Then the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, “These are the ones the Lord sent to range throughout the earth.”
11 They reported to the angel [7] of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have ranged throughout the earth. Look! All the earth is resting and quiet.”
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord of Armies, how long will you withhold compassion from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with whom you were indignant these seventy years?”
13 The Lord responded with kind and compassionate words to the angel who was speaking with me.
14 So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “Proclaim this. This is what the Lord of Armies says.”
I am very zealous [8] for Jerusalem and for Zion, 15 and I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are complacent. When I was angry only a little, [9] they added to the evil.
16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says. I have turned to Jerusalem with compassionate feelings. My house will be built in Jerusalem, declares the Lord of Armies, and the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.
17 Proclaim also this: This is what the Lord of Armies says. Once again my towns will overflow with prosperity. Once again the Lord will console Zion. Once again he will choose Jerusalem.
The Second Vision: Four Horns and Four Craftsmen
18 Then I looked up, and I saw that there were four horns. [10]19 I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?”
He answered me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. [11]
21 I asked, “What are these men coming to do?”
He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah to such an extent that no one could raise his head, but these craftsmen are coming to terrify them and to knock down the horns of those nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter her people.”
The Third Vision: A Man With a Measuring Line
Zechariah 2
1 Then I looked up, and I saw a man standing there with a measuring line in his hand. [12]2 I asked him, “Where are you going?”
He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to determine its width and its length.”
3 At that moment, when the angel who was speaking with me was about to leave, another angel came to meet him and 4 said, “Run and tell this young man that Jerusalem will be inhabited as a city without walls because of the large number of people and livestock in it. 5 For I myself will be a wall of fire around it, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory within it.”
6 Attention! This is urgent! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord, for I have scattered you as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord.
7 Attention, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For this is what the Lord of Armies says. For the sake of his glory he sent me to the nations that plundered you, because whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye. [13] [14]9 Yes, I myself will swing my hand over them, and they will become plunder for their own slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me.
10 Sing loudly and rejoice, daughter of Zion. Yes, look! I am coming, and I will dwell among you, declares the Lord. 11 Many nations will be joined to the Lord on that day, and they will become my people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you. 12 Then the Lord will take possession of Judah as his special portion of the holy soil, and he will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Keep silent before the Lord, all flesh, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.
Footnotes
Zechariah 1:1 That is, October/November of 520 bc
Zechariah 1:2 Literally, your fathers. The pronoun your is plural. Here the term refers to the leaders of Israel before the exile to Babylon.
Zechariah 1:6 Because verse 4 says that their forefathers did not repent, it seems that the pronoun they might not refer to the forefathers. Most translations, however, do interpret this line as a reference to a belated repentance of the forefathers and make it the conclusion of the preceding speech. As formatted above, this sentence refers to a repentant response of the people to Zechariah’s message. This forms a parallel with the statement in Haggai 1:12, which says that the people responded favorably when they heard Haggai’s message.
Zechariah 1:6 Or repented
Zechariah 1:7 That is, January/February of 519 bc
Zechariah 1:8 The term sorrel refers to a type of reddish-brown horse, distinct from other reddish-brown horses such as chestnut and roan horses. The precise meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain.
Zechariah 1:11 Or Angel, both here and in verse 12. With a capital A, the Angel of the Lord is a title of the pre-incarnate Christ. With a small a, the angel of the Lord refers to a created angel. In some cases the specific identity of the messenger has not been indicated. A significant question in Zechariah is whether the leader of the group of angels which has been sent by the Lord of Armies on the mission of protecting Israel is a created angel or Christ the Angel of the Lord. In the heavenly scene in chapter 3 it seems clear that the Angel of the Lord is involved since he removes guilt. Here the identification of the individual speakers from within the group of angels is less certain.
Zechariah 1:14 Or jealous
Zechariah 1:15 Or angry for a little while
Zechariah 1:18 English verses 1:18-21 are verses 2:1-4 in Hebrew.
Zechariah 1:20 Or construction workers
Zechariah 2:1 English verses 2:1-13 are verses 2:5-17 in Hebrew.
Zechariah 2:8 The term apple of the eye is an old English idiom for the pupil of the eye. Literally, the Hebrew reads daughter or gate of the eye.
Zechariah 2:8 His eye is the reading in the main body of the Hebrew text. This reading could be understood as a statement of an angel referring to God’s eye or as the Angel of the Lord referring to the eye of God the Father. An alternate Hebrew reading is my eye. This would likely refer to the Angel of the Lord speaking of himself. A secondary issue in regard to the variant is whether some scribes had an aversion to speaking of touching God’s eye.
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1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, [1] the word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet.
2 Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the surviving remnant of the people.
3 Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look now? Doesn’t it seem like nothing in your eyes?
4 But now, be strong, Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest! Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Get to work, and I will be with you, declares the Lord of Armies. 5 This is the promise I made [2] to you when you left Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Do not be afraid!
6 Listen, this is what the Lord of Armies says. Once again, in a little while, I myself will shake the heavens and the earth, the seas and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations, and the desired of all the nations will come, [3] and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of Armies. 8 The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of Armies. 9 The glory of this second house will be greater than that of the first one, [4] says the Lord of Armies. For in this place I will provide peace, declares the Lord of Armies.
The Third Set of Messages:
The Transfer of Cleanness and Uncleanness
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month in the second year of Darius, [5] the word of the Lord came to Haggai the prophet.
11 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Ask the priests about the law. 12 If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and he touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any food with the fold of the garment, will that food become holy?
The priests answered, “No.”
13 Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean from contact with a dead body touches any of these things, will that thing become unclean?”
The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”
14 Then Haggai responded:
This is how it is with this people, and this is how it is with this nation in my presence, declares the Lord, and this is how it is with all the work of their hands. Everything that they offer there is unclean.
15 Now, consider your ways carefully, from the time before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the Lord, up to this day. [6]16 Through all that time, whenever anyone came to a heap of grain to get twenty measures, [7] there were only ten. Whenever anyone came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17 I struck you and all the work of your hands with blight, mildew, and hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord.
18 Consider your ways carefully, from today, the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, all the way back to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. [8] Consider this. 19 Is there still seed in the barn? The vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not produced fruit.
But from this day on, I will bless you.
Zerubbabel Is the Lord’s Signet Ring
20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month.
21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah. Say, “I will shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overturn the chariots and those who ride in them. The horses and their riders will go down, each one by the sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of Armies, I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant, declares the Lord, and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of Armies.”
Footnotes
Haggai 2:1 September/October
Haggai 2:5 The verb is cut, which is the verb used for making a covenant, because the sacrificial animal used to establish the covenant was cut into pieces.
Haggai 2:7 The title Desire of Nations has traditionally been understood as a title of Christ, the one desired by the nations, but the Hebrew verb come is plural, so this passage must refer to the people of the nations whom God desires to come to Christ with their gifts.
Haggai 2:9 The first house was the temple built by Solomon, which had been destroyed in 586 bc. The second house is the temple that was being built by Zerubbabel. This second temple would become the temple Jesus would enter.
Haggai 2:10 November/December 520 bc
Haggai 2:15 About sixteen years had passed since the foundation of the temple had been laid.
Haggai 2:16 The unit of measurement is not specified.
Haggai 2:18 This probably refers to the laying of the temple foundation in 536 bc rather than the more recent resumption of the work in 520 bc.
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1 In the second year of King Darius, [1] on the first day of the sixth month, [2] the word of the Lord came through [3] Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
2 This is what the Lord of Armies [4] says. This people has said, “It is not the right time for the House of the Lord to be built.”
3 So the word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet.
4 Is it time for you to live in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now this is what the Lord of Armies says. Consider your ways carefully. 6 You sow much seed but you harvest little. You eat but you are never satisfied. You drink but you never become drunk. You get dressed, but no one is warm. The one who makes money puts that money into a bag with a hole in it.
7 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Consider your ways carefully. 8 Go up to the mountains, bring lumber down, and build the House. I will be pleased with it, and I will be glorified, says the Lord.
9 You expected much, but look, there was little. When you brought it home, I blew it away.
Why did I do that? This is a declaration of the Lord of Armies. It is because my house lies in ruins while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 So it is because of you that the heavens have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the olive oil, on everything which the soil produces, on people, on livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.
12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the surviving remnant [5] of the people, listened to the voice of the Lord their God and to the words of Haggai the prophet, because the Lord their God had sent him. So the people feared the Lord.
13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people: “I am with you, declares the Lord.”
14 The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the surviving remnant of the people, and they came and worked on the house for the Lord of Armies, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.
Footnotes
Haggai 1:1 520 bc
Haggai 1:1 August/September
Haggai 1:1 Literally by the hand of
Haggai 1:2 Traditionally Lord of Hosts. Hebrew Lord of Sebaoth. The sebaoth are the armies of heaven, namely, the stars and the angels.
Haggai 1:12 This is a common name for the people who had returned to Judah from captivity in Babylon.
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34 They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them, 35 but they mixed with the nations, and they learned to do what the nations did. 36 They also served their idols, and the idols became a snare for them. 37 They also sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. 38 They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. So the land was polluted by their children’s blood, 39 and they made themselves unclean by what they did. They prostituted themselves by their actions.
The Judgment
40 Therefore the Lord burned with anger against his people, and he loathed the people who belonged to him. 41 So he handed them over to the nations, and those who hated them ruled over them. 42 Then their enemies oppressed them, and they had to submit to their power. 43 Many times he delivered them, but they deliberately rebelled, and they sank down in their guilt.
God’s Grace
44 But he looked on them in their distress when he heard their outcry. 45 So for their sake he remembered his covenant. Because of his great mercy, he changed his course. 46 Then he caused all their captors to have pity on them.
Closing Prayer
47 Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, so that we may give thanks to your holy name and praise you confidently.
Closing Doxology
48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from eternity to eternity, and all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord.
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Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.
2 Who can tell about the mighty deeds of the Lord? Who can cause all his praise to be heard? 3 Blessed are those who defend justice, who do what is right all the time. 4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people. Visit me with your salvation, 5 so that I may experience the good that belongs to your chosen ones, so that I may rejoice in the joy of your nation, so that I may join in praise with the people that belongs to you.
Rebellion in Egypt
6 We have sinned along with our fathers. We have become guilty. We have acted wickedly. 7 Our fathers in Egypt did not reflect on your wonders. They did not remember your abundant mercies, so they rebelled beside the sea, by the Red Sea.
God’s Grace
8 Nevertheless, he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his might known. 9 Then he rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up. He caused them to go through the deep sea as if it were a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them. He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. 11 Then the waters covered their foes. Not one of them remained. 12 Then they believed his words. They sang his praise.
Rebellions in the Wilderness
13 They quickly forgot his deeds. They did not wait for his plan. 14 Because they were filled with craving in the wilderness, they challenged God in the wasteland. 15 So he gave them what they asked for, but he made them sick so they wasted away.
16 Then they grew jealous of Moses in the camp and of Aaron, who was holy to the Lord. 17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, and it closed over the followers of Abiram. 18 Then fire burned up their followers. Flames consumed the wicked.
19 They made a calf at Horeb, and they bowed down to a thing cast from metal. 20 So they exchanged their Glory for a model of an ox that eats grass. 21 They forgot the God who saved them by doing great things in Egypt, 22 wonders in the land of Ham, awesome deeds beside the Red Sea.
God’s Grace
23 So he said he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stood between God and the people to turn aside his wrath, so it did not destroy them.
More Rebellions in the Wilderness
24 Then they refused the pleasant land. They did not believe his word. 25 They grumbled in their tents. They did not listen to the voice of the Lord. 26 So he lifted up his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness, 27 and make their descendants fall among the nations, and he would scatter them throughout the lands. 28 Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and they ate sacrifices offered to dead gods. 29 They provoked the Lord by their actions, and a plague broke out among them. 30 But Phinehas stood up and interceded for them, and the plague was restrained. 31 So this was credited to him as righteousness for generation after generation, to eternity.
32 Again by the waters of Meribah they provoked the Lord, and trouble came on Moses because of them. 33 Because they rebelled against his Spirit, [2] Moses spoke recklessly with his lips.
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1 Give thanks to the Lord. Proclaim [1] his name. Make his deeds known among the peoples. 2 Sing to him, make music to him. Meditate on all his wonders. 3 Take pride in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 4 Search for the Lord and his strength. Seek his face always. 5 Remember the wonders which he has done, his signs, and the judgments from his mouth, 6 you descendants of Abraham his servant, you sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. 7 He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth.
The Promise of the Covenant
8 He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded for a thousand generations, 9 the covenant which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac. 10 Yes, he confirmed it to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant. 11 He said, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, the territory you will possess.”
The Lord Is Faithful in Canaan:
His Protection of the Patriarchs
12 While they were few in number, just a little group and aliens in the land, 13 they moved around from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people. 14 He did not allow anyone to oppress them, and he rebuked kings because of them: 15 “Do not touch my anointed ones, and do not harm my prophets.”
The Lord Is Faithful in Egypt:
His Protection of Joseph
16 Then he summoned a famine on the land. He destroyed their entire food supply. 17 He sent ahead of them a man sold as a slave, Joseph. 18 They hurt his feet with chains. His throat was clamped in an iron collar, 19 until the time when his predictions came true. The promise of the Lord tested him. 20 The king sent for him and released him. The ruler of peoples set him free. 21 He made him master of his house and ruler over all his possessions, 22 to bind his officials by his will, to teach his elders wisdom.
The Lord Is Faithful in Egypt:
His Protection of the People
23 Then Israel came to Egypt. Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham. [2] 24 Then the Lord made his people very fruitful. He made them too numerous for their foes. 25 He turned the Egyptians’ hearts so they hated his people. They dealt deceitfully with his servants. 26 He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They performed his signs among them, his warning signs in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness, and it became extremely dark, because Israel [3] did not rebel against his words. 29 He turned their waters into blood, and he caused their fish to die. 30 Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the rooms of their kings. 31 He spoke, and a swarm of flies came. There were lice [4] throughout their borders. 32 He gave them hail instead of rain, with blazing lightning throughout their land. 33 Then he struck down their vines and fig trees, and he broke down the trees within their borders. 34 He spoke, and the locusts came, and grasshoppers without number. 35 They ate every green plant in their land. They ate the produce of their soil. 36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the first fruit of all their virility. 37 Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold. From among their tribes no one stumbled. 38 Egypt was glad when they went out, because fear of Israel had fallen on them.
The Lord Is Faithful in the Wilderness
39 He spread out a cloud as a canopy and fire to give light at night. 40 They asked, and he brought quail, and he satisfied them with bread from heaven. 41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out. It flowed in the desert like a river.
The Lord Is Faithful in the Land
42 Because he remembered his holy word to Abraham, his servant, 43 he brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with a joyful shout. 44 He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the work of other peoples 45 so that they could keep his statutes and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord. [5]
Footnotes
Psalm 105:1 Or call on
Psalm 105:23 The Egyptians were descendants of Noah’s son Ham (Genesis 10:6).
Psalm 105:28 The subject of the verb is supplied for clarity.
Psalm 105:31 The identity of the insects is uncertain. Lice was the traditional translation. Gnats, fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes are more recent suggestions. The requirement is that it be an insect that is on people and that is more than an annoyance.
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O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with splendor and majesty.
Day One—Light
2 He wears light like a robe.
Day Two—the Sky
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy. 3 He lays beams on the waters to support his upper chambers. He makes clouds his chariot. He travels on the wings of the wind. 4 He makes his messengers [1] winds. His ministers are blazing fire.
Day Three—the Waters and Plants
5 He placed the earth firmly on its foundations. It cannot be moved forever and ever. 6 You covered it with the deep as a garment. The waters stood above the mountains. 7 At your rebuke they fled. At the sound of your thunder they hurried away. 8 The waters surged up the mountains. They went down into the valleys, [2] to the place that you prepared for them. 9 You set a boundary that they cannot cross. They will not return to cover the earth. 10 He makes springs flow into streams that run between the mountains. 11 They give water to every wild animal. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 The birds of the sky live by the streams. From among the branches they send out their song. 13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers. The earth is filled with the fruit he produces. 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants that people use [3] to produce food from the earth. 15 Also wine that makes people’s hearts glad, olive oil to make their face shine, and bread that sustains their lives. [4] 16 The trees of the Lord have everything they need. He planted the cedars of Lebanon, 17 where birds make their nests. The stork has its home in the fir trees. 18 The high mountains are for the wild goats. The crags are a refuge for the rock badgers.
Day Four—the Lights
19 The moon marks off the months and seasons. The sun knows when to go down. 20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night. During it all the animals in the forest move about. 21 The young lions roar for their prey. They are seeking their food from God. 22 The sun rises, and they gather together. They return to their dens and lie down. 23 Man goes out to his work. He continues his labor until evening.
Days Five and Six—Animals and Man
24 How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. 25 Here is the sea, great and very wide. In it creatures swarm beyond number— living things, the small with the large. 26 There the ships go back and forth, and the leviathan [5] that you formed to play in it. 27 All of them wait hopefully for you to give them their food in its time. 28 You give it to them. They gather it up. You open your hand. They are satisfied with good things. 29 You hide your face. They are terrified. You take away their breath. They breathe their last and return to their dust. 30 You send your Spirit—they are created. You renew the face of the earth.
Closing Benediction and Prayer
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in his works. 32 He looks at the earth and it trembles. He touches the mountains and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the Lord throughout my life. I will make music to my God as long as I last. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him. I will rejoice in the Lord. 35 May sinners come to an end on the earth, and the wicked—may they be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord! [6]
Footnotes
Psalm 104:4 Or angels
Psalm 104:8 Or the mountains went up; the valleys went down
Psalm 104:14 Or cultivate
Psalm 104:15 Literally sustains man’s heart
Psalm 104:26 Leviathan refers to large creatures in the sea. Here, in the discussion of creation, it probably refers to whales.
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1 Bless the Lord, [1] O my soul. All that is within me, bless his holy name.
Praise for Personal Blessings
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits— 3 who pardons all your guilt, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with mercy and compassion, 5 who satisfies your life [2] with goodness, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Praise for Blessings Through Moses
6 The Lord performs righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. 7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.
God’s Great Mercy
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always accuse. He will not keep his anger forever. 10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve. He does not repay us according to our guilty deeds.
God’s Mercy Illustrated
11 Yes, as high as the heavens are above the earth, so powerful is his mercy toward those who fear him. 12 As distant as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our rebellious acts from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. 14 For he knows how we were formed. He remembers that we are dust.
Man’s Short Life
15 As for man, his days are like grass. Like a wildflower he blossoms. 16 Then the wind blows over it, and it is gone, and its place recognizes it no more.
The Covenant With Moses Proclaims God’s Eternal Mercy
17 But the Lord’s mercy is from eternity to eternity over those who fear him, and his righteousness is with their children’s children, 18 with those who keep his covenant, with those who remember his precepts in order to obey them.
Closing Praise
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his royal power rules over all. 20 Bless the Lord, you his angels, you strong warriors who obey his word by listening to what he says. 21 Bless the Lord, all his armies, you who minister to him, you who do whatever pleases him. 22 Bless the Lord, everything he has made in all places where he rules. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Footnotes
Psalm 103:1 God blesses us by giving us gifts. We bless God by praising him.
Psalm 103:5 The meaning of this word is uncertain. It may mean your ornaments or soul, your jaw or mouth, or your old age. The Greek has your desires.
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Heading
A prayer for an afflicted person who is weary and pours out his complaints before the Lord.
Opening Plea
1 O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry for help come to you. 2 Do not hide your face from me on the day when I am distressed. Turn your ear to me on the day I call. Hurry! Answer me!
The Shortness of His Days
3 For my days go up in smoke, and my bones are burned like hot coals. 4 My heart is cut down and withered like grass, so I forget to eat my food. 5 Because of the sound of my groaning, my bones stick out of my flesh. 6 I am like an owl in the wilderness, like a screech owl [1] among the ruins. 7 I lie awake. I have become like a lonely bird on a roof. 8 All day long my enemies taunt me. Those who ridicule me use my name as a curse, 9 because I eat ashes like bread, and I mix tears with my drinks. 10 Because of your rage and your wrath, you have picked me up and thrown me away. 11 My days are being stretched out like a shadow, and I am dried up like grass.
God’s Endless Years
12 But you, Lord, sit on your throne forever, and you will be remembered through all generations. 13 You will rise and have compassion on Zion. Yes, it is time to be gracious to her, because the appointed time has come. 14 Yes, your servants will show favor to her stones, and they will have compassion on her dust. 15 Then the nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory. 16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion. He will appear in his glory. 17 He will respond to the prayer of the naked. He will not despise their prayer. 18 Let this be written till the last generation, so that a people not yet created may praise the Lord. [2] 19 For the Lord looked down from his high, holy place. From heaven he viewed the earth 20 to hear the groans of the prisoner, to release those condemned to death. 21 So the name of the Lord will be recorded in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem, 22 when the peoples and the kingdoms are gathered together to serve the Lord.
The Plea Repeated
23 He took away my strength during my lifetime. He cut short my days. 24 I said, “My God, do not take me away in the middle of my days.”
The Eternal King
Your years go on through all generations. 25 Long ago you laid a foundation for the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you remain. All of them wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them, and they will be changed. 27 But you are the same, and your years will never end. 28 The children of your servants will dwell with you, and their descendants will be established before you.
Footnotes
Psalm 102:6 The exact identification of the birds is uncertain.
Psalm 102:18 The short form of the divine name, Yah, is used here instead of the full form, Yahweh.
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1 I will sing about your mercy and justice. To you, O Lord, I will make music.
The Righteousness of the King
2 I will act wisely, following the way that is honest. When will you come to me? Within my palace I will conduct myself with integrity. [1]
Righteousness in His Court
3 I will not tolerate an evil [2] cause in my sight. I hate unfaithfulness and apostasy. [3] It will not stick to me. 4 A perverted heart shall be kept far from me. I will not acknowledge evil. 5 I will silence anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret. I cannot tolerate anyone who has arrogant eyes and a proud heart. 6 My eyes will watch for the faithful in the land, so that they can be seated with me. Those who walk in the way of integrity will serve as my ministers. 7 Anyone who practices deceit will not sit inside my palace. Anyone who is a liar will not stand in my sight. 8 Every morning I will silence all the wicked in the land, in order to cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.
Footnotes
Psalm 101:2 More literally I will walk around in my house with wholeness of heart
Psalm 101:3 Or devilish. The Hebrew word is belial, which means without restraint or without worth. In late Hebrew it became a name of Satan.
Psalm 101:3 The meaning of the line is uncertain. It seems to read I hate doing of apostasies.
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1 The Lord reigns. Let the peoples tremble. He is seated above the cherubim. Let the earth quake. 2 The Lord is great in Zion. He is exalted over all the peoples. 3 Let them praise your name, great and awesome.
Refrain
He is holy!
Assurance to Israel
4 The King is mighty. He loves justice. You, Lord, [1] have established fairness. In Jacob you carried out justice and righteousness. 5 Exalt the Lord our God and bow down before his footstool.
Refrain
He is holy!
Examples From History
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests. Samuel was among those who call on his name. They called on the Lord, and he answered them. 7 From within the pillar of cloud he spoke to them. They kept his testimonies and the order that he gave them. 8 O Lord our God, you answered them. For them you were a God who removes sin, but you repaid them for their deeds.
Concluding Refrain
9 Exalt the Lord our God, and bow down before his holy mountain, because the Lord our God is holy.
Psalm 100
He Rules His People
Heading
A psalm for giving thanks.
Know That the Lord Is God
1 Shout to the Lord with joy, all the earth. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his. [2] We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courtyards with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. [3] 5 For the Lord is good. His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations.
Footnotes
Psalm 99:4 The word Lord is added to clarify the shift from third to second person.
Psalm 100:3 A Hebrew variant reads and not we ourselves.
Psalm 100:4 In biblical language we bless God by praising his name.
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1 The Lord reigns. Let the earth celebrate. Let the many islands and coastlands rejoice.
God Will Judge
2 Clouds and deep darkness surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes out in front of him. It burns up his foes all around him. 4 His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees and writhes in pain. 5 The mountains melt like wax in the presence of the Lord, in the presence of the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
Warning Against Idols
7 All who serve idols are put to shame, those who boast in “nothings.” [1] Bow to him, all you gods! [2]
His People’s Response
8 Zion hears and rejoices, and the daughters of Judah [3] celebrate because of your judgments, O Lord. 9 For you, O Lord, are the Most High over all the earth. You are raised up far above all gods. 10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil. He guards the lives of his favored ones. He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light rises [4] for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks as you remember his holiness.
Psalm 98
Sing to the Lord a New Song
Heading
A psalm.
Invitation
1 Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
Let His People Sing
2 The Lord has made his salvation known. He has revealed his righteousness to the eyes of the nations. 3 He has remembered his mercy and his faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Let All People Sing
4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Break out in joyful song! Make music! 5 Make music to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of music. 6 With trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn shout for joy before the King, the Lord.
Let the Whole Earth Sing
7 Let the sea roar, and everything that fills it, the world, and all who live in it. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together before the Lord, 9 for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with fairness. [5]
Footnotes
Psalm 97:7 Or non-gods or mini-gods. The Hebrew word is a diminutive of either the word god or the word not.
Psalm 97:7 As the preceding line makes clear, this does not express a belief in the existence of other gods. It states that they are nothing but demons.
Psalm 97:8 The daughters of Judah are the small towns around Jerusalem and their inhabitants.
Psalm 97:11 The translation follows some Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions. The main Hebrew reading is light is sown. The Hebrew words for sow and rise differ by only one letter.
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1 Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord. Let us give a loud shout to the Rock who saves us. 2 Let us approach his presence with thanksgiving. With music we will shout to him. 3 For the Lord is the great God and the great King above all gods. 4 He holds the unexplored places of the earth in his hand, and the peaks of the mountains belong to him. 5 The sea belongs to him, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down. Let us revere him. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, 7 for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the flock in his hand.
Warning
Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as they did at Meribah, as they did that day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers challenged me and tested me though they had seen what I had done. 10 For forty years I was disgusted with that generation, and I said, “They are a people who have hearts that stray. They do not acknowledge my ways.” 11 So I swore in my anger, “They shall never enter my resting place.”
Psalm 96
Sing to the Lord a New Song
Call to Worship
1 Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord. Praise his name. Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day. 3 Tell about his glory among the nations, about his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
Praise Him Alone
4 For great is the Lord and worthy of great praise. He is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are “nothings,” [1] but the Lord made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him. Power and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the Lord, families of peoples, Ascribe to the Lord glory and power. 8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring a gift and come into his courtyards. 9 Bow down to the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. [2] Look away from his face, [3] all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” The world is firmly established. It will not be moved. He will judge the peoples with fairness.
Let Nature Praise Him
11 Let the heavens rejoice. Let the earth celebrate. Let the sea roar, and all that fills it. 12 Let the fields be overjoyed, and everything that is in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy 13 before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Footnotes
Psalm 96:5 Or non-gods or mini-gods. The Hebrew word is a diminutive of either the word god or the word not.
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1 O Lord, God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth. 2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth. Repay the proud with what they deserve. 3 How long will the wicked, O Lord, how long will the wicked celebrate?
The Deeds of the Wicked
4 They gush. They speak arrogantly. All the evildoers brag about themselves. 5 They crush your people, O Lord. They oppress the people that belong to you. 6 They kill the widow and the alien. They murder the fatherless. 7 Then they say, “The Lord [1] does not see. The God of Jacob does not understand.” 8 Understand, you brutes among the people. You fools, when will you become wise?
Relief for the Righteous
9 The one who planted the ear—will he not hear? The one who formed the eye—will he not observe? 10 The one who disciplines nations—will he not rebuke them? He is the one who teaches mankind knowledge. 11 The Lord knows the thoughts of mankind. He knows that they are just vapor. 12 How blessed is the person whom you discipline, O Lord, whom you teach from your law. 13 You grant him rest in days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. 14 For the Lord will not desert his people, and he will never forsake those who are his own. 15 Then judgment will again be based on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will pursue it. 16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers? 17 Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul would soon have dwelt in silence. 18 When I said, “My foot has slipped,” your mercy, Lord, upheld me. 19 When my worries within me were many, your comfort brought joy to my soul.
20 Can a destructive throne be allied with you, one that creates injustice by its decrees? 21 They band together against the life of the righteous, and they condemn innocent blood. 22 But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God is the rock where I take refuge. 23 Then he will repay them for their iniquity, and he will destroy them for their wickedness. The Lord our God will destroy them.
Footnotes
Psalm 94:7 The short form of the divine name, Yah, is used instead of the long form, Yahweh. Also in verse 12.
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1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to make music to your name, O Most High, 2 to proclaim your mercy in the morning and your faithfulness every night, 3 with a ten-stringed instrument and with a harp, with a melody on a lyre.
The Blessings of Praise
4 Yes, you make me glad by your work, O Lord. I sing loudly at the works of your hands. 5 How great are your works, O Lord. Your thoughts are very deep!
The Folly and Fall of the Wicked
6 The senseless man does not know, and the fool does not understand this— 7 when the wicked spring up like weeds, and all evildoers bloom like flowers, they will be destroyed forever.
Central Affirmation
8 But you are exalted forever, O Lord.
The Fall of the Wicked
9 Without a doubt your enemies, O Lord, without a doubt your enemies will perish. All evildoers will be scattered.
The Blessing of the Righteous
10 But you have raised my horn like that of a wild ox. [1] I am drenched with fresh oil. [2] 11 My eyes have looked in triumph over my adversaries. When evildoers rise against me, my ears hear their defeat.
12 The righteous will shoot up like a palm tree. They will grow tall like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 Planted in the house of the Lord, they will shoot up in the courtyards of our God. 14 They will still produce fruit in old age. They will stay fresh and green.
Closing Praise
15 Yes, they can proclaim, “The Lord is upright. He is my Rock, and he does no wrong.”
Psalm 93
The Lord Rules the World
1 The Lord reigns. He is clothed in majesty. The Lord is clothed—he wears strength like a belt. Yes, the world stands firm. It will not be moved. 2 Your throne was established long ago. You are from eternity. 3 The waves [3] have lifted up, O Lord, the waves have lifted up their voice. The waves roar loudly. 4 Mightier than the thundering of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty. 5 Your testimonies stand very firm. Holiness beautifies your house for endless days, O Lord.
Footnotes
Psalm 92:10 Or you have made me as strong as an ox
Psalm 92:10 Oil here is a perfumed lotion.
Psalm 93:3 The Hebrew word naharot usually refers to rivers but here seems to refer to the waves and currents of the sea.
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1 One who lives in the shelter of the Most High will stay in the shadow of the Almighty.
Application to Oneself
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.”
Application to Others
3 Surely he will rescue you from the fowler’s trap, from the destructive plague. 4 With his feathers he will cover you, and under his wings you will find refuge. His truth will be your shield and armor. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the plague that prowls in the darkness, nor the pestilence that destroys at noon. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe it with your eyes. You will see the punishment of the wicked.
Application to Oneself
9 Yes, you, Lord, are my refuge!
Application to Others
If you make the Most High your shelter, 10 evil will not overtake you. Disaster will not come near your tent. 11 Yes, he will give a command to his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. 12 They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent.
God’s Promise of Delivery
14 The Lord says, [1] Because he clings to me, I will rescue him. I will protect him, because he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in distress. I will deliver him and I will honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, and I will let him see my salvation.
Footnotes
Psalm 91:14 The words the Lord says are added to make it clear who is speaking.
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