Zechariah 11 - 12, Revelation 19, Song of Songs 5

Woe to the Worthless Shepherd

11Open your doors, O Lebanon,That a ^afire may consume your ^bcedars.²Wail, O ¹cypress, for the cedar has fallen,Because the mighty trees have been destroyed;Wail, O oaks of Bashan,For the ²impenetrable forest has come down.³There is a sound of the shepherds’ ^awail,For their might is destroyed;There is a ^bsound of the young lions’ roar,For the ¹pride of the Jordan is destroyed.

⁴Thus says Yahweh my God, “Shepherd the flock doomed to ^aslaughter. ⁵“Those who buy them slaughter them and are not ^aheld guilty, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be Yahweh. Indeed, ^bI have become rich!’ And their ^cown shepherds do not spare them. ⁶“For I will ^ano longer spare the inhabitants of the land,” declares Yahweh; “but behold, I will ^bcause the men to ¹fall, each into another’s hand and into the hand of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will ^cnot deliver them from their hand.”

⁷So I ^ashepherded the flock doomed to slaughter—¹hence the ^bafflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two ^cstaffs: the one I called ²^,^dFavor, and the other I called ³^,^eUnion; so I shepherded the flock. ⁸Then I annihilated the three shepherds in ^aone month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also ¹was weary of me. ⁹Then I said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to ^adie, ¹let it die, and what is to be annihilated, ²let it be annihilated; and ³let those who remain consume one another’s flesh.” ¹⁰And I took my staff ¹^,^aFavor and cut it in pieces, to ²^,^bbreak my covenant which I had cut with all the peoples. ¹¹So it was ¹broken on that day, and ²thus the ^aafflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of Yahweh. ¹²And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my ^awages; but if not, ¹never mind!” So they weighed out ^bthirty ²shekels of silver as my wages. ¹³Then Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the ^apotter, that valuable price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of Yahweh. ¹⁴Then I cut in pieces my second staff ¹^,^aUnion, to ^bbreak the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵Then Yahweh said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a ¹^,^afoolish shepherd. ¹⁶“For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will ^anot care for those who face annihilation, seek the young, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will ^bconsume the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.

¹⁷“^aWoe to the worthless shepherdWho forsakes the flock!A ^bsword will be on his armAnd on his right eye!His ^carm will be totally dried up,And his right eye will be utterly dimmed.”

Yahweh Will Save

12The oracle of the word of Yahweh concerning Israel. Thus declares Yahweh who ^astretches out the heavens, ^blays the foundation of the earth, and ^cforms the spirit of man within him, ²“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a ^acup ¹that causes reeling to all the peoples all around. Now the one in siege against Jerusalem will also be against ^bJudah. ³“But it will be in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a heavy ^astone for all the peoples; all who heave it up will be ^bseverely ¹injured. And all the ^cnations of the earth will be gathered against it. ⁴“In that day,” declares Yahweh, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will open my eyes to watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. ⁵“Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘¹A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through Yahweh of hosts, their God.’

⁶“In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a ^afiery laver among pieces of wood and a fiery torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while Jerusalem will again be ^binhabited in its own place—in Jerusalem. ⁷“Yahweh also will ^asave the tents of Judah first so that the glory of the house of ^bDavid and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah. ⁸“In that day Yahweh will ^adefend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who ^bstumbles among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like ^cGod, like the ^dangel of Yahweh before them. ⁹“And it will be in that day, that I will ^aseek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Mourning for the Pierced One

¹⁰“And I will ^apour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem ¹the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have ^bpierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one ^cmourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. ¹¹“In that day there will be great ^amourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the ¹plain of ²Megiddo. ¹²“And the land will mourn, each family alone; the family of the house of David alone and their wives alone; the family of the house of Nathan alone and their wives alone; ¹³the family of the house of Levi alone and their wives alone; the family of the Shimeites alone and their wives alone; ¹⁴all the families that remain, each family alone and their wives alone.

Hallelujah!

19After these things I heard something like a ^aloud voice of a great crowd in heaven, saying, “^bHallelujah! ^cSalvation and ^dglory and power belong to our God; ²^abecause His ^bjudgments are ^ctrue and righteous; for He has judged the ^dgreat harlot who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and He has ^eavenged the blood of His slaves shed by her hand.” ³And a second time they said, “^aHallelujah! ^bHer smoke rises up forever and ever.” ⁴And the ^atwenty-four elders and the ^bfour living creatures ^cfell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “^dAmen. ^eHallelujah!” ⁵And a voice came from the throne, saying, “^aGive praise to our God, all you His slaves, ^byou who fear Him, the small and the great.” ⁶Then I heard something like ^athe voice of a great crowd and like ^bthe sound of many waters and like the ^csound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “^dHallelujah! For the ^eLord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

⁷“Let us rejoice and be glad and ^agive the glory to Him, for ^bthe marriage of the Lamb has come and His ¹^,^cbride has made herself ready.” ⁸And it was given to her to clothe herself in ^afine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the ^brighteous acts of the saints.

⁹Then ^ahe *said to me, “^bWrite, ‘^cBlessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “^dThese are true words of God.” ¹⁰Then ^aI fell at his feet to worship him. ^bBut he *said to me, “¹Do not do that! I am a ^cfellow slave with you and your brothers who ^dhave the witness of Jesus. Worship God! For the witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Rider on a White Horse

¹¹Then I saw ^aheaven opened, and behold, a ^bwhite horse, and He who sits on it is called ^cFaithful and True, and in ^drighteousness He judges and wages war. ¹²His ^aeyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many ^bdiadems; having a ^cname written on Him which no one knows except Himself, ¹³and being clothed with a ^agarment dipped in blood, His name is also called ^bThe Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in ^afine linen, ^bwhite and clean, were following Him on white horses. ¹⁵^aAnd from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may ^bstrike down the nations, and He will ¹^,^crule them with a rod of iron; and ^dHe treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶And He has on His garment and on His thigh ^aa name written, “^bKING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

¹⁷Then I saw ¹an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to ^aall the birds which fly in ^bmidheaven, “^cCome, assemble for the great supper of God, ¹⁸so that you may ^aeat the flesh of kings and the flesh of ¹commanders and the flesh of strong men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, ^bboth free men and slaves, and ^csmall and great.”

¹⁹Then I saw ^athe beast and ^bthe kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with Him who ^csits on the horse and with His army.

The Beast and False Prophet Are Seized

²⁰And the beast was seized, and with him the ^afalse prophet who ^bdid the signs ¹^,^cin his presence, by which he ^ddeceived those who had received the ^emark of the beast and those who ^fworshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with ²brimstone. ²¹And the rest were killed with the sword which ^acame from the mouth of Him who ^bsits on the horse, and ^call the birds were filled with their flesh.

The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

5“¹I have ^acome into my garden, ^bmy sister, my bride;I have picked my ^cmyrrh along with my balsam.I have eaten my honeycomb with my ^dhoney;I have ^edrunk my wine with my milk.Eat, ^ffriends;Drink and ²imbibe deeply, O lovers.”²“¹I was asleep, but my heart was awake.A voice! My beloved was knocking:‘Open to me, ^amy sister, my darling,^bMy dove, my perfect one!For my head is full of dew,My ^clocks with the ²damp of the night.’³“I have ^ataken off my long-sleeved garment,How can I put it on again?I have ^bwashed my feet,How can I dirty them again?⁴“My beloved sent forth his hand through the opening,And my ¹^,^afeelings moaned for him.⁵“I arose to open to my beloved;And my hands ^adripped with myrrh,And my fingers with ¹liquid myrrh,On the handles of the lock.⁶“I opened to my beloved,But my beloved had ^aturned away and passed by!My soul went out to him as he ^bspoke.I ^csearched for him, but I did not find him;I ^dcalled him, but he did not answer me.⁷“The ^awatchmen who go about in the city found me,They struck me and wounded me;The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.⁸“I ^acall you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,If you find my beloved,What will you tell him?Tell him that ^bI am sick with love.”⁹“¹What is your beloved that he is more than any other beloved,O ^amost beautiful among women?What is your beloved that he is more than any other beloved,That thus you call us to solemnly swear?”

The Bride Extols Her Beloved

¹⁰“¹My beloved is dazzling and ^aruddy,^bLifted up as a banner among ten thousand.¹¹“His head is like gold, fine gold;His ^alocks are like clusters of datesAnd black as a raven.¹²“His ^aeyes are like dovesBeside streams of water,Washed in milk,And sitting in their ^bsetting.¹³“His cheeks are like a ^abed of spices,Towers of sweet-scented herbs;His lips are ^blilies^cDripping with liquid myrrh.¹⁴“His hands are rods of goldSet with ^aberyl;His abdomen is a plate of ivoryInlaid with ¹^,^bsapphires.¹⁵“His legs are pillars of marbleSet on bases of fine gold;His appearance is like ^aLebanonChoice as the ^bcedars.¹⁶“His ¹^,^amouth is full of sweetness.And he is wholly ^bdesirable.This is my beloved and this is my friend,O daughters of Jerusalem.”