Through the Bible – Day 363

Bible text(s)

Zechariah 9

The Lord will rescue his people and punish their enemies

Israel's enemies will be punished

₁This is a message

from the LORD:

His eyes are on everyone,

especially the tribes

of Israel.

So he pronounces judgment

against the cities

of Hadrach and Damascus.

₂Judgment will also fall

on the nearby city

of Hamath,

as well as on Tyre and Sidon,

whose people are clever.

₃Tyre has built a fortress

and piled up silver and gold,

as though they were dust

or mud from the streets.

₄Now the Lord will punish Tyre

with poverty;

he will sink its ships

and send it up in flames.

₅Both Ashkelon and Gaza

will tremble with fear;

Ekron will lose all hope.

Gaza's king will be killed,

and Ashkelon emptied

of its people.

₆A mob of half-breeds

will settle in Ashdod,

and the Lord himself

will rob Philistia of pride.

₇No longer will the Philistines

eat meat with blood in it

or any unclean food.

They will become part

of the people of our God

from the tribe of Judah.

And God will accept

the people of Ekron,

as he did the Jebusites.

₈God says, “I will stand guard

to protect my temple from those

who come to attack.

I know what's happening,

and no one will ill-treat

my people ever again.”

The LORD tells about the coming king

₉Everyone in Jerusalem,

celebrate and shout!

Your king has won a victory,

and he is coming to you.

He is humble

and rides on a donkey;

he comes on the colt

of a donkey.

₁₀I, the LORD, will take away

war chariots and horses

from Israel and Jerusalem.

Bows that were made for battle

will be broken.

I will bring peace to nations,

and your king will rule

from sea to sea.

His kingdom will reach

from the River Euphrates

across the earth.

The LORD promises to rescue captives

₁₁When I made a sacred agreement

with you, my people,

we sealed it with blood.

Now some of you are captives

in waterless pits,

but I will come to your rescue

₁₂and offer you hope.

Return to your fortress,

because today I will reward you

with twice what you had.

₁₃I will use Judah as my bow

and Israel as my arrow.

I will take the people of Zion

as my sword

and attack the Greeks.

The LORD will protect his people

₁₄Like a cloud, the LORD God

will appear over his people,

and his arrows will flash

like lightning.

God will sound his trumpet

and attack in a whirlwind

from the south.

₁₅The LORD All-Powerful

will protect his people,

and they will trample down

the sharpshooters

and their slingshots.

They will drink and get rowdy;

they will be as full as a bowl

at the time of sacrifice.

₁₆The LORD God will save them

on that day,

because they are his people,

and they will shine on his land

like jewels in a crown.

₁₇How lovely they will be.

Young people will grow there

like grain in a field

or grapes in a vineyard.

Zechariah 10

A bright future for Judah and Israel

₁I, the LORD, am the one

who sends storm clouds

and showers of rain

to make fields produce.

So when the crops need rain,

you should pray to me.

₂You can't believe idols

and fortune-tellers,

or depend on the hope

you receive from witchcraft

and interpreters of dreams.

But you have tried all of these,

and now you are like sheep

without a shepherd.

₃I, the LORD All-Powerful,

am fiercely angry

with you leaders,

and I will punish you.

I care for my people,

the nation of Judah,

and I will change

this flock of sheep

into charging war horses.

₄From this flock will come leaders

who will be strong

like cornerstones and tent pegs

and weapons of war.

₅They will join in the fighting,

and together they will trample

their enemies like mud.

They will fight,

because I, the LORD,

will be on their side.

And they will crush

the enemy cavalry.

₆I will strengthen

the kingdoms of Judah

and Israel.

And I will show mercy

because I am the LORD,

their God.

I will answer their prayers

and bring them home.

Then it will seem as though

I had never rejected them.

₇Israel will be like

a tribe of warriors

celebrating with wine.

When their children see this,

they will also be happy

because of me, the LORD.

₈I will give a signal

for them to come together

because I have rescued them.

And there will be as many

as ever before.

₉Although I scattered my people

in distant countries,

they won't forget me.

Once their children are raised,

they will return—

₁₀I will bring them home

from Egypt and Assyria,

then let them settle

as far as Gilead and Lebanon,

until the land overflows

with them.

₁₁My people will go through

an ocean of troubles,

but I will overcome the waves

and dry up the deepest part

of the Nile.

Assyria's great pride

will be put down,

and the power of Egypt

will disappear.

₁₂I'll strengthen my people

because of who I am,

and they will follow me.

I, the LORD, have spoken!

Zechariah 11

Trouble for Israel's enemies

₁Lebanon, open your gates!

Let the fire come in

to destroy your cedar trees.

₂Cry, you cypress trees!

The glorious cedars have fallen

and are rotting.

Cry, you oak trees of Bashan!

The dense forest

has been chopped down.

₃Listen! Shepherds are crying.

Their glorious pastures

have been ruined.

Listen! Lions are roaring.

The forests of the Jordan Valley

are no more to be found.

Israel's leaders are worthless shepherds

₄The LORD my God said to me:

Tend those sheep doomed for slaughter! ₅The people who buy and butcher them go unpunished, while everyone who sells them says, “Praise the LORD! I'm rich.” Not even their shepherds have pity on them.

₆Tend those sheep because I, the LORD, will no longer have pity on the people of this earth. I'll turn neighbour against neighbour and make them slaves of a king. They will bring disaster on the earth, and I'll do nothing to rescue any of them.

₇So I became a shepherd of those sheep doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep dealers. And I gave names to the two sticks I used for tending the sheep: one of them was named “Mercy” and the other “Unity”. ₈In less than a month, I became impatient with three shepherds who didn't like me, and I got rid of them. ₉Then I said, “I refuse to be your shepherd. Let the sheep that are going to die, go on and die, and those that are going to be destroyed, go on and be destroyed. Then let the others eat one another alive.”

₁₀On that same day, I broke the stick named “Mercy” to show that the LORD had cancelled his agreement with all people. ₁₁The sheep dealers who saw me knew straight away that this was a message from the LORD. _12-13I told them, “Pay me my wages, if you think you should; otherwise, forget it.” So they handed me my wages, a measly thirty pieces of silver.

Then the LORD said, “Throw the money into the treasury.” So I threw the money into the treasury at the LORD's temple. ₁₄Then I broke the stick named “Unity” and cancelled the ties between Judah and Israel.

₁₅Next, the LORD said to me, “Act like a shepherd again—this time a worthless shepherd. ₁₆Once more I am going to let a worthless nobody rule the land—one who won't care for the strays or search for the young or heal the sick or feed the healthy. He will just dine on the fattest sheep, leaving nothing but a few bones.”

₁₇You worthless shepherd,

deserting the sheep!

I hope a sword

will cripple your arm

and blind your right eye.

Zechariah 9:1-11:17CEVOpen in Bible reader

Revelation 20

The thousand years

₁I saw an angel come down from heaven, carrying the key to the deep pit and a big chain. ₂He chained the dragon for a thousand years. It is that old snake, who is also known as the devil and Satan. ₃Then the angel threw the dragon into the pit. He locked and sealed it, so that a thousand years would go by before the dragon could fool the nations again. But after that, it would have to be set free for a little while.

₄I saw thrones, and sitting on those thrones were the ones who had been given the right to judge. I also saw the souls of the people who had their heads cut off because they had told about Jesus and preached God's message. They were the same ones who had not worshipped the beast or the idol, and they had refused to let its mark be put on their hands or foreheads. They will come to life and rule with Christ for a thousand years.

_5-6These people are the first to be raised to life, and they are especially blessed and holy. The second death has no power over them. They will be priests for God and Christ and will rule with them for a thousand years.

No other dead people were raised to life until a thousand years later.

Satan is defeated

₇At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be set free. ₈He will fool the countries of Gog and Magog, which are at the far ends of the earth, and their people will follow him into battle. They will have as many followers as there are grains of sand along the beach, ₉and they will march all the way across the earth. They will surround the camp of God's people and the city that his people love. But fire will come down from heaven and destroy the whole army. ₁₀Then the devil who fooled them will be thrown into the lake of fire and burning sulphur. He will be there with the beast and the false prophet, and they will be in pain day and night for ever and ever.

The final judgment

The judgment at the great white throne

₁₁I saw a great white throne with someone sitting on it. Earth and heaven tried to run away, but there was nowhere for them to go. ₁₂I also saw all the dead people standing in front of that throne. Every one of them was there, no matter who they had once been. Several books were opened, and then the book of life was opened. The dead were judged by what those books said they had done.

₁₃The sea gave up the dead people who were in it, and death and its kingdom also gave up their dead. Then everyone was judged by what they had done. ₁₄Afterwards, death and its kingdom were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ₁₅Anyone whose name wasn't written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:1-15CEVOpen in Bible reader