Zechariah:10-11

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* Ask the LORD for rain In the time of the latter rain . The LORD will make flashing clouds ; He will give them showers of rain , Grass in the field for everyone . * For the idols speak delusion ; The diviners envision lies , And tell false dreams ; They comfort in vain . Therefore the people wend their way like sheep ; They are in trouble because there is no shepherd . * "My anger is kindled against the shepherds , And I will punish the goatherds . For the LORD of hosts will visit His flock , The house of Judah , And will make them as His royal horse in the battle . * From him comes the cornerstone , From him the tent peg , From him the battle bow , From him every ruler together . * They shall be like mighty men , Who tread down their enemies In the mire of the streets in the battle . They shall fight because the LORD is with them , And the riders on horses shall be put to shame . * "I will strengthen the house of Judah , And I will save the house of Joseph . I will bring them back , Because I have mercy on them . They shall be as though I had not cast them aside ; For I am the LORD their God , And I will hear them . * Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man , And their heart shall rejoice as if with wine . Yes , their children shall see it and be glad ; Their heart shall rejoice in the LORD . * I will whistle for them and gather them , For I will redeem them ; And they shall increase as they once increased . * "I will sow them among the peoples , And they shall remember Me in far countries ; They shall live , together with their children , And they shall return . * I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt , And gather them from Assyria . I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon , Until no more room is found for them . * He shall pass through the sea with affliction , And strike the waves of the sea : All the depths of the River shall dry up . Then the pride of Assyria shall be brought down , And the scepter of Egypt shall depart . * "So I will strengthen them in the LORD , And they shall walk up and down in His name ," Says the LORD . * Open your doors , O Lebanon , That fire may devour your cedars . * Wail , O cypress , for the cedar has fallen , Because the mighty trees are ruined . Wail , O oaks of Bashan , For the thick forest has come down . * There is the sound of wailing shepherds ! For their glory is in ruins . There is the sound of roaring lions ! For the pride of the Jordan is in ruins . * Thus says the LORD my God , "Feed the flock for slaughter , * whose owners slaughter them and feel no guilt ; those who sell them say , "Blessed be the LORD , for I am rich '; and their shepherds do not pity them . * For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land ," says the LORD . "But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor 's hand and into the hand of his king . They shall attack the land , and I will not deliver them from their hand ." * So I fed the flock for slaughter , in particular the poor of the flock . I took for myself two staffs : the one I called Beauty , and the other I called Bonds ; and I fed the flock . * I dismissed the three shepherds in one month . My soul loathed them , and their soul also abhorred me . * Then I said , "I will not feed you . Let what is dying die , and what is perishing perish . Let those that are left eat each other 's flesh ." * And I took my staff , Beauty , and cut it in two , that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples . * So it was broken on that day . Thus the poor of the flock , who were watching me , knew that it was the word of the LORD . * Then I said to them , "If it is agreeable to you , give me my wages ; and if not , refrain ." So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver . * And the LORD said to me , "Throw it to the potter "--that princely price they set on me . So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter . * Then I cut in two my other staff , Bonds , that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel . * And the LORD said to me , "Next , take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd . * For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off , nor seek the young , nor heal those that are broken , nor feed those that still stand . But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces . * "Woe to the worthless shepherd , Who leaves the flock ! A sword shall be against his arm And against his right eye ; His arm shall completely wither , And his right eye shall be totally blinded ." * The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel . Thus says the LORD , who stretches out the heavens , lays the foundation of the earth , and forms the spirit of man within him :

---