13:8 It will happen in all the land, says the Lord,
that two-thirds of the people 1 in it will be cut off and die,
but one-third will be left in it. 2
13:9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire;
I will refine them like silver is refined
and will test them like gold is tested.
They will call on my name and I will answer;
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” 3
65:6 Look, I have decreed: 4
I will not keep silent, but will pay them back;
I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, 5
65:7 for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,” 6 says the Lord.
“Because they burned incense on the mountains
and offended 7 me on the hills,
I will punish them in full measure.” 8
65:8 This is what the Lord says:
“When 9 juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,
someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ 10
So I will do for the sake of my servants –
I will not destroy everyone. 11
65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.
My chosen ones will take possession of the land; 12
my servants will live there.
65:18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore
over what I am about to create!
For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem 13 to be a source of joy, 14
and her people to be a source of happiness. 15
9:27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the children 16 of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved, 9:28 for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.” 17 9:29 Just 18 as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of armies 19 had not left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
and we would have resembled Gomorrah.” 20
“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; 22
break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,
because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous
than those of the woman who has a husband.” 23
1 tn The words “of the people” are supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).
2 sn The fractions mentioned here call to mind the affliction of God’s people described by Ezekiel, though Ezekiel referred to his own times whereas Zechariah is looking forward to a future eschatological age. Ezekiel spoke of cutting his hair at God’s command (Ezek 5:1-4) and then of burning a third of it, striking a third with a sword, and scattering the rest. From this last third a few hairs would survive to become the nucleus of a new Israel. It is this “third” Zechariah speaks of (v. 9), the remnant who will be purified and reclaimed as God’s covenant people.
3 sn The expression I will say ‘It is my people,’ and they will say ‘the
4 tn Heb “Look, it is written before me.”
5 tn Heb “I will pay back into their lap.”
6 tn Heb “the iniquities of your fathers.”
7 tn Or perhaps, “taunted”; KJV “blasphemed”; NAB “disgraced”; NASB “scorned”; NIV “defied”; NRSV “reviled.”
8 tn Heb “I will measure out their pay [from the] beginning into their lap,” i.e., he will give them everything they have earned.
9 tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”
10 tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”
11 tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”
12 tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to the land which contains the aforementioned mountains.
13 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
14 tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.
15 tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.
16 tn Grk “sons.”
17 tc In light of the interpretive difficulty of this verse, a longer reading seems to have been added to clarify the meaning. The addition, in the middle of the sentence, makes the whole verse read as follows: “For he will execute his sentence completely and quickly in righteousness, because the Lord will do it quickly on the earth.” The shorter reading is found largely in Alexandrian
18 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
19 tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts”; Grk “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”
20 sn A quotation from Isa 1:9.
21 sn The meaning of the statement the Jerusalem above is free is that the other woman represents the second covenant (cf. v. 24); she corresponds to the Jerusalem above that is free. Paul’s argument is very condensed at this point.
22 tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
23 tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”