Zechariah 2:5

2:5 But I (the Lord says) will be a wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem ¹  and the source of glory in her midst.’”

Zechariah 4:7

Oracle of Response

4:7 “What are you, you great mountain? ²  Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple ³  capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ ⁴  because of this.”

Zechariah 7:7

7:7 Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem ⁵  was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah ⁶  were also populated?

Zechariah 7:14

7:14 ‘Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.’ Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful ⁷  land a waste.”

Zechariah 8:6

8:6 And,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘though such a thing may seem to be difficult in the opinion of the small community of those days, will it also appear difficult to me?’ asks the Lord who rules over all.

Zechariah 12:1

The Repentance of Judah

12:1 The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord – he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person ⁸  – says,

Zechariah 7:3

7:3 by asking both the priests of the temple ⁹  of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, “Should we weep in the fifth month, ¹⁰  fasting as we have done over the years?”

Zechariah 8:19

8:19 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘The fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth ¹¹  months will become joyful and happy, pleasant feasts for the house of Judah, so love truth and peace.’

Zechariah 10:2

10:2 For the household gods ¹²  have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd. ¹³ 

Zechariah 12:6

12:6 On that day ¹⁴  I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter ¹⁵  among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem.

¹ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn In context, the great mountain here must be viewed as a metaphor for the enormous task of rebuilding the temple and establishing the messianic kingdom (cf. TEV “Obstacles as great as mountains”).

³ tn The word “temple” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent (cf. NLT “final stone of the Temple”).

⁴ sn Grace is a fitting response to the idea that it was “not by strength and not by power” but by God’s gracious Spirit that the work could be done (cf. v. 6).

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ sn The Shephelah is the geographical region between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the Judean hill country. The Hebrew term can be translated “lowlands” (cf. ASV), “foothills” (NAB, NASB, NLT), or “steppes.”

⁴ tn Or “desirable”; traditionally “pleasant” (so many English versions; cf. TEV “This good land”).

⁵ tn Heb “who forms the spirit of man within him” (so NIV).

⁶ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

⁷ sn This lamentation marked the occasion of the destruction of Solomon’s temple on August 14, 586 b.c., almost exactly 70 years earlier (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8).

⁷ sn The fasts of the fifth and seventh months, mentioned previously (7:5), are listed here along with the observances of the fourth and tenth months. The latter commemorated the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians on January 15, 588 b.c. (2 Kgs 25:1), and the former the breach of the city walls on or about July 18, 586 b.c. (Jer 39:2-5).

⁸ tn The Hebrew word תְּרָפִים (tÿrafim, “teraphim”) refers to small images used as means of divination and in other occult practices (cf. Gen 31:19, 34-35; 1 Sam 19:13, 16; Hos 3:4). A number of English versions transliterate the Hebrew term (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV) or simply use the generic term “idols” (so KJV, NIV, TEV).

⁹ sn Shepherd is a common OT metaphor for the king (see esp. Jer 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 23:1-2; 50:6; Ezek 34).

⁹ sn On that day (referring to the day of the Lord) the Davidic monarchy will be restored and the Lord’s people will recognize once more the legitimacy and divine sanction of David’s dynasty. But there will also be a democratizing that will not give Jerusalem and its rulers undue priority over the people of the countryside (v. 7).

¹⁰ tn Heb “a firepot” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “a blazing pot”; NLT “a brazier.”