God's Servant whose Name is The Branch
An EasyEnglish Version with Notes (1200 word vocabulary) on the Book of Zechariah
Fiona Holburn and Dulcie Morris
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Words in boxes are comments on the text.
A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.
The enemies of the *Jews took them to a country called Babylon. After 70 years, the king of Babylon let the *Jews return to Israel to build the *temple again. Zechariah was one of those *Jews. He lived 520 years before Jesus was born. The *Lord told Zechariah what to say to the people of Israel. The most important words were, ‘Return to me and I will return to you.’ The *Lord gave Zechariah 8 dreams. These dreams from the *Lord showed the people of Israel what would happen in the days to come. The *Lord would *bless them and fight against their enemies. The last chapters tell that Jesus will come back to be king of all the earth.
v1 Zechariah the *prophet heard a message from the *Lord. He heard this when Darius had been king for two years. It was the 8th month of the year. Zechariah was the son of Berechiah and Berechiah was the son of Iddo.
v2 The *Lord told Zechariah to say to the people,
‘I, the *Lord was very angry with your fathers and their fathers. v3 Now I say this to you, “Return to me and I will return to you.” v4 Do not be like your fathers. Long ago the *prophets gave them a message from me. The message was, “Stop doing those things that are wrong.” They did not hear me or listen to me. v5 Your fathers and their *prophets have been dead for a long time. v6 I told my servants the *prophets to say my words. They continued to say my words until my words made your fathers sorry. I had done to your fathers what I promised to do. They knew that. They said that they were very sorry.’
v7 Shebat is the name of the 11th month. On the 24th day of Shebat, the *Lord spoke to Zechariah the *prophet. This was in the second year of Darius the king.
v8 Zechariah said, ‘During the night I had a dream from the *Lord. I saw a man on a red horse. The horse stood among some trees called myrtle in the valley. And behind him were red, brown and white horses.
v9 I asked him, “Sir, what are these horses?” The *angel who talked with me said, “I will show you what they are.”
v10 The man who stood among the trees answered. “The *Lord has sent these horses to go to all the places on the earth.”
v11 And the horses spoke to the *angel of the *Lord who stood among the trees. They said, “We have gone all over the earth. All the earth remains without trouble.”
v12 Then the *angel of the *Lord said, “Oh *Lord, how long will you be angry with *Jerusalem? How long will you be angry against the cities of *Judah? You have already been angry for 70 years.” v13 And the *Lord answered the *angel with kind words.
v14 The *angel said to me, “Tell this to the people. This is what the *Lord says, ‘I love *Jerusalem. *Jerusalem is mine. v15 I am very angry with the countries that are safe and free from danger. Those countries were too cruel to my people, while I was just a little angry with *Jerusalem.’ ” v16 So, this is what the *Lord says, ‘I will return to *Jerusalem to be kind to the people there. I will build my house again and I will build the city again.’
v17 The *angel told me to say this. “The *Lord says, ‘My towns will be rich again. I will again speak kind words to *Jerusalem. I will choose *Jerusalem again as my own city.” ’
A horn is a hard bone on the head of an animal. It shows that it is strong.
In this story, a horn is a country that is powerful.
v18 And I looked up and saw four horns. v19 And I asked the *angel that talked with me, ‘What are these horns?’ Then the *angel said to me, ‘These are the strong enemies of my people that took them out of *Judah, *Israel and *Jerusalem.’
v20 Then the *Lord showed me four workers with hammers. v21 I said, ‘What are these men coming to do?’ The *Lord answered, ‘These are the enemies that destroyed *Judah so that they will all be ashamed. The workers came to frighten and to destroy the enemies because they killed many of my people. The enemies took many of my people out *Judah.’
v1 Then I looked up and saw a man in front of me. He had a line in his hand. The line was to measure something. v2 Then I said, ‘Where are you going?’ He said to me, ‘I am going to measure *Jerusalem. I want to see how broad and how long it is.’ v3 The *angel that talked with me went away. Another *angel came to meet him. v4 The second *angel said to the first *angel, ‘Run to that young man with the line in his hand. Say that *Jerusalem will be a city without walls. This is because of the many people and many animals that will live in it. v5 The *Lord himself promises that he will be like a wall of fire round *Jerusalem. He will shine as a beautiful light inside the city.’
v6 ‘Come! Come! Run away from the land of the north’, says the *Lord. ‘As the four winds blow in different directions, I sent you to many far countries.
v7 Come, my people, run away from *Babylon and return to *Jerusalem.’ v8 Because this is what the *Lord says, ‘Anyone that attacks you attacks the people that the *Lord loves.’ So the *Lord sent me, Zechariah, with this message about the countries that have robbed his people. v9 ‘The *Lord himself will fight against your enemies and their own slaves will rob them. Then you will know that the *Lord has sent me, Zechariah, to you.’
v10 ‘Sing and be happy, you people in *Jerusalem. This is because I will come. And I will live among you’, says the *Lord. v11 ‘On that day, many countries will come to me, the *Lord, and they will become my people. I will live among you. You will know that the *Lord that has all power has sent me. v12 The *Lord will choose *Judah for himself again. *Jerusalem will be the city that he loves most of all. v13 Be quiet, all people, because the *Lord has left his home in *heaven to come among you.’
v1 Then the *angel of the *Lord appeared to me, Zechariah, and he showed me Joshua, the most important *priest. He was standing in front of the *angel of the *Lord. *Satan stood on the right side of Joshua, ready to say that Joshua had done bad things. v2 The *Lord said to *Satan, ‘The *Lord says that you are wrong. The *Lord that has chosen *Jerusalem says that you are wrong. Joshua is certainly like a burning stick that someone pulls quickly out of the fire.’
v3 Joshua was wearing very dirty clothes and he stood in front of the *angel. v4 The *angel said to the other *angels that stood in front of him, ‘Remove his very dirty clothes.’ Then the first *angel said to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken away your *sin. I will put clothes on you that cost a lot of money.’
v5 Then Zechariah said, ‘Put a clean hat on his head.’ So, they put a clean hat on his head and they dressed him in clean clothes. The *angel of the *Lord stood near to them.
v6 The *angel of the *Lord spoke to Joshua with these serious words. v7 ‘These are the words of the *Lord. Listen to them and obey them. “You will rule in my house. You will rule inside the walls of my house. I will give you a place among the *angels that are standing here.
v8 Listen, Joshua, most important *priest of the *Lord. Listen you *priests that sit with Joshua. People can look at you. And they can know that there will be good days in the future. See, I will bring you my servant who is called The Branch.”
The Branch is another name for Jesus. See also Isaiah 11:1 and Jeremiah 23:5.
v9 “See the stone that I have put in front of Joshua! It is a stone with seven sides and I will cut words in the stone”, says the *Lord. “I will remove the *sin of the people of this land in one day.”
v10 “On that day”, says the *Lord, “every one of you will ask your friends to come and sit under your own trees.” ’
v1 The *angel that talked with me before, woke me. I, Zechariah, was like as a man that wakes out of his sleep. v2 The *angel said to me, ‘What do you see?’ I said, ‘I see a thing made from gold that holds a light. It has a dish on top of it and it has seven branches made from gold. Each branch has a light on top of it. v3 And there are two *olive trees standing by the light. One is on the right of the dish and one on the left of the dish.’
v4 I, Zechariah, said to the *angel that talked with me. ‘What does this light mean, *Lord?’
v5 He said, ‘Do you not know what these are?’
I said, ‘No *Lord.’
v6 Then the *angel said to me, ‘The *Lord said this to Zerubbabel: “You will need my Spirit. You yourself are not strong enough or powerful enough.”
Zerubbabel came from the family of King David. The enemies of Zerubbabel’s father took him to Babylon. Zerubbabel was born there. He came from Babylon to build the second *temple with other people at *Jerusalem.
v7 ‘Great mountain, you are no problem. You will become flat ground in front of Zerubbabel. Then he will bring out the last and biggest stone of my house. The people will shout, “God *bless it! God *bless it!” ’
v8 Then the *Lord’s message came to me, Zechariah. He said, v9 ‘Zerubbabel has put down the first stone of my house. He will also finish it.’ Then you will know that the *Lord has sent me to you. He is the *Lord that has all power.
v10 Everyone should know that the days of small things are important.
Some people thought that the work on the house of God was not important. But they were wrong. God wanted the people to build his house. The *Holy Spirit would help Zerubbabel to finish it.
Men will sing and be happy when they see Zerubbabel. They will see him with a line in his hand to measure the walls.
The *Lord sees everything in the whole earth. (The 7 lights are the 7 eyes of the *Lord.)
v11 Then I said to the *angel, ‘What are these two *olive trees on the right and on the left of the light?’
v12 A second time I spoke to the *angel, ‘What are these two branches of the *olive trees? They are next to the pipes of gold and oil comes from them.’
v13 The *angel replied, ‘Do you not know what these *olive trees mean?’
‘No, my *Lord’, I said.
v14 So the *angel said, ‘These are the two men that the *Lord of all the earth has chosen to be his servants.’
The two men are Zerubbabel the ruler and Joshua the *priest.
v1 Again, I looked and I saw a large paper. It was moving through the air. There were many words on the paper.
v2 The *angel said to me, ‘What do you see?’ I answered, ‘I see a paper flying through the air. It is twice as long as it is wide. And it is as long as 5 men.’
v3 Then the *angel said to me, ‘The words on the paper tell about bad times for the whole earth. This will be in future days. On one side of the paper, it says that a man must not rob anyone. If he does, people will send him away from his own country. On the other side of the paper, it says that a man must not speak false words. If he does, people will send him away from his own country. v4 The *Lord that has power says, “I will send bad times into the house of the man that robs anyone. I will send bad times into the house of the man that speaks false words. It is as if the words on the paper will destroy the houses of these bad people.” ’
v5 Then the *angel that talked to me came near to me. He said, ‘Look and see the thing that has just appeared.’
v6 I said, ‘What is it?’
He said, ‘It is a basket with which they measure.’ Then he said, ‘It is the *sin of all the people in this country.’
v7 He lifted the heavy metal lid and there was a woman. She was sitting in the basket!
v8 The *angel said, ‘This is *sin.’ He pushed her into the basket again and he put the heavy metal lid on top of the basket.
v9 Then I looked up and I saw two women. They flew towards me with strong *wings. The wind carried them as the wind carries large birds. They lifted the basket between the earth and the sky.
v10 Then I said to the *angel that talked with me, ‘Where will these women take the basket?’
v11 The *angel said to me, ‘They will take the basket to the country called *Babylon. They will build a house for it there. When the house is ready, they will put the basket inside the house. They will put it where people can see it.’
v1 Again I looked up and I saw 4 *chariots! They came out from between two mountains and the mountains were made from a shining metal! v2 The first *chariot had red horses and the second *chariot had black horses. v3 The third *chariot had white horses and the fourth *chariot had grey horses. All the horses were strong. v4 Then I spoke to the *angel that talked to me. ‘What are these *chariots, my *Lord?’
v5 The *angel answered me, ‘These are the 4 spirits of *heaven. They have come from the *Lord of the whole world. v6 The *chariot with the black horses goes towards the north country. The *chariot with the white horses goes towards the west country. The *chariot with the grey horses goes towards the south country.’
v7 When the strong horses came out, they were in a hurry to get away. The *angel said, ‘Go through all the earth.’ So the horses went through all the earth.
v8 Then the *Lord told me, ‘The *chariot that goes to the north country has won. The north country is not now a problem for my Spirit.’
v9 The *Lord spoke to me.
v10 ‘Three men have arrived from *Babylon. Their names are Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah. Take the gold that they have brought with them. On the same day, take the gold to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah.
v11 Take the gold and other valuable metal and make a *crown. Put it on the head of Joshua the most important *priest. He is the son of Jehozadak. v12 Say to Joshua, “The *Lord of all the peoples says, ‘I have chosen a man. His name is the Branch. He will be a great man and he will build the house of the *Lord.
v13 It is he who will build the house of the *Lord. He will sit on his special high seat and he will rule all the people. He will be a *priest on the seat of a king. This one man will be *priest and king.’ ” v14 They will put the *crown in the house of the *Lord. This is to remember Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen the son of Zephaniah. This is because they brought the gold from *Babylon.
v15 People will come from far away and they will help to build the house of the *Lord. Then you will know that the *Lord has sent me to you. All this will happen if you do everything that the *Lord tells you to do.’
v1 The *Lord spoke to Zechariah in the 4th year of king Darius. It was the 4th day of the 9th month. The name of the month was Kislev. v2 Now the people in Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their men to *Jerusalem. They came to ask the *Lord to help them. v3 They came to the house of the *Lord to speak to the *priests and *prophets. They asked, ‘Should we cry and not eat our food in the 5th month? We have done this for many years.’
These people wanted to be in *Jerusalem, but for 70 years they had to live in Babylon
v4 The *Lord spoke to me, Zechariah. v5 ‘Say this to all the people of the land and to the *priests. “You lived in *Babylon for many years. You ate no food and were sad in the 5th month and the 7th month. But you did not do this for me. v6 When you ate and drank, you ate and drank for yourself. v7 These are the words that I, the *Lord, spoke through my *prophets in past times. At that time the people in *Jerusalem lived without trouble. Many rich people lived in *Jerusalem. Also the people to the south and west of *Jerusalem lived without trouble.” ’
v8 The *Lord spoke again to Zechariah. v9 ‘This is my word, “Be sure that you are fair to all people. Be kind to each other. v10 Be kind to a woman after the death of her husband. Be kind to a child after the death of his father. Be kind to strangers and to poor people. Do not think bad thoughts against your brother.”
v11 But the people would not listen and they turned away. They put their hands over their ears, because they did not want to hear. v12 They decided that they would not listen to the *law and to the messages from the *prophets. I the *Lord was very angry.
v13 When I spoke to them, they did not listen. So when they prayed to me, I did not listen to them’, said the *Lord. v14 ‘As a storm sweeps things away, I swept my people away to strange lands. The land that they left behind was an empty land. Nobody lived in it. This is how they made the good land an empty land.’
v1 The *Lord gave this message to Zechariah. v2 ‘I have wanted to help *Jerusalem because I love her people very much. My love causes me to be very angry with the enemies of *Jerusalem.
v3 *Jerusalem is the city that I have chosen. I will return there and I will live there. Then *Jerusalem will be called the city that obeys God. And the mountain will be called the mountain chosen by God.
v4 Old men and old women will sit in the streets of *Jerusalem again. Each will have a stick in his hands because he is so old.
v5 Many boys and girls will play in the streets of the city again.
v6 This may seem impossible to the few people that remain. But nothing is impossible to me.
v7 I will bring my people back from the east country and from the west country. v8 I will bring them back to live in *Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will be their *Lord. I will do for them what I promised to do.
v9 Be strong, you people who now hear these words from the mouths of the *prophets. The *prophets spoke the same words when you prepared the ground for my *temple. Now be strong and continue to build. v10 Before those days, there was not enough money to pay for work that men or animals did. No man was safe from the enemy because I made all men angry with each other.
v11 But now it is different. I will not be angry with the few people that have returned.
v12 The seeds and plants will grow well. The trees will give fruit. There will be water from the skies. I will *bless the few people that will return. v13 In the past, people from other countries have said bad things against you, *Judah and Israel. I will help you. You will *bless many people. Do not be afraid. Be strong.
v14 When your parents and their parents made me angry, I decided to make life very difficult for them. I have also made life difficult for you. v15 Do not be afraid. I have now decided to do good things to *Jerusalem and to the people of *Judah again. v16 These are the things that you should do. Speak true words to each other. Leaders, be fair to all people. v17 Do not think to do bad things against other people. Do not make promises in my name and then not keep them. All these things make me very angry.’
v18 Again Zechariah the *prophet heard this message from the *Lord. v19 ‘On special days in the year you eat no food, but I want you to enjoy these days. I want the people in *Judah to be happy. So speak true words and live quiet lives.
v20 People that live in many countries will come to *Jerusalem. v21 The people from one city will go the people in another city. They will say, “Come with us to *worship the *Lord. Come and ask the *Lord to help us.” v22 Many strong countries will *worship the *Lord in *Jerusalem and they will ask him to help them.
v23 In those days 10 men from foreign countries will hold the coat of one *Jew. They will say, “We have heard that the *Lord is with you. So we want to go with you.” ’
v1 The *Lord speaks against the country called Hadrach and Damascus city.
The *Lord watches all men and all the groups of people in Israel.
v2 The *Lord speaks against the country called Hamath that is next to the country called Hadrach. The *Lord also speaks against the clever people in Tyre and Sidon cities.
v3 Tyre’s people have built strong walls to keep enemies out.
They have swept up rich metals like dirt.
They have swept up gold like dirt in the streets.
v4 The *Lord will take away all the things that belong to Tyre’s people
and remove their ships from the sea.
Fire will burn every part of the city.
v5 The people in Ashkelon city will see it and be afraid.
The people in Gaza city will see it and be afraid.
The hopes of the people in Ekron city will fail.
The king of Gaza will die
and there will be no people left in Ashkelon.
v6 Foreign people will live in Ashdod city,
I will show the *Philistines that they are not clever. They are not so clever as they think that they are.
v7 I will take the blood from their mouths.
I will take the food from their teeth, because it is bad food.
Those that are left will still be my people.
They will become leaders in *Judah.
Ekron will join *Judah as the *Jebusites did.
v8 Then I will keep my house safe against my enemies.
No army will ever again destroy my people,
because I am watching them.
v9 Sing loudly, people in *Zion.
Shout, people in *Jerusalem.
Look! Your king comes to you.
He will save you because he does everything well.
But he is quiet and riding on a *donkey.
He will ride on a young animal whose mother is a *donkey.
v10 I will take away the *chariots from Ephraim
and the horses of war from *Jerusalem.
The bows of war will be broken.
He will speak to all the peoples and wars will end.
He will rule from sea to sea. He will rule from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
v11 As for you, I made a promise to you. I made that promise true with blood. I will free your people that are in prison, in deep dark holes without water.
v12 All you people who hoped to see your own land again, return to *Jerusalem.
I tell you now that I will give back to you twice as much as you have lost.
v13 I will use *Judah and *Israel to attack my enemies.
I will use you, men from *Zion, to attack the men from Greece.
I will make you like the long metal knife of a soldier.
v14 Then the *Lord will appear over them.
His *arrow will be a bright light in the sky.
The *Lord will make a great sound.
He will march in the storms from the south.
v15 And the *Lord will watch over them.
They will kill their enemies with stones.
When they go to war, they will shout like men
who have drunk too much *wine.
They will be as full of *joy, as the dish is full.
This is the dish filled with the blood of animals in the house of God. The *priest pours it on the *altar.
v16 On that day, the *Lord will save them.
They are his people.
They will shine in his land
like beautiful stones that shine in the hat of a king.
v17 The people will be beautiful and good.
The young people will become strong
when they eat good bread.
The young women will become strong
when they drink new *wine.
v1 Ask the *Lord for rain in spring.
It is the *Lord who makes the clouds and the storms.
He gives the rain to men.
He gives the plants of the field to everyone.
v2 People ask *idols for help,
but the *idols do not speak true words.
Some people explain what a dream means,
but they do not speak true words.
The help that they give is not good.
So the people move from place to place like sheep.
They are not safe. They have no leaders.
v3 ‘I am angry with the leaders.
I will cause them to be sorry.
The people of *Judah are mine,’ says the *Lord. ‘I will watch over them.
I will make them as strong as horses that are ready for war.
v4 From the people of *Judah will come the man called the *Cornerstone.
A strong leader will come from *Judah.
A strong soldier will come from *Judah.
Every ruler will come from *Judah.
v5 Together they will be as strong soldiers
who march through the dirty streets of the enemy.
The *Lord is with them and they will fight their enemies.
They will pull down the soldiers from their horses.
v6 I will make the people of *Judah strong
and I will make the people of Israel free men.
I will bring them back to me,
because I am sorry for them.
I am their God
and I will answer them.
It will be as if I had never turned away from them.
v7 The people of *Israel will become like strong men.
They will be as happy as men that drink *wine.
Their children will see their happy fathers
and the children will be happy.
They will sing to the *Lord.
v8 I will call my people and I will bring them all together.
I will make them free men
and there will be as many people as before.
v9 I will send them to foreign countries among foreign peoples.
But, in these far countries, they will remember me.
They and their children will not die.
They will return to *Jerusalem.
v10 I will bring my people back from Egypt
and I will get them from Assyria.
I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon.
There will not be enough room for them all.
v11 They will come to the sea that frightens them.
But it will be no trouble to them.
This is because I will make the sea quiet.
I will make the river Nile dry.
Long ago Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt. The *Lord made a dry path for them through the Red Sea. In the same way, the *Lord will make the river Nile dry.
*Proud Assyria will fall and
the power of Egypt’s people will end.
v12 I will make my people strong.
They will follow me because they love my name.’
v1 Open your doors, Lebanon,
so that the fires may burn down your *cedar trees.
v2 Cry aloud, *cypress tree, because the *cedar tree has fallen.
Enemies have cut down the tall and beautiful trees.
Cry aloud, *oak trees in Bashan,
because the thick forest is cut down.
v3 Listen to the *shepherds. They are crying
because enemies have destroyed their fields.
Listen to the noise of the *lions
because the wood along the river Jordan
is no longer there.
Zechariah talks about the *shepherds. He means the rulers who should help their people.
The *lions are making a noise because the woods are no longer there. They lived in the woods when they were there.
v4 This is what the *Lord said to me, Zechariah. ‘My people are like sheep. There will be a time when men will buy them. And then they will kill them. But feed them until that time.
v5 Those men who buy the sheep will kill them. No one will stop them. They will sell them. And they will say, “Thank you *Lord, because I am a rich man.” Their own *shepherds do not give the sheep any help.’
v6 The *Lord says, ‘The people in this land were my people, but they are not my people now. I will not go on being kind to them. I myself will give them to their enemies and to foreign kings. The foreign kings will do very bad things to the land, but I will not come to help’.
v7 So I was a good *shepherd to the sheep that men would soon kill. I gave special thought to the weakest sheep. Then I took two sticks and called one ‘Chosen’ and the other ‘Together’. I took care of the sheep.
v8 In one month I sent away three *shepherds. They did not like me and I was not patient with them.
v9 I said to the sheep, ‘I will not be your *shepherd and you will die. The sheep that remain will eat each other.’
v10 I took ‘Chosen’, which was my first stick. I broke it into two pieces. The *Lord’s promise to his people came to an end.
v11 On the day that the *Lord’s promise came to an end, the *oppressed sheep watched me. They knew that it was the *Lord’s message.
v12 I said to them, ‘If you think that it is good, pay me my money. If you do not want to pay me, then keep it.’ So they paid me 30 coins.
v13 The *Lord said to me, ‘Throw the 30 coins to the man who makes pots in the house of the *Lord’. They thought that I was not worth very much! I took the 30 coins. And I threw them to the man who makes pots. He makes them for the house of the *Lord.
v14 Then I broke the second stick called ‘Together’.
I separated the land of *Judah from the land of *Israel. v15 Then the *Lord said to me, Zechariah, ‘Take again the tools of a bad *shepherd.
v16 I have chosen a man to watch the sheep. He will not look for the lost sheep or the young sheep. He will not be a help to the sick sheep or feed the strong sheep. He will eat the meat of the fat sheep. He will tear off their feet to get all the meat.
v17 Trouble will come to the bad *shepherd who leaves his sheep.
May his enemy’s knife cut his arm and his right eye.
May his arm become like a dry stick. And may his right eye see nothing.
v1 This is the *Lord’s message about Israel. The *Lord made the skies and the whole wide earth. He gave life to man.
v2 ‘I will frighten the enemies that live round about *Jerusalem. I will frighten them so much that they will run. They will run as fast as they can from *Jerusalem and *Judah.
v3 The day will come when all the countries of the earth will be ready to attack *Jerusalem. Then I will make *Jerusalem like a heavy rock that cannot be moved. All those who try to lift it will hurt themselves.
v4 On that day, I will make every horse very afraid. I will make all the men that ride them crazy. I want to help the people of *Judah. And so, I will not let the horses of the enemy see.
v5 Then the leaders of *Judah will say to themselves, ‘God makes the people in *Jerusalem strong.’
v6 On that day, I will make the leaders of *Judah like fire in a forest. I will make them like fire among plants that people eat. They will kill all the people from round *Jerusalem, but the people of *Jerusalem will be safe.
v7 The *Lord will save the homes of the people from *Judah first. Then the people in *Jerusalem will not be greater than the people from *Judah.
v8 On that day, the *Lord will save the people who live in *Jerusalem. Even sick people will be as strong as King David was. The family of David will lead the people of *Jerusalem as if it was the *angel of the *Lord. God himself will go before them.
King David was the greatest king of Israel.
v9 On that day, I will destroy all the countries that fight against *Israel.
v10 I will cause the family of David and the people of *Jerusalem to have serious thoughts about me. Then they will know that I am kind to them. And they will want to pray to me. They will look at me, the one that they killed. They will weep about him as those that weep after the death of their only son. They will cry out as if their only son was dead.
v11 On that day, the loud weeping in *Jerusalem will be as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the fields of Megiddo.
Hadad Rimmon was the god of the fields. In winter, the plants died. Then the people thought that the god had died. At this time every year, they wept.
v12 All the people will weep. Each family will weep by itself. The family of King David will weep by itself. Their wives will weep by themselves. The family of Nathan will weep by itself. And their wives will weep by themselves.
v13 The family of Levi will weep by itself. And their wives will weep by themselves. The family of Shimei will weep by itself and their wives will weep by themselves.
v14 And all the families that are left will weep by themselves and their wives will weep by themselves.
v1 ‘On that day, water will come up from the ground. And it will clean away the *sin from the family of David. It will clean away the *sin from the people of *Jerusalem.
v2 On that day, I will remove the names of false gods from the land’, says the *Lord. ‘Everyone will forget them. I will remove all the *prophets. And I will remove the people who want to pray to false gods.
v3 And if anyone appears as a *prophet again, his father and mother will say to him, “You must die. You do not speak true words. The *Lord has not spoken to you.” Then they will kill him.
v4 On that day, every *prophet will be ashamed that he was ever a *prophet. He will not put on the clothes of a *prophet that are made of hair. Then people will not know that he is a *prophet.
v5 He will say, “I am not a *prophet. I am a farmer. From the time that I was a boy, I have worked on the land.”
v6 If someone asks him, “Who cut your body?” he will answer, “My friends cut me when I was at their house.” ’
v7 ‘Attack the *shepherd with a sharp knife.
Attack the man that stands next to me’,
says the *Lord.
‘Kill the *shepherd and the sheep will run away.
Then I will attack the young sheep.
v8 In the whole land’, says the *Lord,
‘most of the people will die.
But I will leave a small number in the land.
v9 I will bring these people through fire.
As men clean *silver in the fire, so I will clean them.
As men *test gold in the fire, so I will *test them.
They will call my name and I will answer them.
I will say, “They are my people.”
They will say, “The *Lord is our God.” ’
v1 A day will come when your enemies will take away everything. They will take away everything that belongs to you. They will *share it out among themselves.
v2 I will send soldiers from all countries to fight against *Jerusalem. They will go into the city and rob the houses. They will have sex with the women. They will lead away half the people to other countries. They will let the other half stay in *Jerusalem.
v3 Then the *Lord will go out and fight against the people of those countries as in times in the past.
v4 On that day, the *Lord’s feet will stand on the mountain of *Olives. This mountain is east of *Jerusalem. It will break in two from east to west and make a wide valley. Half of the mountain will move north and half of the mountain will move south.
v5 In the days of Uzziah king of *Judah, you ran away when the earth moved. You will do this again. Then the *Lord will come and all his chosen ones will come with him.
v6 On that day, there will be no light and no cold weather.
v7 It will be a day like no other day. There will be no night. When evening comes there will still be light. Only the *Lord himself will know that day.
v8 On that day, water will come out from *Jerusalem. Half of this water will go towards the sea in the east. Half of this water will go towards the sea in the west. This will go on through summer and winter.
v9 The *Lord will be king over the whole earth. That day, there will be only one *Lord and his name will be the only name.
v10 The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, (south of *Jerusalem) will become flat like Arabah. But all men will see *Jerusalem lifted up, high in its place. The city will reach from the Gate of Benjamin to the Corner Gate. Then it will reach to the Building of Hananel. It will go on to where the servants of the king make his *wine.
v11 *Jerusalem will be safe. People will live there. No one will destroy *Jerusalem ever again.
v12 The *Lord will make the soldiers sick that fought against *Jerusalem. Their bodies will go bad as they stand on their feet. Their eyes will go bad and fall out.
v13 On that day, the *Lord will make men so afraid that each man will attack the man next to him.
v14 *Judah also will go to *Jerusalem and fight. They will take every good thing from all the countries. There will be a lot of expensive metals and many rich clothes.
v15 The horses and all the other animals will be sick. And they will die as the soldiers died.
v16 Some of the soldiers from the countries that attacked *Jerusalem will not die. They will go to *Jerusalem year after year to *worship the *Lord. This is the time when they remember that the *Lord was kind to his people. The *Lord was kind to his people when they left Egypt long ago.
v17 If any people on the earth do not go to *Jerusalem to *worship the *Lord, they will have no rain.
v18 If the people of Egypt do not go to *Jerusalem to *worship the *Lord, they will have no rain. And the *Lord will make them sick. If the people of other countries will not go to *Jerusalem, the *Lord will make them sick. They will die.
v19 This will happen to the people of Egypt. This will happen to the people of all the countries that do not go up to *Jerusalem at this time.
v20 On that day, men will write the words, “This is for the *Lord” on the bells of the horses. The pots that are used for cooking in the house of the *Lord will be special. They will be as special as the bowls in front of the *altar.
v21 Every pot in *Jerusalem and *Judah will be for the *Lord. All the people who come to offer animals to the *Lord will cook in those pots. On that day, nobody who sells things will come into the house of the *Lord.
altar ~ table of stone or metal on which they burned gifts to God.
angel ~ a servant from God to bring his messages.
arrow ~ a pointed stick that you shoot from a bow.
Babylon ~ a country north of Israel.
bless ~ to ask God to be good to someone.
cedar ~ a tall tree that has a lovely smell.
chariot ~ a box that soldiers ride in. Horses pull it.
cornerstone ~ the most important stone in a building.
crown ~ a special hat that a king, queen or other ruler wears.
cursed ~ to say bad words against someone else.
cypress tree ~ like the *cedar tree but with a stronger smell.
donkey ~ an animal, like a small horse.
heaven ~ the home of God.
Holy Spirit ~ one person of the three persons who are God. We cannot see him. He comes to give people the power to do what God wants.
idols ~ a thing made from wood, stone or metal that people pray to; something that we love more than God.
Israel ~ the name of the land that God gave to Jacob (Israel), and his sons.
Jebusites ~ the name of the people that lived in *Jerusalem a long time ago.
Jerusalem ~ the capital city of Israel.
Jews ~ people that are born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
joy ~ when people are happy because of what God has done for them.
Judah ~ a part of the country where the *Jews lived.
law ~ the rules that God or rulers make.
lions ~ big strong animals that can kill a man.
Lord ~ the name for God in the Bible.
oak ~ a tall tree; it has hard wood; men can make boats out of this wood.
olive ~ a small fruit that gives oil.
oppressed ~ people that the enemy have hurt.
Philistines ~ enemies of the *Jews (the people of God).
prayer ~ the words that we say when we talk to God.
priest ~ a man whom God chose to do a special work for him. The priests worked in the *temple.
prophet ~ a person who hears God’s words and tells them to other people.
proud ~ when someone thinks that he is better than other people.
Satan ~ the name of the worst of the bad *spirits; he is the enemy of God.
share ~ to separate something between several people; to give part of.
shepherd ~ a sheep farmer.
silver ~ a white metal that shines and is very valuable.
sin ~ when a person does bad things against God or other people.
spirit ~ spirits are alive, but we cannot see them. There are good spirits usually called *angels. Bad spirits live in the air round us.
temple ~ a place where people meet to *worship God.
test ~ try to see what someone can do.
wine ~ a strong red drink that makes men happy.
wing ~ a bird or an *angel uses its wings to fly. Aeroplanes also have wings.
worship ~ to give thanks to God and Jesus; to show God that we love him very much.
Zion ~ another name for *Jerusalem.
Joyce G. Baldwin ~ Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi ~ Tyndale Old
Testament Commentaries
Bibles ~ R.S.V, N.I.V, Good News & Amplified
© 1997-2003, Wycliffe Associates (UK)
This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words).
November 2003
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