Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 427
10:10–11:11
Z echariah
415
They and their children will survive
and return again to Israel.
I will bring them back from Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.
I will resettle them in Gilead and Lebanon
until there is no more room for them all.
They will pass safely through the sea of distress,
for the waves of the sea will be held back,
and the waters of the Nile will dry up.
The pride of Assyria will be crushed,
and the rule of Egypt will end.
By my power I will make my people strong,
and by my authority they will go wherever they wish.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Open your doors, Lebanon,
so that fire may devour your cedar forests.
Weep, you cypress trees, for all the ruined cedars;
the most majestic ones have fallen.
Weep, you oaks of Bashan,
for the thick forests have been cut down.
Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,
for their rich pastures are destroyed.
Hear the young lions roaring,
for their thickets in the Jordan Valley are ruined.
This is what the Lord my God says: “Go and care for the flock that is
intended for slaughter. The buyers slaughter their sheep without remorse.
The sellers say, ‘Praise the Lord! Now I’m rich!’ Even the shepherds have
no compassion for them. Likewise, I will no longer have pity on the people
of the land,” says the Lord. “I will let them fall into each other’s hands and
into the hands of their king. They will turn the land into a wilderness, and
I will not rescue them.”
So I cared for the flock intended for slaughter—the flock that was op
pressed. Then I took two shepherd’s staffs and named one Favor and the
other Union. I got rid of their three evil shepherds in a single month.
But I became impatient with these sheep, and they hated me, too. So I
told them, “I won’t be your shepherd any longer. If you die, you die. If you
are killed, you are killed. And let those who remain devour each other!”
Then I took my staff called Favor and cut it in two, showing that I had
revoked the covenant I had made with all the nations. That was the end
of my covenant with them. The suffering flock was watching me, and they
knew that the Lord was speaking through my actions.
