Zechariah 10

World English Bible 86 include this book

1 Ask of the LORD rain in the spring time, the LORD who makes storm clouds, and he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field.

2 For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd.

3 My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats, for the LORD of Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his majestic horse in the battle.

4 From him will come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together.

5 They will be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle. They will fight, because the LORD is with them. The riders on horses will be confounded.

6 “I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back, for I have mercy on them. They will be as though I had not cast them off, for I am the LORD their God, and I will hear them.

7 Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their heart will rejoice as through wine. Yes, their children will see it and rejoice. Their heart will be glad in the LORD.

8 I will signal for them and gather them, for I have redeemed them. They will increase as they were before.

9 I will sow them among the peoples. They will remember me in far countries. They will live with their children and will return.

10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and there won’t be room enough for them.

11 He will pass through the sea of affliction, and will strike the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the Nile will dry up; and the pride of Assyria will be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt will depart.

12 I will strengthen them in the LORD. They will walk up and down in his name,” says the LORD.

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1 place named in this chapter.

Where this was written

Jerusalem attested Same setting as Haggai.

When this was written

Traditions differ. Each position is shown rather than one asserted as settled.

Traditional: 520 BC–480 BC Zechariah
The whole book ascribed to the prophet of the return.
Critical: 520 BC–400 BC Zechariah and later hands
Chapters 1-8 are firmly dated; 9-14 differ in style and outlook and are usually placed later.

Elsewhere in the world

Events overlapping the period this book is dated to (520 BC–400 BC).

1200 BC–400 BC Olmec civilisation Mesoamerica
The earliest major Mesoamerican civilisation, known for colossal stone heads and an early calendar.
1070 BC–350 AD The kingdom of Kush Africa
A Nubian power on the upper Nile that ruled Egypt itself as its twenty-fifth dynasty.
600 BC–500 BC Daoism takes shape in China China
The teaching associated with Laozi, emphasising harmony with the natural order.
570 BC–495 BC Pythagoras Greece
Mathematician and mystic whose school treated number as the structure of reality.
563 BC–483 BC Life of Siddhartha Gautama India
The founder of Buddhism taught in the Ganges plain, roughly contemporary with the Judean exile.
550 BC–330 BC The Persian empire founded Persia
Cyrus and his successors ruled from the Aegean to the Indus, the largest empire the world had yet seen.
516 BC Second Temple completed Levant
The rebuilt temple in Jerusalem was finished under Persian authorisation.
509 BC The Roman republic founded Rome
The last king was expelled and Rome became a republic governed by elected magistrates.

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