Zechariah 10

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.

Around Zechariah 10

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Zechariah as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

The same returned community that heard Haggai hears Zechariah. His first message is an invitation: “Return to me,” says the LORD of Armies, “and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Armies. Then come the visions, eight of them, seen at night. A man on a red horse among myrtle trees. Four horns, and four craftsmen coming to cast them down. Behind them stands a promise that the LORD has returned to Jerusalem with mercy. The first part of the book (chapters 1 to 8) promises God’s return to Jerusalem and calls for justice and mercy.

The second part (9 to 14) is harder to place. Its first great cry is a call to joy: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!” The king who comes is righteous and having salvation, “lowly, and riding on a donkey,” even on a colt. The chapters go on to speak of a shepherd who is struck, of one who is pierced and mourned, and of a day when the LORD will be king over all the earth.

Background

The dated messages fall between 520 and 518 before Christ. Many scholars think chapters 9 to 14 come from a later time. Others hold that Zechariah wrote the whole book. The question is still open, and readers who take Scripture seriously stand on both sides of it. The prophet is called the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, in the opening lines.

How Christians read it

The Gospels quote Zechariah repeatedly in telling of Jesus’ last week: the entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, the thirty pieces of silver, the scattered sheep and the pierced one. Christians differ on how much of the final chapters still lies ahead. Some read them mostly as pictures already fulfilled, and others look for more. How the book is read depends in part on how its two halves are related.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 21 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes