American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin.
And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
This was the word of Jehovah which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons to the fourth generation shall sit upon the throne of Israel. And so it came to pass.
The word of Jehovah that came unto Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
And Jehovah said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will {Hebrew: visit.}avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
There is nought but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
Yet let no man strive, neither let any man reprove; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
And thou shalt stumble in the day, and the prophet also shall stumble with thee in the night; and I will destroy thy mother.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, {According to another reading, I have rejected.}I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.
As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame.
They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.
And it shall be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will requite them their doings.
And they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall play the harlot, and shall not increase; because they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the {Hebrew: heart.}understanding.
My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredom hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, departing from under their God.
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your {Or, daughter-in-law}brides commit adultery.
I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your {Or, daughter-in-law}brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go apart with harlots, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes; and the people that doth not understand shall be overthrown.
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah {Or, become guilty}offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, As Jehovah liveth.
For Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer: now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large place.
Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.
{Or, Their carouse is over}Their drink is become sour; they play the harlot continually; {Or, they are given up to love; her rulers are a shame}her {Hebrew: shields.}rulers dearly love shame.
The wind hath wrapped her up in its {Or, skirts}wings; and {Or, as otherwise read, their altars shall be put to shame}they shall be put to shame because of their sacrifices.
{Or, The trumpet to thy mouth! As an eagle against the house of Jehovah!}Set the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle he cometh against the house of Jehovah, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
They shall cry unto me, My God, we Israel know thee.
Israel hath cast off that which is good: the enemy shall pursue him.
They have set up kings, but not by me; {Or, they have removed them}they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
He hath cast off thy calf, O Samaria; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
For from Israel is even this; the workman made it, and it is no God; yea, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: {Or, it hath no stalk}he hath no standing grain; the blade shall yield no meal; if so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up.
Israel is swallowed up: now are they among the nations as a vessel wherein none delighteth.
For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired {Hebrew: loves.}lovers.
Yea, though they hire among the nations, now will I gather them; and they {Or, as otherwise read, shall sorrow a little (or, for a little while)}begin to be diminished by reason of the burden of the king of princes.
Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars for sinning, altars have been unto him for sinning.
I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law; but they are counted as a strange thing.
As for the sacrifices of mine offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; but Jehovah accepteth them not: now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins; they shall return to Egypt.
For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and builded {Or, temples}palaces; and Judah hath multiplied fortified cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the {Or, palaces}castles thereof.
They have set up kings, but not by me; {Or, they have removed them}they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.
And Jehovah said unto Jehu, Because thou hast {Or, excuted well}done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.
and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God {Or, was brooding upon}moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
And God said, Let there be a {Hebrew: expanse.}firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:
and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
And God made the two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth,
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth {Hebrew: on the face of the expanse of the heavens.}in the open firmament of heaven.
And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.
And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and it was so.
And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground after its kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that {Or, creepeth}moveth upon the earth.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food:
and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is {Hebrew: a living soul.}life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so.
And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so.
and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and it was so.
And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.