Zechariah 10:2
1 Ask the LORD for rain in springtime; the LORD makes the storm clouds, and He will give everyone showers of rain and crops in the field.
For idols speak deceit and diviners see illusions; they tell false dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep, oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
3 “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders. For the LORD of Hosts attends to His flock, the house of Judah; He will make them like His royal steed in battle.
4 The cornerstone will come from Judah, the tent peg from him, as well as the battle bow and every ruler together.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- For idols speak deceit and diviners see illusions; they tell false dreams and offer empty comfort. Therefore the people wander like sheep, oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
- KJV
- For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
- WEB
- 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.
- ASV
- 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 afflicted, because there is no shepherd.
- DARBY
- For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams: they comfort in vain. Therefore they have gone away as a flock, they are in distress, because there is no shepherd.
- BLB
- For the teraphim speak delusion, and the diviners see deception, and they speak of dreams of emptiness; in vain they give comfort. Upon thus they set out like sheep; they are afflicted because there is no shepherd.
- ÅB
- For husgudene[^1] talte usant, og spåmennene skuet løgn; tomme drømmer forkynte de, og den trøst de gav, var intet verd; derfor måtte folket dra avsted som sauer og lide ondt, fordi der ingen hyrde var.
- OTB
- For terafimene taler bedrag,
Og spåmennene ser en illusjon
Og forteller bedragerske drømmer;
De trøster forgjeves.
Derfor vandrer folket som sauer,
De er plaget, fordi det ikke er noen hyrde. - B1930
- For husgudene talte usant, og spåmennene skuet løgn; tomme drømmer forkynte de, og den trøst de gav, var intet verd; derfor måtte folket dra avsted som får og li ondt, fordi der ingen hyrde var. / < 1MO 31, 19.>
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Matthew 9:36
When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Read in contextJeremiah 27:9
But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’
Read in contextGenesis 31:19
Now while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.
Read in contextEzekiel 34:5
They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts.
Read in contextEzekiel 34:8
‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead,
Read in contextHabakkuk 2:18
What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it— or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
Read in contextHosea 3:4
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.
Read in contextMicah 2:12
I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will collect the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in the midst of its pasture— a noisy throng.
Read in context