Jesus and Thomas

24 Now ^oThomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,¹ was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, ^p“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. ^qAlthough the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ^q“Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, ^r“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, ^s“My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? ^tBlessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of This Book

30 ^uNow Jesus did many other signs ^vin the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 ^wbut these are written so that you may ^xbelieve that Jesus is the Christ, ^ythe Son of God, and that by believing ^zyou may have life ^ain his name.

The Thousand Years

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, ⁿholding in his hand the key to ^othe bottomless pit¹ and a great chain. 2 And he seized ^pthe dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and ^qbound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into ^othe pit, and shut it and ^rsealed it over him, so that ^she might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

4 Then I saw ^tthrones, and ^useated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw ^vthe souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those ^wwho had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. ^xThey came to life and ^yreigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 ^zBlessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such ^athe second death has no power, but they will be ^bpriests of God and of Christ, and they ^cwill reign with him for a thousand years.

The Defeat of Satan

7 And when the thousand years are ended, ^dSatan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out ^eto deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, ^fGog and Magog, ^gto gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And ^hthey marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded ⁱthe camp of the saints and ^jthe beloved city, but ^kfire came down from heaven² and consumed them, 10 and the devil ^lwho had deceived them was ^mthrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where ⁿthe beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Judgment Before the Great White Throne

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence ^oearth and sky fled away, and ^pno place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and ^qbooks were opened. Then another book was opened, which is ^rthe book of life. And ^sthe dead were judged by what was written in the books, ^taccording to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, ^uDeath and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, ^taccording to what they had done. 14 Then ^uDeath and Hades ^vwere thrown into the lake of fire. This is ^wthe second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, ^xhe was thrown into the lake of fire.

A Vision of Four Chariots

1 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of ^mbronze. 2 The first chariot had ⁿred horses, the second ^oblack horses, 3 the third ^pwhite horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.¹ 4 Then I answered and said to ^qthe angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, ^r“These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after ^spresenting themselves before ^tthe Lord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses goes toward ^uthe north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward ^vthe south country.” 7 When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and ^wpatrol the earth. And he said, “Go, ^wpatrol the earth.” ^wSo they patrolled the earth. 8 Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward ^uthe north country have set my Spirit at rest in ^uthe north country.”

The Crown and the Temple

9 And the word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take from the exiles ^xHeldai, Tobijah, and ^yJedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of ^zZephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, ^aand set it on the head of ^bJoshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is ^cthe Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and ^dhe shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 ^dIt is he who shall build the temple of the Lord ^eand shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there² shall be a ^fpriest on his throne, ^gand the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ 14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as ^ha reminder to ⁱHelem,^{3 j}Tobijah, ^jJedaiah, and Hen ^jthe son of Zephaniah.

15 ^k“And those who are far off shall come and ^lhelp to build the temple of the Lord. ^mAnd you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ⁿAnd this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

A Call for Justice and Mercy

1 ^oIn the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^pChislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men ^qto entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 ^rsaying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and ^sthe prophets, “Should I weep and ^tabstain in ^uthe fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in ^uthe fifth month and in ^vthe seventh, for these ^wseventy years, ^xwas it ^xfor me that you fasted? 6 ^yAnd when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 ^zWere not these the words that the Lord proclaimed ^aby the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, ^bwith her cities around her, and the ^bSouth and the ^blowland were inhabited?’”

8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^cRender true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 ^ddo not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, ^eor the poor, and ^flet none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But ^gthey refused to pay attention ^hand turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.⁴ 12 ⁱThey made their hearts diamond-hard ^jlest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent ^jby his Spirit through ^kthe former prophets. ^lTherefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 ^m“As I⁵ called, and they would not hear, ^mso they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 ⁿ“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all ^othe nations that they had not known. ^pThus the land they left was desolate, ^qso that no one went to and fro, ^rand the pleasant land was made desolate.”

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

1 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^sI am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the Lord: ^tI have returned to Zion and ^uwill dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^vand Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^wand the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^xOld men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^yIf it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^zshould it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, ^aI will save my people ^bfrom the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^cAnd they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^din faithfulness and in righteousness.”

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^e“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ^fthe prophets who were present on ^gthe day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days ^hthere was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. 12 ⁱFor there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, ^jand the heavens shall give their dew. ^kAnd I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as ^lyou have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^mso will I save you, and ⁿyou shall be a blessing. ^oFear not, but ^elet your hands be strong.”

14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^p“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, 15 so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ^ofear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: ^qSpeak the truth to one another; ^rrender in your gates judgments ^sthat are true and make for peace; 17 ^tdo not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^ulove no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the ^vfourth month and the fast of the ^wfifth and the fast of the ^xseventh and the fast of the ^ytenth shall be to the house of Judah ^zseasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^atruth and peace.

20 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. 21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ^b‘Let us go at once ^cto entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 ^bMany peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and ^cto entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ^dten men ^efrom the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for ^fwe have heard that God is with you.’”

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

The Coming King of Zion

The Lord Will Save His People