Jesus and Thomas

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the ^dTwin,¹ was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” ^eBut he said to them, “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 ^fnever believe.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, ^g“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, ^h“My Lord and ⁱmy God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have ^jseen me? Blessed are those who have ^knot seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of This Book

30 ^lNow Jesus did many other ^msigns in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written ⁿso that you may believe that ^oJesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that ^pby believing you may have life in his name.

The Thousand Years

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand ^pthe key to the bottomless pit¹ and a great chain. 2 And he seized ^qthe dragon, ^rthat ancient serpent, who is the ^sdevil and ^tSatan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not ^udeceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

4 Then I saw ^vthrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw ^wthe souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their ^xforeheads or their hands. They 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 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such ^zthe second death has no power, but they will be ^apriests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

The Defeat of Satan

7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, ^bGog and Magog, to ^cgather them for battle; ^dtheir number is like the sand of the sea. 9 ^eAnd they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but ^ffire came down from heaven² and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them ^gwas thrown into the ^hlake of ⁱfire and sulfur where the beast and ^jthe 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 earth and sky ^kfled away, and ^lno place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and ^mbooks were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the ⁿbook of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, ^oDeath and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 ^pThen Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he 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 bronze. 2 The first chariot had ^ered horses, the second ^fblack horses, 3 the third ^gwhite horses, and the fourth chariot ^hdappled horses—all of them strong.¹ 4 Then I answered and said to the ⁱangel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, “These are going out to the ^jfour winds of heaven,² after presenting themselves before the ^kLord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.” 7 When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and ^lpatrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth. 8 Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.”

The Crown and the Temple

9 And the word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of ^mJehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the ⁿBranch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there³ shall be a ^opriest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ 14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as a reminder to Helem,⁴ Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah.

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

A Call for Justice and Mercy

1 In the fourth year of King ^rDarius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the ^sfifth 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 ^tfasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for ^uthese seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed by the ^vformer prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”

8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^wRender ^xtrue judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the ^ywidow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you ^zdevise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a ^astubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.⁵ 12 They made their hearts ^bdiamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 ^c“As ^dI⁶ called, and they would not hear, so ^ethey called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 “and I ^fscattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the ^gpleasant 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: ^hI am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 ⁱThus says the Lord: I have returned to Zion and will ^jdwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old 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: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^kshould it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Let your hands ^lbe strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who were present on the day that the ^mfoundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days there was ⁿno 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 For there shall be a sowing of peace. ^oThe vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their ^pdew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as you have been a ^qbyword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ^ryou shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.”

14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “As I ^spurposed 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; fear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: ^tSpeak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are ^utrue and make for peace; 17 do not ^vdevise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no ^wfalse 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 ^xfast of the ^yfourth month and the fast of the ^zfifth and the fast of the ^aseventh and the fast of the ^btenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth 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, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 ^cMany peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^dIn those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

The Coming King of Zion

The Lord Will Save His People