Zechariah
A Call to Return to the Lord
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of aDarius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet bZechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2 “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: cReturn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 dDo not be like your fathers, to whom the eformer prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, fReturn from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did gnot hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not hovertake your fathers? So they repented and said, i‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”
A Vision of a Horseman
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a jred horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and kwhite horses. 9 Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ The langel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ 10 So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to mpatrol the earth.’ 11 And they answered the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’ 12 Then the angel of the Lord said, ‘O Lord of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these nseventy years?’ 13 And the Lord answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: oI am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are pat ease; for qwhile I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, rthus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; smy house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and the tmeasuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and uagain choose Jerusalem.’”
A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen
18 1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns! 19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line
2 1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a vmeasuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3 And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. 5 And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”
6 wUp! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. 7 Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me2 to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the xapple of his eye: 9 “Behold, I will yshake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that zthe Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 aSing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 And many nations shall bjoin themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will cagain choose Jerusalem.”
13 dBe silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from ehis holy dwelling.
A Vision of Joshua the High Priest
3 Then he showed me fJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and gSatan1 hstanding at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, i“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a jbrand2 plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will kclothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean lturban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the mBranch. 9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with nseven eyes,3 I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the oiniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, pevery one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”
A Vision of a Golden Lampstand
4 And the qangel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, r“What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and sseven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are ttwo olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to uZerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall vbecome a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have wlaid the foundation of this house; xhis hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that ythe Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
“These zseven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil1 is poured out?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones2 who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
A Vision of a Flying Scroll
5 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! 2 And he said to me, a“What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”1 3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is bon one side, and everyone who swears falsely2 shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. 4 I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall remain in his house and consume it, both timber and stones.”
A Vision of a Woman in a Basket
5 Then the cangel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” 6 And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket3 that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity4 in all the land.” 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.
9 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 He said to me, “To the land of dShinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”
