Zechariah 4

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A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, oa man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, Where are you going? And he said to me, pTo measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length. And behold, qthe angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, Run, say to that young man, rJerusalem shall be inhabited sas villages without walls, because of tthe multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her ua wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.

Up! Up! vFlee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have wspread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. xUp! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me2 to the nations who plundered you, yfor he who touches you touches zthe apple of his eye: Behold, aI will shake my hand over them, band they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then cyou will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 dSing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ebehold, I come fand I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 gAnd many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. fAnd I will dwell in your midst, and cyou shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 hAnd the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ichoose Jerusalem.

13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

A Vision of Joshua the High Priest

Then he showed me jJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and kSatan1 standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, lThe Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has mchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this na brand2 plucked from the fire? Now jJoshua was standing before the angel, oclothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to pthose who were standing before him, qRemove the filthy garments from him. And to him he said, Behold, rI have taken your iniquity away from you, and sI will clothe you with pure vestments. And I said, tLet them put a clean turban 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.

And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured jJoshua, Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and ukeep my charge, then you shall vrule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among wthose who are standing here. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for xthey are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring ymy servant zthe Branch. For behold, on athe stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with bseven eyes,3 I will cengrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and dI will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come eunder his vine and under his fig tree.

A Vision of a Golden Lampstand

And fthe angel who talked with me came again gand woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What do you see? I said, I see, and behold, ha lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and iseven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are jtwo olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left. And I said to fthe angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, kDo you not know what these are? I said, No, my lord. Then he said to me, This is the word of the Lord to lZerubbabel: mNot by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, nO great mountain? Before lZerubbabel oyou shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward pthe top stone amid shouts of Grace, grace to it!

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, qThe hands of lZerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also rcomplete it. sThen you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 tFor whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see uthe plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

vThese seven vare the eyes of the Lord, wwhich range through the whole earth. 11 Then I said to him, What are these jtwo 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 jtwo 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, xDo you not know what these are? I said, No, my lord. 14 Then he said, yThese are the two anointed ones2 who stand by zthe Lord of the whole earth.

A Vision of a Flying Scroll

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying ascroll! And he said to me, What do you see? I answered, I see a flying ascroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.1 Then he said to me, This is bthe curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who csteals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who dswears falsely2 shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of ehim who swears falsely by my name. And fit shall remain in his house and gconsume it, both timber and stones.

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

hThen the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, iLift your eyes and see what this is that is going out. And I said, What is it? He said, This is jthe basket3 that is going out. And he said, This is their iniquity4 in all the land. And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, This is Wickedness. And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down jthe leaden weight on its opening.

Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! kThe 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 lland of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.

A Vision of Four Chariots

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of mbronze. The first chariot had nred horses, the second oblack horses, the third pwhite horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horsesall of them strong.1 Then I answered and said to qthe angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said to me, rThese are going out to the four winds of heaven, after spresenting themselves before tthe Lord of all the earth. 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. 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. 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

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 jTobijah, jJedaiah, and Hen jthe son of Zephaniah.

15 kAnd 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.