A Call to Return to the Lord

1 In the eighth month, ^ain the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^bZechariah, the son of ^cBerechiah, son of ^dIddo, saying, 2 ^e“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: ^fReturn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and ^gI will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 ^hDo not be like your fathers, ⁱto whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^fReturn from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But ^jthey did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And ^kthe prophets, do they live forever? 6 ^lBut my words and my statutes, which I commanded ^mmy servants the prophets, did they not ⁿovertake your fathers? So they repented and said, ^o‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for ^pour ways and ^pdeeds, 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 ^bZechariah, the son of ^cBerechiah, son of ^dIddo, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold, ^qa man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were ^rred, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ ^sThe angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ 10 So ^qthe man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ^t‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to ^upatrol the earth.’ 11 And they answered ^sthe angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ^u‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth ^vremains at rest.’ 12 Then ^sthe angel of the Lord said, ^w‘O Lord of hosts, ^whow long will you ^xhave no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these ^yseventy years?’ 13 And the Lord answered ^zgracious and comforting words to ^sthe angel who talked with me. 14 So ^sthe angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^aI am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 ^bAnd I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are ^cat ease; ^dfor while I was angry but a little, ^ethey furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, ^fI have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; ^gmy house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^hthe measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ⁱMy cities shall again overflow with prosperity, ^jand the Lord will again comfort Zion and again ^kchoose Jerusalem.’”

A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen

18 ¹ And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^lfour horns! 19 And I said to ^sthe angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, ^l“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, ^l“These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come ^mto terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations ⁿwho lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

1 ² And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^oa man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, ^p“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3 And behold, ^qthe 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, ^r‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited ^sas villages without walls, because of ^tthe multitude of people and livestock in it. 5 And I will be to her ^ua wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

6 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. 7 ^xUp! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me³ to the nations who plundered you, ^yfor he who touches you touches ^zthe apple of his eye: 9 “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

1 Then he showed me ^jJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and ^kSatan⁴ standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, ^l“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has ^mchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this ⁿa brand⁵ plucked from the fire?” 3 Now ^jJoshua was standing before the angel, ^oclothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to ^pthose who were standing before him, ^q“Remove 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.” 5 And I said, ^t“Let 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.

6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured ^jJoshua, 7 “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. 8 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. 9 For behold, on ^athe stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with ^bseven eyes,⁶ 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.”

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.