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.”

A Vision of a Golden Lampstand

1 And ^fthe angel who talked with me came again ^gand woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 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. 3 And there are ^jtwo olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to ^fthe angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, ^k“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 ^lZerubbabel: ^mNot by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 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!’”

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 ^q“The 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.

^v“These 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 oil⁷ is poured out?” 13 He said to me, ^x“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, ^y“These are the two anointed ones⁸ who stand by ^zthe Lord of the whole earth.”

A Vision of a Flying Scroll

1 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying ^ascroll! 2 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.”⁹ 3 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 falsely¹⁰ 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 ^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

5 ^hThen the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, ⁱ“Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” 6 And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is ^jthe basket¹¹ that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity¹² 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 ^jthe leaden weight on its opening.

9 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

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.¹³ 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 there¹⁴ 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,^{15 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.¹⁶ 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 I¹⁷ 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.’”