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.”

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

1 As for the one who is ^oweak in faith, welcome him, but not to ^pquarrel over opinions. 2 ^qOne person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and ^rlet not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 ^sWho are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master¹ that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

5 ^tOne person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, ^usince he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For ^vnone of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, ^wwe live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord ^xboth of the dead and of the living.

10 ^yWhy do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the ^zjudgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,

12 So then each of us will ^bgive an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

13 Therefore ^clet us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a ^dstumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that ^enothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean ^ffor anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are ^gno longer walking in love. ^hBy what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For ⁱthe kingdom of God is ^jnot a matter of eating and drinking ^kbut of righteousness and ^lpeace and ^mjoy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is ⁿacceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us ^opursue what makes for peace and for mutual ^pupbuilding.

20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. ^qEverything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.³ 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But ^rwhoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. ^sFor whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.⁴