A Vision of a Flying Scroll

1 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.”

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 bronze. 2 The first chariot had ^ered horses, the second ^fblack horses, 3 the third ^gwhite horses, and the fourth chariot ^hdappled horses—all of them strong.⁵ 4 Then I answered and said to the ⁱangel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, “These are going out to the ^jfour winds of heaven,⁶ after presenting themselves before the ^kLord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.” 7 When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and ^lpatrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth. 8 Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.”

The Crown and the Temple

9 And the word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of ^mJehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the ⁿBranch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there⁷ shall be a ^opriest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ 14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as a reminder to Helem,⁸ Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah.

15 “And ^pthose who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord. And you shall know that ^qthe Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

A Call for Justice and Mercy

1 In the fourth year of King ^rDarius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the ^sfifth 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 ^tfasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for ^uthese seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed by the ^vformer prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”

8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^wRender ^xtrue judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the ^ywidow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you ^zdevise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a ^astubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.⁹ 12 They made their hearts ^bdiamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 ^c“As ^dI¹⁰ called, and they would not hear, so ^ethey called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 “and I ^fscattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the ^gpleasant 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: ^hI am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 ⁱThus says the Lord: I have returned to Zion and will ^jdwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old 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: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^kshould it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Let your hands ^lbe strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who were present on the day that the ^mfoundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. 10 For before those days there was ⁿno 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 For there shall be a sowing of peace. ^oThe vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their ^pdew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. 13 And as you have been a ^qbyword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ^ryou shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.”

14 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “As I ^spurposed 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; fear not. 16 These are the things that you shall do: ^tSpeak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are ^utrue and make for peace; 17 do not ^vdevise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no ^wfalse 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 ^xfast of the ^yfourth month and the fast of the ^zfifth and the fast of the ^aseventh and the fast of the ^btenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth 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, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22 ^cMany peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. 23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^dIn those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

Rejoicing in Heaven

1 After this I heard what seemed to be the ^vloud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

3 Once more they cried out,

4 And the ^ctwenty-four elders and the ^dfour living creatures ^efell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, ^f“Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, ^jlike the roar of many waters and ^klike the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

9 And the angel said¹ to me, ^o“Write this: ^pBlessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, ^q“These are the true words of God.” 10 Then ^rI fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is ^sthe spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw ^theaven opened, and behold, a ^uwhite horse! The one sitting on it is called ^vFaithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 ^wHis eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written ^xthat no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe ^ydipped in² blood, and the name by which he is called is ^zThe Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 ^aFrom his mouth comes a sharp sword ^bwith which to strike down the nations, and ^che will rule³ them ^dwith a rod of iron. He will ^etread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, ^fKing of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice ^ghe called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 ^hto eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,⁴ both small and great.” 19 And I saw ⁱthe beast and the kings of the earth with their armies ^jgathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it ^kthe false prophet ^lwho in its presence⁵ had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who ^mworshiped its image. ⁿThese two were thrown alive into the ^olake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.