Zechariah 1–6
1 In the eighth month of the second year of aDarius, the word of the Lord came to bZechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of cIddo saying,
2 “The Lord was very aangry with your fathers.
3 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “aReturn to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.
4 “Do not be alike your fathers, to whom the bformer prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “cReturn now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.” ’ But they did dnot listen or give heed to Me,” declares the Lord.
5 “Your afathers, where are they? And the bprophets, do they live forever?
6 “But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, aovertake your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘bAs the Lord of hosts purposed to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us.’ ” ’ ”
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows:
8 I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a ared horse, and he was standing among the bmyrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and cwhite horses behind him.
9 Then I said, “My alord, what are these?” And the bangel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”
10 And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are those whom the Lord has sent to 1apatrol the earth.”
11 So they answered the angel of the Lord who was astanding among the myrtle trees and said, “We have 1patrolled the earth, and behold, ball the earth is 2peaceful and quiet.”
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, ahow long will You bhave no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been cindignant these dseventy years?”
13 The Lord answered the aangel who was speaking with me with 1gracious words, bcomforting words.
14 So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “aProclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I am bexceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.
15 “But I am very aangry with the nations who are bat ease; for while I was only a little angry, they 1cfurthered the disaster.”
16 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord, “I will areturn to Jerusalem with compassion; My bhouse will be built in it,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and a measuring cline will be stretched over Jerusalem.” ’
17 “Again, proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “My acities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again bcomfort Zion and again cchoose Jerusalem.” ’ ”
18 1Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there were four horns.
19 So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the ahorns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four acraftsmen.
21 I said, “What are these coming to do?” And he said, “These are the ahorns which have scattered Judah so that no man lifts up his head; but these craftsmen have come to terrify them, to bthrow down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”
1 1Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man with a ameasuring line in his hand.
2 So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To ameasure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is.”
3 And behold, the aangel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him,
4 and said to him, “Run, speak to that ayoung man, saying, ‘bJerusalem will be inhabited 1cwithout walls because of the dmultitude of men and cattle within it.
5 ‘For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a awall of fire 1around her, and I will be the bglory in her midst.’ ”
6 “1Ho there! aFlee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have bdispersed you as the four winds of the heavens,” declares the Lord.
7 “Ho, Zion! aEscape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.”
8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, “After 1aglory He has sent Me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the 2bapple of His eye.
9 “For behold, I will awave My hand over them so that they will be bplunder for their slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me.
10 “aSing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will bdwell in your midst,” declares the Lord.
11 “aMany nations will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become My people. Then I will bdwell in your midst, and you will cknow that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
12 “The Lord will 1apossess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again bchoose Jerusalem.
13 “1aBe silent, all flesh, before the Lord; for He is baroused from His holy habitation.”
1 Then he showed me aJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and 1bSatan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
2 The Lord said to Satan, “aThe Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has bchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a cbrand plucked from the fire?”
3 Now Joshua was clothed with afilthy garments and standing before the angel.
4 He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “aRemove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have btaken your iniquity away from you and 1will cclothe you with festal robes.”
5 Then I said, “Let them put a clean aturban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.
6 And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying,
7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If you will awalk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then you will also bgovern My house and also have charge of My ccourts, and I will grant you 1free access among these who are standing here.
8 ‘Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a asymbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the 1bBranch.
9 ‘For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are aseven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will bremove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 ‘In that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his avine and under his fig tree.’ ”
The Golden Lampstand and Olive Trees
1 Then athe angel who was speaking with me returned and broused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep.
2 He said to me, “aWhat do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a blampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its cseven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it;
3 also atwo olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.”
4 Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, “What are these, amy lord?”
5 So athe angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, “bDo you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”
6 Then he 1said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to aZerubbabel saying, ‘bNot by might nor by power, but by My cSpirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.
7 ‘What are you, O great amountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with bshouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”
8 Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have alaid the foundation of this house, and his hands will bfinish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to 1you.
10 “For who has despised the day of asmall things? 1But these bseven will be glad when they see the 2cplumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—these are the deyes of the Lord which erange to and fro throughout the earth.”
11 Then I said to him, “What are these atwo olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?”
12 And I answered the second time and said to him, “What are the two olive 1branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?”
13 So he answered me, saying, “aDo you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, bmy lord.”
14 Then he said, “These are the two 1aanointed ones who are bstanding by the cLord of the whole earth.”
1 Then I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying ascroll.
2 And he said to me, “aWhat do you see?” And I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty 1cubits and its width ten cubits.”
3 Then he said to me, “This is the acurse that is going forth over the face of the whole 1land; surely everyone who bsteals will be purged away according to 2the writing on one side, and everyone who cswears will be purged away according to 2the writing on the other side.
4 “I will amake it go forth,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and it will benter the house of the cthief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and dconsume it with its timber and stones.”
5 Then athe angel who was speaking with me went out and said to me, “Lift up now your eyes and see what this is going forth.”
6 I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the 1aephah going forth.” Again he said, “This is their 2appearance in all the 3land
7 (and behold, a lead cover was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.”
8 Then he said, “This is aWickedness!” And he threw her down into the middle of the ephah and cast the lead weight on its 1opening.
9 Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a astork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.