Zechariah 5:1–11:17
5 Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying ascroll.
2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
So I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.”
3 Then he said to me, “This is the bcurse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.”
4 “I will send out the curse,” says the Lord of hosts;
“It shall enter the house of the cthief
And the house of dthe one who swears falsely by My name.
It shall remain in the midst of his house
And consume eit, with its timber and stones.”
Vision of the Woman in a Basket
5 Then the angel who talked with me came out and said to me, “Lift your eyes now, and see what this is that goes forth.”
6 So I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “It is a 1basket that is going forth.”
He also said, “This is their resemblance throughout the earth: 7 Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket”; 8 then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead 2cover over its mouth. 9 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a fstork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.
10 So I said to the gangel who talked with me, “Where are they carrying the basket?”
11 And he said to me, “To hbuild a house for it in ithe land of 3Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base.”
6 Then I turned and raised my eyes and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2 With the first chariot were ared horses, with the second chariot bblack horses, 3 with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot dappled horses—strong steeds. 4 Then I answered cand said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 And the angel answered and said to me, d“These are four spirits of heaven, who go out from their estation before the Lord of all the earth. 6 1The one with the black horses is going to fthe north country, the white are going after them, and the dappled are going toward the south country.” 7 Then the strong steeds went out, eager to go, that they might gwalk to and fro throughout the earth. And He said, “Go, walk to and fro throughout the earth.” So they walked to and fro throughout the earth. 8 And He called to me, and spoke to me, saying, “See, those who go toward the north country have given rest to My hSpirit in the north country.”
9 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 10 “Receive the gift from the captives—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon—and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold, make ian 2elaborate crown, and set it on the head of jJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying:
“Behold, kthe Man whose name is the lBRANCH!
From His place He shall 3branch out,
mAnd He shall build the temple of the Lord;
13 Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord.
He nshall bear the glory,
And shall sit and rule on His throne;
So oHe shall be a priest on His throne,
And the counsel of peace shall be between 4them both.” ’
14 “Now the 5elaborate crown shall be pfor a memorial in the temple of the Lord 6for Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah. 15 Even qthose from afar shall come and build the temple of the Lord. Then you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. And this shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
7 Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, 2 when 1the people sent 2Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to 3the house of God, 4to pray before the Lord, 3 and to aask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in bthe fifth month and 5fast as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you cfasted and mourned in the fifth dand seventh months eduring those seventy years, did you really fast ffor Me—for Me? 6 gWhen you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7 Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the hformer prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and ithe 6South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ”
Disobedience Resulted in Captivity
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
j‘Execute true justice,
Show 7mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
10 kDo not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
lLet none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.’
11 But they refused to heed, mshrugged 8their shoulders, and nstopped 9their ears so that they could not hear. 12 Yes, they made their ohearts like flint, prefusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. qThus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so rthey called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. 14 “But sI scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”
Jerusalem, Holy City of the Future
8 Again the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
a‘I am 1zealous for Zion with great 2zeal;
With great 3fervor I am zealous for her.’
b‘I will return to Zion,
And cdwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem dshall be called the City of Truth,
eThe Mountain of the Lord of hosts,
fThe Holy Mountain.’
4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
g‘Old men and old women shall again sit
In the streets of Jerusalem,
Each one with his staff in his hand
Because of 4great age.
Shall be hfull of boys and girls
Playing in its streets.’
6 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘If it is 5marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days,
iWill it also be marvelous in My eyes?’
Says the Lord of hosts.
7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Behold, jI will save My people from the land of the 6east
And from the land of the 7west;
8 I will kbring them back,
And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
lThey shall be My people
And I will be their God,
mIn truth and righteousness.’
9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
n‘Let your hands be strong,
You who have been hearing in these days
These words by the mouth of othe prophets,
Who spoke in pthe day the foundation was laid
For the house of the Lord of hosts,
That the temple might be built.
There were no qwages for man nor any hire for beast;
There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in;
For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.
11 rBut now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ says the Lord of hosts.
12 ‘For sthe 8seed shall be prosperous,
The vine shall give its fruit,
tThe ground shall give her increase,
And uthe heavens shall give their dew—
I will cause the remnant of this people
To possess all these.
That just as you were va curse among the nations,
O house of Judah and house of Israel,
So I will save you, and wyou shall be a blessing.
Do not fear,
Let your hands be strong.’
14 “For thus says the Lord of hosts:
x‘Just as I determined to 9punish you
When your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’
Says the Lord of hosts,
y‘And I would not relent,
I am determined to do good
To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
Do not fear.
16 These are the things you shall zdo:
aSpeak each man the truth to his neighbor;
Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;
17 bLet none of you think evil in 1your heart against your neighbor;
And do not love a false oath.
For all these are things that I hate,’
Says the Lord.”
18 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
c‘The fast of the fourth month,
dThe fast of the fifth,
eThe fast of the seventh,
fAnd the fast of the tenth,
Shall be gjoy and gladness and cheerful feasts
For the house of Judah.
hTherefore love truth and peace.’
20 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Peoples shall yet come,
Inhabitants of many cities;
21 The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,
i“Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord,
And seek the Lord of hosts.
I myself will go also.”
22 Yes, jmany peoples and strong nations
Shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem,
And to pray before the Lord.’
23 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘In those days ten men kfrom every language of the nations shall lgrasp the 2sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard mthat God is with you.” ’ ”
Israel Defended Against Enemies
9 The 1burden of the word of the Lord—
Against the land of Hadrach,
And aDamascus its resting place
(For bthe eyes of men
And all the tribes of Israel
Are on the Lord);
2 Also against cHamath, which borders on it,
And against dTyre and eSidon, though they are very fwise.
3 For Tyre built herself a tower,
Heaped up silver like the dust,
And gold like the mire of the streets.
4 Behold, gthe Lord will cast her out;
He will destroy hher power in the sea,
And she will be devoured by fire.
5 Ashkelon shall see it and fear;
Gaza also shall be very sorrowful;
And iEkron, for He dried up her expectation.
The king shall perish from Gaza,
And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
6 “A 2mixed race shall settle jin Ashdod,
And I will cut off the pride of the k