Zechariah 5–8

Then I turned, and lift up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, a flying ^aroll. ²And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. ³Then said he unto me,

This is ^bthe curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth:

For ^cevery one that stealeth ^dshall be cut off as ^eon this side according to it;

And ^gevery one that sweareth ^dshall be cut off as ^eon that side according to it.

⁴I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts,

And it shall enter into the house of the thief,

And into the house of ^ghhim that sweareth ^hfalsely by my name:

And ⁱit shall remain in the midst of his house,

And ^jshall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

⁵Then ^kthe angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. ⁶And I said, What is it? And he said, This is ^lan ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their ^mresemblance through all the earth. ⁷And behold, there was lift up a ⁿtalent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. ⁸And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast ^othe weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. ⁹Then lift I up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, there came out two women, and ^pthe wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of ^qa stork: and they lift up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. ¹⁰Then said I to ^kthe angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? ¹¹And he said unto me, To build it a house in ^rthe land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.

VI.And I turned, and lift up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains ^aof brass. ²In the first chariot were ^bcred horses; and in the second chariot ^dblack horses; ³and in the third chariot ^bewhite horses; and in the fourth chariot ^fgrisled and ^gbay horses. ⁴Then I ^hanswered and said unto ⁱthe angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? ⁵And the angel answered and said unto me, ^kThese are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from ^lstanding before ^mthe Lord of all the earth. ^6dThe black horses which are therein go forth into ⁿthe north country; and ^ethe white go forth after them; and ^fthe grisled go forth toward ^othe south country. ⁷And ^gthe bay went forth, and sought to go that they might ^pwalk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get ye hence, ^pwalk to and fro through the earth. So they ^pwalked to and fro through the earth. ⁸Then ^qcried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward ⁿthe north country have quieted my ^rspirit in ⁿthe north country.

⁹And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ¹⁰Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of ^sZephaniah; ¹¹then take silver and gold, and make ^tcrowns, and set them upon the head of ^uJoshua the son of Josedech the high priest; ¹²and speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying,

Behold ^vthe man whose name is ^wThe BRANCH;

And he shall grow up ^xout of his place,

And ^yhe shall build the temple of the Lord:

^13yEven he shall build the temple of the Lord;

And ^zhe shall bear ^athe glory,

And ^zshall sit and rule upon his throne:

And ^bhe shall be a priest upon his throne:

And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

¹⁴And ^cthe crowns shall be to ^dHelem, and to ^dTobijah, and to ^dJedaiah, and to Hen the son of ^dZephaniah, ^efor a memorial in the temple of the Lord. ¹⁵And ^fthey that are far off ^gshall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ^hye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.

VII.And it came to pass ^ain the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in ^bChisleu; ²when they had sent unto ^cthe house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the Lord, ³and to speak unto ^dthe priests which were in ^cthe house of the Lord of hosts, and to ^ethe prophets, saying, Should I weep in ^fgthe fifth month, ^hseparating myself, as I have done ^lthese so many years?

⁴Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying, ⁵Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ⁱye fasted and mourned in ^fgthe fifth and ^fkseventh month, even ^lthose seventy years, did ye at all fast ⁱunto me, even to me? ⁶And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat ^mfor yourselves, and drink ^mfor yourselves? ⁷Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ⁿin prosperity, and ^othe cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited ^othe south and ^othe plain?

⁸And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying,

⁹Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying,

^pqExecute true judgment,

And ^qshew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

¹⁰And oppress not ^rrthe widow, nor ^rrthe fatherless, ^rrthe stranger, nor ^sthe poor;

And ^tlet none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

¹¹But ^uthey refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder,

And stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

¹²Yea, ^wthey made their hearts as ^xan adamant stone, ^ylest they should hear the law,

And the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent ^yin his spirit ^yby the former prophets:

Therefore ^zcame a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

¹³Therefore it is come to pass, that ^aas he cried, and they would not hear;

^aSo they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:

¹⁴But I ^bscattered them with a whirlwind ^camong all the nations ^dwhom they knew not:

Thus ^ethe land was desolate ^fafter them, ^gthat no man passed through nor returned:

For they laid ^hthe pleasant land desolate.

VIII.Again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying,

²Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

^aI was jealous for Zion with great jealousy,

And I was jealous for her ^bwith great fury.

³Thus saith the Lord; ^cI am returned unto Zion,

And ^dwill dwell in the midst of Jerusalem:

And Jerusalem shall be called ^ea city of truth;

And ^fthe mountain of the Lord of hosts ^gthe holy mountain.

⁴Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

^hThere shall yet old men and old women dwell ⁱin the streets of Jerusalem,

And every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

⁵And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls

Playing in the streets thereof.

⁶Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

If it be marvellous in the eyes of ^kthe remnant of this people in these days,

^lShould it also be marvellous in my eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.

⁷Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

Behold, ^mI will save my people ⁿfrom the east country,

And ⁿfrom the west country;

⁸And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem:

And ^othey shall be my people, and I will be their God,

^pIn truth and in righteousness.

⁹Thus saith the Lord of hosts; ^qLet your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of ^rthe prophets, which were in ^sthe day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. ^10ssFor before these days there was no ^thire for man, nor any hire for beast; ^uneither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour. ¹¹But now I will not be unto ^kthe residue of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts. ¹²For ^vthe seed shall be ^wprosperous; ^xthe vine shall give ^zher fruit, and ^ythe ground shall give her increase, and ^zthe heavens shall give their dew; and I will ^acause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³And it shall come to pass, that as ye were ^ba curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so ^cwill I save you, and ^dye shall be a blessing: ^efear not, but let ^fyour hands be strong. ¹⁴For thus saith the Lord of hosts; ^gAs I thought to punish you, when your fathers ^hprovoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, ⁱand I repented not: ^15gso again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: ^efear ye not. ¹⁶These are the things that ye shall do; ^jSpeak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of ^ktruth and ^kpeace ^lin your gates: ¹⁷and ^mlet none of you ⁿimagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and ^olove no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.

¹⁸And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying, ¹⁹Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The fast of ^pthe fourth month, and the fast of ^qthe fifth, and the fast of ^rthe seventh, and the fast of ^sthe tenth, shall be to the house of Judah ^tjoy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love ^kthe truth and ^kpeace.

²⁰Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people,

And the inhabitants of many cities:

²¹And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,

^uLet us go speedily to pray before the Lord,

And to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also.

²²Yea, ^vmany people and strong nations shall come

To seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem,

And to pray before the Lord.

²³Thus saith the Lord of hosts;

In those days it shall come to pass, that ^wten men ^xshall take hold out ^yof all languages of the nations,

Even ^xshall take hold of ^zthe skirt of him that is a Jew, saying,

We will go with you: for we have heard ^athat God is with you.

IX.