Zechariah 1–2

A Call to Return to the Lord

1In the eighth month, ^ain the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^bZechariah, the son of ^cBerechiah, son of ^dIddo, saying, ^2e“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. ³Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: ^fReturn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and ^gI will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^4hDo not be like your fathers, ⁱto whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^fReturn from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But ^jthey did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. ⁵Your fathers, where are they? And ^kthe prophets, do they live forever? ^6lBut my words and my statutes, which I commanded ^mmy servants the prophets, did they not ⁿovertake your fathers? So they repented and said, ^o‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for ^pour ways and ^pdeeds, so has he dealt with us.’ ”

A Vision of a Horseman

⁷On 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 ^bZechariah, the son of ^cBerechiah, son of ^dIddo, saying, ⁸“I saw in the night, and behold, ^qa man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were ^rred, sorrel, and white horses. ⁹Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ ^sThe angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ ¹⁰So ^qthe man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ^t‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to ^upatrol the earth.’ ¹¹And they answered ^sthe angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ^u‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth ^vremains at rest.’ ¹²Then ^sthe angel of the Lord said, ^w‘O Lord of hosts, ^whow long will you ^xhave no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these ^yseventy years?’ ¹³And the Lord answered ^zgracious and comforting words to ^sthe angel who talked with me. ¹⁴So ^sthe angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^aI am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. ^15bAnd I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are ^cat ease; ^dfor while I was angry but a little, ^ethey furthered the disaster. ¹⁶Therefore, thus says the Lord, ^fI have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; ^gmy house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^hthe measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. ¹⁷Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ⁱMy cities shall again overflow with prosperity, ^jand the Lord will again comfort Zion and again ^kchoose Jerusalem.’ ”

A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen

¹⁸¹ And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^lfour horns! ¹⁹And I said to ^sthe angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, ^l“These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ²⁰Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. ²¹And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, ^l“These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come ^mto terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations ⁿwho lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

2¹ And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^oa man with a measuring line in his hand! ²Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, ^p“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” ³And behold, ^qthe angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him ⁴and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ^r‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited ^sas villages without walls, because of ^tthe multitude of people and livestock in it. ⁵And I will be to her ^ua wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’ ”

⁶Up! Up! ^vFlee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have ^wspread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. ^7xUp! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. ⁸For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me² to the nations who plundered you, ^yfor he who touches you touches ^zthe apple of his eye: ⁹“Behold, ^aI will shake my hand over them, ^band they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then ^cyou will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. ^10dSing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ^ebehold, I come ^fand I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. ^11gAnd many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. ^fAnd I will dwell in your midst, and ^cyou shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ^12hAnd the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ⁱchoose Jerusalem.”

¹³Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.