Zechariah 1–2

CHAPTER 1

Return to Me, Declares Yahweh

¹In the eighth month of the second year of ^aDarius, the word of ¹Yahweh came to ^bZechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of ^cIddo, saying,

²“Yahweh was very ^awrathful against your fathers.

³“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “^aReturn to Me,” declares Yahweh of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says Yahweh of hosts.

⁴“Do not be ^alike your fathers, to whom the ^bformer prophets called out, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “^cReturn now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.” ’ But they did ^dnot listen or give heed to Me,” declares Yahweh.

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 slaves the prophets, ^aovertake your fathers? Then they ¹returned and said, ‘^bAs Yahweh of hosts purposed to do to us in accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has done with us.’”

A Man on a Red Horse

⁷On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying,

⁸I 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.

⁹Then 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.”

¹⁰And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are those whom Yahweh has sent to ^1apatrol the earth.”

¹¹So they answered the angel of Yahweh who was ^astanding among the myrtle trees and said, “We have ¹patrolled the earth, and behold, ^ball the earth is sitting still and quiet.”

¹²Then the angel of Yahweh answered and said, “O Yahweh 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?”

¹³Yahweh answered the ^aangel who was speaking with me with good words, ^bcomforting words.

¹⁴So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “^aCall out, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “I am ^bexceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion.

¹⁵“But I am very ^awrathful with the nations who are ^bat ease; for I was only a little wrathful, but they ^chelped increase the calamity.”

¹⁶‘Therefore thus says Yahweh, “I will ^areturn to Jerusalem with compassion; My ^bhouse will be built in it,” declares Yahweh of hosts, “and a measuring ^cline will be stretched over Jerusalem.” ’

¹⁷“Again, call out, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “My ^acities will again overflow with good, and Yahweh will again ^bcomfort Zion and again ^cchoose Jerusalem.” ’ ”

Four Horns and Craftsmen

¹⁸¹Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, there were four horns.

¹⁹So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the ^ahorns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

²⁰Then Yahweh showed me four ^acraftsmen.

²¹And 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 cause them to tremble, to ^bthrow down the horns of the nations who have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah in order to scatter it.”

CHAPTER 2

A Man with a Measuring Cord

¹¹Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, there was a man with a ^ameasuring cord in his hand.

²So 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.”

³And behold, the ^aangel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him

⁴and 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‘Indeed I,’ declares Yahweh, ‘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 Yahweh, “for I have ^bdispersed you as the four winds of the heavens,” declares Yahweh.

⁷“Woe, Zion! ^aEscape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.”

⁸For thus says Yahweh of hosts, “After ^1aglory He has sent me against the nations which have taken you as spoil, 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 ^bspoil for their slaves. Then you will know that Yahweh 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 Yahweh.

¹¹“^aAnd many nations will join themselves to Yahweh in that day and will become My people. Then I will ^bdwell in your midst, and you will ^cknow that Yahweh of hosts has sent Me to you.

¹²“Then Yahweh will ^ainherit Judah as His portion in the holy land and will again ^bchoose Jerusalem.

¹³“^1aBe silent, all flesh, before Yahweh; for He is ^baroused from His holy habitation.”