Zechariah 1–5

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.”

CHAPTER 3

The High Priest and a Branch

¹Then he showed me ^aJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, and ^1bSatan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

²And Yahweh said to Satan, “^aYahweh rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, Yahweh who has ^bchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a ^cbrand delivered from the fire?”

³Now Joshua was clothed with ^afilthy garments and standing before the angel.

⁴And he answered and spoke to those who were standing before him, saying, “^aRemove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have ^bmade your iniquity pass away from you and ¹will ^cclothe you with festal robes.”

⁵Then 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 Yahweh was standing by.

⁶And the angel of Yahweh testified to Joshua, saying,

⁷“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘If you will ^awalk in My ways and if you will keep the responsibility given by Me, then you will also ^brender justice in My house and also keep My ^ccourts, and I will grant you ¹access to walk 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 ^awondrous sign, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the ^1bBranch.

⁹‘For behold, the stone that I have put before Joshua; on one stone are ^aseven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘and I will ^bremove the iniquity of that land in one day.

¹⁰‘In that day,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘every one of you will call for his neighbor to sit under his ^avine and under his fig tree.’”

CHAPTER 4

The Golden Lampstand

¹Then ^athe angel who was speaking with me returned and ^broused me, as a man who is roused from his sleep.

²And 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,

³also ^atwo olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.”

⁴Then I answered and said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, “What are these, ^amy lord?”

⁵So ^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.”

⁶Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, “This is the word of Yahweh to ^aZerubbabel, saying, ‘^bNot by ¹might nor by power, but by My ^cSpirit,’ says Yahweh 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!” ’ ”

⁸Also the word of Yahweh 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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh which ^eroam to and fro throughout the earth.”

¹¹Then I answered and said to him, “What are these ^atwo olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?”

¹²And 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?”

¹³So he spoke to me, saying, “^aDo you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, ^bmy lord.”

¹⁴Then he said, “These are the two ^1aanointed ones who are ^bstanding by the ^cLord of all the earth.”

CHAPTER 5

A Flying Scroll

¹Then I lifted up my eyes again and saw, and behold, a flying ^ascroll.

²And he said to me, “^aWhat do you see?” And I said, “I see a flying scroll; its length is ¹twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.”

³Then 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 ²purged away according to ³the writing on one side, and everyone who ^cswears will be ⁴purged away according to the writing on the other side.

⁴“I will ^amake it go forth,” declares Yahweh 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.”

A Woman in an Ephah

⁵Then ^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.”

⁶So 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.”

⁸Then he said, “This is ^aWickedness!” And he threw her down into the middle of the ephah and threw the lead weight on its ¹opening.

⁹Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, 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…