Zechariah 6–9

CHAPTER 6

Four Chariots

¹Then I lifted up my eyes again and saw, and behold, ^afour chariots were coming forth from between the two mountains; and the mountains were bronze mountains.

²With the first chariot were ^ared horses, with the second chariot ^bblack horses,

³with the third chariot ^awhite horses, and with the fourth chariot ^bdappled horses—all of them mighty.

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

⁵And the angel answered and said to me, “These are the ^afour spirits of heaven, going forth after standing before the Lord of all the earth,

⁶with one of which the black horses are going forth to the ^anorth country; and the white ones go forth after them, and the dappled ones go forth to the ^bsouth country.

⁷“Now the mighty ones went out, and they sought to go to ^1apatrol the earth.” And He said, “Go, ²patrol the earth.” So they ³patrolled the earth.

⁸Then He cried out to me and spoke to me saying, “See, those who are going to the land of the north have ^acaused My Spirit to have rest in the land of the north.”

The Crown and the Temple

⁹And the ^aword of Yahweh came to me, saying,

¹⁰“^aTake an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah; and you come the same day and come into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon.

¹¹“And take silver and gold, make an ornate ^acrown, and set it on the head of ^bJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

¹²“Then you will say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is ^1aBranch, and He will ^2bbranch out from where He is; and He will ^cbuild the temple of Yahweh.

¹³“Indeed, it is He who will build the temple of Yahweh, and He who will ^abear the splendor and sit and ^brule on His throne. Thus, He will be a ^cpriest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two ¹offices.” ’

¹⁴“Now the ^acrown will become a memorial in the temple of Yahweh to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and ¹Hen the son of Zephaniah.

¹⁵“^aAnd those who are far off will come and ¹build the temple of Yahweh.” Then you will ^bknow that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. And it will happen if you utterly ^clisten to the voice of Yahweh your God.

CHAPTER 7

The People’s Hard Hearts

¹Now it happened that in the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^aChislev.

²And the town of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and ¹their men to ^2aentreat the favor of Yahweh,

³speaking to the ^apriests, who belong to the house of Yahweh of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the ^bfifth month ¹and abstain, as I have done these many years?”

⁴Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying,

⁵“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months ¹these ^aseventy years, was it actually for ^bMe that you fasted?

⁶‘And when you eat and when you drink, ¹are you not eating for yourselves and are you not drinking for yourselves?

⁷‘Are not these the words which Yahweh ^acalled out by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ^bat ease along with its cities around it, and the ^1cNegev and the ²Shephelah were inhabited?’”

⁸Then the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah saying,

⁹“Thus has Yahweh of hosts said, ‘^aJudge with true justice and show ^blovingkindness and compassion each to his brother;

¹⁰and ^ado not oppress the widow or the ¹orphan, the sojourner or the afflicted; and do ^bnot devise evil in your hearts against one another.’

¹¹“But they ^arefused to give heed and ^1bturned a stubborn shoulder and ^2cdulled their ears from hearing.

¹²“And they made their ^ahearts ^1bdiamond-hard ²so that they could not hear the law and the ^cwords which Yahweh of hosts had sent by His Spirit by the hand of the ^dformer prophets; therefore great ^ewrath came from Yahweh of hosts.

¹³“And it happened that just as ^aHe called and they would not listen, so ^bthey called and I would not listen,” says Yahweh of hosts;

¹⁴“but I ^1ascattered them with a ^bstorm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is ^cdesolated behind them ²so that ^dno one was passing through and returning, for they ^emade the pleasant land desolate.”

CHAPTER 8

Jerusalem, the City of Truth

¹Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came, saying,

²“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘¹I am ^ajealous with great jealousy for Zion, and with great wrath I am jealous for her.’

³“Thus says Yahweh, ‘I will return to Zion and will ^adwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of ^bTruth, and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’

⁴“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘^aOld men and old women will again sit in the ¹streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of ²age.

⁵‘And the ¹streets of the city will be filled with ^aboys and girls playing in its ²streets.’

⁶“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘If it is ^1atoo difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be ^2btoo difficult in My sight?’ declares Yahweh of hosts.

⁷“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land where the ^1asun rises and from the land where the ²sun sets;

⁸and I will ^abring them back, and they will ^bdwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be ^cMy people, and I will be their God in ¹truth and righteousness.’

⁹“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Let your hands be ^astrong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the ^bprophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of hosts was laid, to the end that the temple might be built.

¹⁰‘For before those days there was ^ano wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no ^1bpeace because of the adversary, and I ^cset all men one against another.

¹¹‘But now I will ^anot ¹treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares Yahweh of hosts.

¹²‘For there will be ^apeace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the heavens will give their ^bdew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit ^call these things.

¹³‘And it will be that just as you were a ^acurse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a ^bblessing. Do not fear; let your ^chands be strong.’

¹⁴“For thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Just as I ^apurposed to bring about evil to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says Yahweh of hosts, ‘and I have not ^brelented,

¹⁵so I have again purposed in these days to ^ado good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ^bDo not fear!

¹⁶‘These are the things which you should do: speak the ^atruth to one another; ^bjudge with truth and judgment for peace in your ¹gates.

¹⁷‘Also let none of you ^adevise evil in your heart against another, and do not love ^1bfalse oaths; for all these are what I ^chate,’ declares Yahweh.”

¹⁸Then the word of Yahweh of hosts came to me, saying,

¹⁹“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘The fast of the ^afourth, the fast of the ^bfifth, the fast of the ^cseventh, and the fast of the ^dtenth months will become ^ejoy, gladness, and ¹merry appointed feasts for the house of Judah; so ^flove truth and peace.’

²⁰“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘It will yet be that ^apeoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities.

²¹‘The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to ^1aentreat the favor of Yahweh and to seek Yahweh of hosts; ²I will also go.”

²²‘So ^amany peoples and mighty nations will come to seek Yahweh of hosts in Jerusalem and to ^1bentreat the favor of Yahweh.’

²³“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from every tongue of the nations will ^1atake hold of the ²garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’ ”

CHAPTER 9

Yahweh’s Oracle Against Israel’s Enemies

¹The ¹oracle of the word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach, with ^aDamascus as its resting place (for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward Yahweh),

²And ^aHamath also, which borders on it;

^bAnd Tyre and ^cSidon, ¹because ²they are ^dvery wise.

³So Tyre built herself a ^atight fortification

And ^btied up silver like dust

And ^cfine gold like the mire of the streets.

⁴Behold, the Lord will ^adispossess her

And strike her wealth down into the sea;

And she will be ^bconsumed with fire.

⁵Ashkelon will see it and be afraid.

Gaza too will writhe in great pain;

Also Ekron, for her hope has been put to shame.

Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza,

And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

⁶And those of illegitimate birth will inhabit ^aAshdod,

And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

⁷And I will remove their blood from their mouth

And their detestable things from between their teeth.

Then they also will be a remnant for our God,

And be like a ¹clan in Judah,

And Ekron like a Jebusite.

⁸But I will camp around My house ¹because of an army,

Because of ^ahim who passes by and returns;

And ^bno taskmaster will pass over them anymore,

For now I have seen with My eyes.

The Coming King of Zion

^9aRejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your ^bking is coming to you;

He is ^1crighteous and ^dendowed with salvation,

^2eLowly and mounted on a donkey,

Even on a ^3fcolt, the ⁴foal of a pack animal.

¹⁰I will ^acut off the chariot from Ephraim

And the ^bhorse from Jerusalem;

And the ^cbow of war will be cut off.

And He will speak ^dpeace to the nations;

And His ^ereign will be from sea to sea

And from the ¹River to the ends of the earth.

¹¹As for you also, because of the ^ablood of your covenant,

I have set your ^bprisoners free from the ¹waterless pit.

¹²Return to the ^1astronghold, O prisoners ²who have the ^bhope;

This very day I am declaring that I will return ^cdouble to you.

¹³For I will ^abend Judah ¹as My bow;

I will fill the bow with Ephraim.

And I will rouse up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O ^2bGreece;

And I…