Zechariah 1:7–17

Patrol of the Earth

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

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 the Lord has sent to ^1apatrol the earth.”

¹¹So they answered the angel of the Lord who was ^astanding among the myrtle trees and said, “We have ¹patrolled the earth, and behold, ^ball the earth is ²peaceful and quiet.”

¹²Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord 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?”

¹³The Lord answered the ^aangel who was speaking with me with ¹gracious words, ^bcomforting words.

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

¹⁵“But I am very ^aangry with the nations who are ^bat ease; for while I was only a little angry, they ^1cfurthered the disaster.”

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

¹⁷“Again, proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “My ^acities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again ^bcomfort Zion and again ^cchoose Jerusalem.” ’ ”