Zechariah 4–6

The Vision of the Lampstand

4Then the angel who was talking with me returned and woke me up as if I had been asleep. ²He asked me, “What do you see?”

I said, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top. And there are seven lamps and also seven places for wicks. ³There are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on the left.”

⁴I asked the angel who talked with me, “Sir, what are these?”

⁵The angel said, “Don’t you know what they are?”

“No, sir,” I said.

⁶Then he told me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘You will not succeed by your own strength or by your own power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord All-Powerful.

⁷“Who are you, big mountain? In front of Zerubbabel you will become flat land, and he will bring out the topmost stone, shouting, ‘It’s beautiful! It’s beautiful!’ ”

⁸Then the Lord spoke his word to me again, saying, ⁹“Zerubbabel has laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord All-Powerful has sent me to you.

¹⁰“The people should not think that small beginnings are unimportant. They will be happy when they see Zerubbabel with tools, building the Temple.

“(These are the seven eyes of the Lord, which look back and forth across the earth.)”

¹¹Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?”

¹²I also asked him, “What are the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes, from which the olive oil flows to the lamps?”

¹³He answered, “Don’t you know what they are?”

“No, sir,” I said.

¹⁴So he said, “They are symbols of the two who have been appointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”

The Vision of the Flying Scroll

5I looked up again and saw a flying scroll.

²The angel asked me, “What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.”

³And he said to me, “This is the curse that will go all over the land. One side says every thief will be taken away. The other side says everyone who makes false promises will be taken away. ⁴The Lord All-Powerful says, ‘I will send it to the houses of thieves and to those who use my name to make false promises. The scroll will stay in that person’s house and destroy it with its wood and stones.’ ”

The Vision of the Woman

⁵Then the angel who was talking with me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is going out.”

⁶“What is it?” I asked.

He answered, “It is a measuring basket going out.” He also said, “It is a symbol of the people’s sins in all the land.”

⁷Then the lid made of lead was raised, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket. ⁸The angel said, “The woman stands for wickedness.” Then he pushed her back into the basket and put the lid back down.

⁹Then I looked up and saw two women going out with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and the sky.

¹⁰I asked the angel who was talking with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”

¹¹“They are going to Babylonia to build a temple for it,” he answered. “When the temple is ready, they will set the basket there in its place.”

The Vision of the Four Chariots

6I looked up again and saw four chariots going out between two mountains, mountains of bronze. ²Red horses pulled the first chariot. Black horses pulled the second chariot. ³White horses pulled the third chariot, and strong, spotted horses pulled the fourth chariot. ⁴I asked the angel who was talking with me, “What are these, sir?”

⁵He said, “These are the four spirits of heaven. They have just come from the presence of the Lord of the whole world. ⁶The chariot pulled by the black horses will go to the land of the north. The white horses will go to the land of the west, and the spotted horses will go to the land of the south.”

⁷When the powerful horses went out, they were eager to go through all the earth. So he said, “Go through all the earth,” and they did.

⁸Then he called to me, “Look, the horses that went north have caused my spirit to rest in the land of the north.”

A Crown for Joshua

⁹The Lord spoke his word to me, saying, ¹⁰“Take silver and gold from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who were captives in Babylon. Go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah, who came from Babylon. ¹¹Make the silver and gold into a crown, and put it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹²Tell him this is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘A man whose name is the Branch will branch out from where he is, and he will build the Temple of the Lord. ¹³One man ⁿ will build the Temple of the Lord, and the other ⁿ will receive honor. One man will sit on his throne and rule, and the other will be a priest on his throne. And these two men will work together in peace.’ ¹⁴The crown will be kept in the Temple of the Lord to remind Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah son of Zephaniah. ¹⁵People living far away will come and build the Temple of the Lord. Then you will know the Lord All-Powerful has sent me to you. This will happen if you completely obey the Lord your God.”