Zechariah 5–8

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.”

The People Should Show Mercy

7In the fourth year Darius was king, on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is called Kislev, the Lord spoke his word to Zechariah. ²The city of Bethel sent Sharezer, Regem-Melech, and their men to ask the Lord a question. ³They went to the prophets and priests who were at the Temple of the Lord All-Powerful. The men said, “For years in the fifth month of each year we have shown our sadness and fasted. Should we continue to do this?”

⁴The Lord All-Powerful spoke his word to me, saying, ⁵“Tell the priests and the people in the land: ‘For seventy years you fasted and cried in the fifth and seventh months, but that was not really for me. ⁶And when you ate and drank, it was really for yourselves. ⁷The Lord used the earlier prophets to say the same thing, when Jerusalem and the surrounding towns were at peace and wealthy, and people lived in the southern area and the western hills.’ ”

⁸And the Lord spoke his word to Zechariah again, saying, ⁹“This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘Do what is right and true. Be kind and merciful to each other. ¹⁰Don’t hurt widows and orphans, foreigners or the poor; don’t even think of doing evil to somebody else.’

¹¹“But they refused to pay attention; they were stubborn and did not want to listen anymore. ¹²They made their hearts as hard as rock and would not listen to the teachings of the Lord All-Powerful. And they would not hear the words he sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord All-Powerful became very angry.

¹³“ ‘When I called to them, they would not listen. So when they called to me, I would not listen,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. ¹⁴‘I scattered them like a hurricane to other countries they did not know. This good land was left so ruined behind them that no one could live there. They had made the desired land a ruin.’ ”

The Lord Will Bless Jerusalem

8The Lord All-Powerful spoke his word, saying, ²This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “I have a very strong love for Jerusalem. My strong love for her is like a fire burning in me.”

³This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Jerusalem and live in it. Then it will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord All-Powerful will be called the Holy Mountain.”

⁴This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Old men and old women will again sit along Jerusalem’s streets, each carrying a cane because of age. ⁵And the streets will be filled with boys and girls playing.”

⁶This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Those who are left alive then may think it is too difficult to happen, but it is not too difficult for me,” says the Lord All-Powerful. ⁷This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “I will save my people from countries in the east and west. ⁸I will bring them back, and they will live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their good and loyal God.”

⁹This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Work hard, you who are hearing these words today. The prophets spoke these words when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord All-Powerful, for the building of the Temple. ¹⁰Before that time there was no money to hire people or animals. People could not safely come and go because of the enemies; I had turned everyone against his neighbor. ¹¹But I will not do to these people who are left what I did in the past,” says the Lord All-Powerful.

¹²“They will plant their seeds in peace, their grapevines will have fruit, the ground will give good crops, and the sky will send rain. I will give all this to the people who are left alive. ¹³Judah and Israel, your names have been used as curses in other nations. But I will save you, and you will become a blessing. So don’t be afraid; work hard.”

¹⁴This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “When your ancestors made me angry, I planned to punish you. I did not change my mind,” says the Lord All-Powerful. ¹⁵“But now I will do something different. I am planning to do good to Jerusalem and Judah. So don’t be afraid. ¹⁶These are the things you should do: Tell each other the truth. In the courts judge with truth and complete fairness. ¹⁷Do not make plans to hurt your neighbors, and don’t love false promises. I hate all these things,” says the Lord.

¹⁸The Lord All-Powerful spoke his word to me again. ¹⁹This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “The special days when you fast in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become good, joyful, happy feasts in Judah. But you must love truth and peace.”

²⁰This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Many people from many cities will still come to Jerusalem. ²¹People from one city will go and say to those from another city, ‘We are going to pray to the Lord and to ask the Lord All-Powerful for help. Come and go with us.’ ²²Many people and powerful nations will come to worship the Lord All-Powerful in Jerusalem and to pray to the Lord for help.”

²³This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “At that time, ten men from different countries will come and take hold of a Judean by his coat. They will say to him, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’ ”