Zechariah 6–9

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.’ ”

Punishment on Israel’s Enemies

9This message is the word of the Lord.

The message is against the land of Hadrach

and the city of Damascus.

The tribes of Israel and all people

belong to the Lord.

²The message is also against the city of Hamath, on the border,

and against Tyre and Sidon, with their skill.

³Tyre has built a strong wall for herself.

She has piled up silver like dust

and gold like the mud in the streets.

⁴But the Lord will take away all she has

and destroy her power on the sea.

That city will be destroyed by fire.

⁵The city of Ashkelon will see it and be afraid.

The people of Gaza will shake with fear,

and the people of Ekron will lose hope.

No king will be left in Gaza,

and no one will live in Ashkelon anymore.

⁶Foreigners will live in Ashdod,

and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.

⁷I will stop them from drinking blood

and from eating forbidden food.

Those left alive will belong to God.

They will be leaders in Judah,

and Ekron will become like the Jebusites.

⁸I will protect my Temple

from armies who would come or go.

No one will hurt my people again,

because now I am watching them.

The King Is Coming

⁹Rejoice greatly, people of Jerusalem!

Shout for joy, people of Jerusalem!

Your king is coming to you.

He does what is right, and he saves.

He is gentle and riding on a donkey,

on the colt of a donkey.

¹⁰I will take away the chariots from Ephraim

and the horses from Jerusalem.

The bows used in war will be broken.

The king will talk to the nations about peace.

His kingdom will go from sea to sea,

and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

¹¹As for you, because of the blood of the agreement with you

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

¹²You prisoners who have hope,

return to your place of safety.

Today I am telling you

that I will give you back twice as much as before.

¹³I will use Judah like a bow

and Ephraim like the arrows.

Jerusalem, I will use your men

to fight the men of Greece.

I will use you like a warrior’s sword.

¹⁴Then the Lord will appear above them,

and his arrows will shoot like lightning.

The Lord God will blow the trumpet,

and he will march in the storms of the south.

¹⁵The Lord All-Powerful will protect them;

they will destroy the enemy with slingshots.

They will drink and shout like drunks.

They will be filled like a bowl

used for sprinkling blood at the corners of the altar.

¹⁶On that day the Lord their God will save them

as if his people were sheep.

They will shine in his land

like jewels in a crown.

¹⁷They will be so pretty and beautiful.

The young men will grow strong on the grain

and the young women on new wine.