Zechariah 1:7–6:15
The Man Among the Myrtle Trees
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.q
8 During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a redr horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.s
9 I asked, “What are these, my lord?”
The angelt who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”u
10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”v
11 And they reported to the angel of the Lordw who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”x
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how longy will you withhold mercyz from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah,a which you have been angry with these seventyb years?” 13 So the Lord spokec kind and comforting wordsd to the angel who talked with me.e
14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealousf for Jerusalem and Zion, 15 and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure.g I was only a little angry,h but they went too far with the punishment.’i
16 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will returnj to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring linek will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.l
17 “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfortm Zion and choosen Jerusalem.’ ”o
18 Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns. 19 I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?”
He answered me, “These are the hornsp that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 I asked, “What are these coming to do?”
He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their hornsq against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”a r
2 a Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 I asked, “Where are you going?”
He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”s
3 While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him 4 and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without wallst because of the great numberu of people and animals in it.v 5 And I myself will be a wallw of firex around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its gloryy within.’z
6 “Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have scattereda you to the four winds of heaven,”b declares the Lord.c
7 “Come, Zion! Escape,d you who live in Daughter Babylon!”e 8 For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eyef—9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them.b g Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.h
10 “Shouti and be glad, Daughter Zion.j For I am coming,k and I will live among you,”l declares the Lord.m 11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people.n I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.o 12 The Lord will inheritp Judahq as his portion in the holy land and will again chooser Jerusalem. 13 Be stills before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.t”
Clean Garments for the High Priest
3 Then he showed me Joshuaa u the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satanb v standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you,w Satan! The Lord, who has chosenx Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning sticky snatched from the fire?”z
3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin,a and I will put fine garmentsb on you.”
5 Then I said, “Put a clean turbanc on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.
6 The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: 7 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements,d then you will govern my housee and have chargef of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.g
8 “ ‘Listen, High Priesth Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolici of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.j 9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua!k There are seven eyesc l on that one stone,m and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sinn of this land in a single day.
10 “ ‘In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sito under your vine and fig tree,p’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
The Gold Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees
4 Then the angel who talked with me returned and wokeq me up, like someone awakened from sleep.r 2 He asked me, “What do you see?”s
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstandt with a bowl at the top and seven lampsu on it, with seven channels to the lamps. 3 Also there are two olive treesv by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.w
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:x ‘Noty by might nor by power,z but by my Spirit,’a says the Lord Almighty.
7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground.b Then he will bring out the capstonec to shoutsd of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundatione of this temple; his hands will also complete it.f Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent meg to you.
10 “Who dares despise the dayh of small things,i since the seven eyesj of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstonea in the hand of Zerubbabel?”k
11 Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive treesl on the right and the left of the lampstand?”
12 Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”
13 He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I said.
14 So he said, “These are the two who are anointedm tob serve the Lord of all the earth.”
5 I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.n
2 He asked me, “What do you see?”o
I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.a”
3 And he said to me, “This is the cursep that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thiefq will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falselyr will be banished. 4 The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falselys by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.t’ ”
5 Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”
He replied, “It is a basket.u” And he added, “This is the iniquityb of the people throughout the land.”
7 Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! 8 He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.v
9 Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork,w and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.
11 He replied, “To the country of Babyloniac x to build a housey for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”z
6 I looked up again, and there before me were four chariotsa coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, the second black,b 3 the third white,c and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. 4 I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 The angel answered me, “These are the four spiritsa d of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.e 6 The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west,b and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”
7 When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth.f And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.
8 Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spiritc restg in the land of the north.”h
9 The word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon.i Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown,j and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshuak son of Jozadak.d l 12 Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch,m and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.n 13 It is he who will build