Zechariah 3:1–11:17
3 Then he showed me aJoshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and bSatan 1standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, c“The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who dhas chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! eIs this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
3 Now Joshua was clothed with ffilthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.
4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, gand I will clothe you with rich robes.”
5 And I said, “Let them put a clean hturban on his head.”
So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.
6 Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘If you will walk in My ways,
And if you will ikeep My command,
Then you shall also jjudge My house,
And likewise have charge of My courts;
I will give you places to walk
Among these who kstand here.
8 ‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest,
You and your companions who sit before you,
For they are la 2wondrous sign;
For behold, I am bringing forth mMy Servant the nBRANCH.
That I have laid before Joshua:
oUpon the stone are pseven eyes.
Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’
Says the Lord of hosts,
‘And qI will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 rIn that day,’ says the Lord of hosts,
‘Everyone will invite his neighbor
sUnder his vine and under his fig tree.’ ”
Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees
4 Now athe angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, bas a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
So I said, “I am looking, and there is ca lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, dand on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. 3 eTwo olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” 4 So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?”
And I said, “No, my lord.”
6 So he answered and said to me:
“This is the word of the Lord to fZerubbabel:
g‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the Lord of hosts.
7 ‘Who are you, hO great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth ithe capstone
jWith shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”
8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
kHave laid the foundation of this 1temple;
His hands lshall also finish it.
Then myou will know
That the nLord of hosts has sent Me to you.
10 For who has despised the day of osmall things?
For these seven rejoice to see
The 2plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
pThey are the eyes of the Lord,
Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
11 Then I answered and said to him, “What are these qtwo olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” 12 And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip 3into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?”
13 Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?”
And I said, “No, my lord.”
14 So he said, r“These are the two 4anointed ones, swho stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”
5 Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying ascroll.
2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
So I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.”
3 Then he said to me, “This is the bcurse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.”
4 “I will send out the curse,” says the Lord of hosts;
“It shall enter the house of the cthief
And the house of dthe one who swears falsely by My name.
It shall remain in the midst of his house
And consume eit, with its timber and stones.”
Vision of the Woman in a Basket
5 Then the angel who talked with me came out and said to me, “Lift your eyes now, and see what this is that goes forth.”
6 So I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “It is a 1basket that is going forth.”
He also said, “This is their resemblance throughout the earth: 7 Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket”; 8 then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead 2cover over its mouth. 9 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a fstork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.
10 So I said to the gangel who talked with me, “Where are they carrying the basket?”
11 And he said to me, “To hbuild a house for it in ithe land of 3Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base.”
6 Then I turned and raised my eyes and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2 With the first chariot were ared horses, with the second chariot bblack horses, 3 with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot dappled horses—strong steeds. 4 Then I answered cand said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 And the angel answered and said to me, d“These are four spirits of heaven, who go out from their estation before the Lord of all the earth. 6 1The one with the black horses is going to fthe north country, the white are going after them, and the dappled are going toward the south country.” 7 Then the strong steeds went out, eager to go, that they might gwalk to and fro throughout the earth. And He said, “Go, walk to and fro throughout the earth.” So they walked to and fro throughout the earth. 8 And He called to me, and spoke to me, saying, “See, those who go toward the north country have given rest to My hSpirit in the north country.”
9 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 10 “Receive the gift from the captives—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon—and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold, make ian 2elaborate crown, and set it on the head of jJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying:
“Behold, kthe Man whose name is the lBRANCH!
From His place He shall 3branch out,
mAnd He shall build the temple of the Lord;
13 Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord.
He nshall bear the glory,
And shall sit and rule on His throne;
So oHe shall be a priest on His throne,
And the counsel of peace shall be between 4them both.” ’
14 “Now the 5elaborate crown shall be pfor a memorial in the temple of the Lord 6for Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah. 15 Even qthose from afar shall come and build the temple of the Lord. Then you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. And this shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
7 Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, 2 when 1the people sent 2Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to 3the house of God, 4to pray before the Lord, 3 and to aask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in bthe fifth month and 5fast as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: ‘When you cfasted and mourned in the fifth dand seventh months eduring those seventy years, did you really fast ffor Me—for Me? 6 gWhen you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7 Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the hformer prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and ithe 6South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ”
Disobedience Resulted in Captivity
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
j‘Execute true justice,
Show 7mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
10 kDo not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
lLet none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother.’
11 But they refused to heed, mshrugged 8their shoulders, and nstopped 9their ears so that they could not hear. 12 Yes, they made their ohearts like flint, prefusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. qThus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so rthey called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. 14 “But sI scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”
Jerusalem, Holy City of the Future
8 Again the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
a‘I am 1zealous for Zion with great 2zeal;
With great 3fervor I am zealous for her.’
b‘I will return to Zion,
And cdwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem dshall be called the City of Truth,
eThe Mountain of the Lord of hosts,
fThe Holy Mountain.’
4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
g‘Old men and old women shall again sit
In the streets of Jerusalem,
Each one with his staff in his hand
Because of 4great age.
Shall be hfull of boys and girls
Playing in its streets.’
6 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘If it is 5marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days,
iWill it also be marvelous in My eyes?’
Says the Lord of …