Zechariah 1:1–2:13
1 In the eighth month aof the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came bto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of cIddo the prophet, saying, 2 “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return dto Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. 4 “Do not be like your fathers, eto whom the former prophets preached, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: f“Turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not hear nor heed Me,” says the Lord.
5 “Your fathers, where are they?
And the prophets, do they live forever?
6 Yet surely gMy words and My statutes,
Which I commanded My servants the prophets,
Did they not overtake your fathers?
“So they returned and said:
h‘Just as the Lord of hosts determined to do to us,
According to our ways and according to our deeds,
So He has dealt with us.’ ” ’ ”
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet: 8 I saw by night, and behold, ia man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were jhorses: red, sorrel, and white. 9 Then I said, k“My lord, what are these?” So the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.”
10 And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, l“These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.”
11 mSo they answered the Angel of the Lord, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is 1resting quietly.”
12 Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, nhow long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry othese seventy years?”
13 And the Lord answered the angel who talked to me, with pgood and comforting words. 14 So the angel who spoke with me said to me, 2“Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:
And for Zion with great 4zeal.
15 I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease;
For rI was a little angry,
And they helped—but with evil intent.”
16 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord:
s“I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy;
My thouse ushall be built in it,” says the Lord of hosts,
“And va surveyor’s line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.” ’
17 “Again proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“My cities shall again 5spread out through prosperity;
wThe Lord will again comfort Zion,
And xwill again choose Jerusalem.” ’ ”
18 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four yhorns. 19 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?”
So he answered me, z“These are the 6horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, “What are these coming to do?”
So he said, “These are the ahorns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but 7the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that blifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”
2 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, aa man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 So I said, “Where are you going?”
And he said to me, b“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”
3 And there was the angel who talked with me, going out; and another angel was coming out to meet him, 4 who said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying: c‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it. 5 For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be da wall of fire all around her, eand I will be the glory in her midst.’ ”
Future Joy of Zion and Many Nations
6 “Up, up! Flee ffrom the land of the north,” says the Lord; “for I have gspread you abroad like the four winds of heaven,” says the Lord. 7 “Up, Zion! hEscape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.”
8 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who itouches you touches the 1apple of His eye. 9 For surely I will jshake My hand against them, and they shall become 2spoil for their servants. Then kyou will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me.
10 l“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I mwill dwell in your midst,” says the Lord. 11 n“Many nations shall be joined to the Lord oin that day, and they shall become pMy people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then qyou will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. 12 And the Lord will rtake possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 sBe silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused tfrom His holy habitation!”