Zechariah 6–9

Vision of the Four Chariots

6Then 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. ²With the first chariot were ^ared horses, with the second chariot ^bblack horses, ³with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot dappled horses—strong steeds. ⁴Then I answered ^cand said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵And 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. ⁶¹The 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.” ⁷Then 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. ⁸And 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.”

The Command to Crown Joshua

⁹Then 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. ¹¹Take the silver and gold, make ⁱan ²elaborate crown, and set it on the head of ^jJoshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹²Then 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;

¹³Yes, 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. ¹⁵Even ^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.”

Obedience Better Than Fasting

7Now 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, ²when ¹the people sent ²Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to ³the house of God, ⁴to pray before the Lord, ³and 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?”

⁴Then 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? ^6gWhen you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? ⁷Should 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

⁸Then 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.

^10kDo not oppress the widow or the fatherless,

The alien or the poor.

^lLet none of you plan evil in his heart

Against his brother.’

¹¹But they refused to heed, ^mshrugged ⁸their shoulders, and ⁿstopped ⁹their ears so that they could not hear. ¹²Yes, 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. ¹³Therefore 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

8Again 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.’

³“Thus says the Lord:

^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.

⁵The streets of the city

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 hosts.

⁷“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘Behold, ^jI will save My people from the land of the ⁶east

And from the land of the ⁷west;

⁸I will ^kbring them back,

And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.

^lThey shall be My people

And I will be their God,

^mIn truth and righteousness.’

⁹“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

ⁿ‘Let your hands be strong,

You who have been hearing in these days

These words by the mouth of ^othe prophets,

Who spoke in ^pthe day the foundation was laid

For the house of the Lord of hosts,

That the temple might be built.

¹⁰For before these days

There were no ^qwages for man nor any hire for beast;

There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in;

For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.

^11rBut now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ says the Lord of hosts.

¹²‘For ^sthe ⁸seed shall be prosperous,

The vine shall give its fruit,

^tThe ground shall give her increase,

And ^uthe heavens shall give their dew—

I will cause the remnant of this people

To possess all these.

¹³And it shall come to pass

That just as you were ^va curse among the nations,

O house of Judah and house of Israel,

So I will save you, and ^wyou shall be a blessing.

Do not fear,

Let your hands be strong.’

¹⁴“For thus says the Lord of hosts:

^x‘Just as I determined to ⁹punish you

When your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’

Says the Lord of hosts,

^y‘And I would not relent,

¹⁵So again in these days

I am determined to do good

To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

Do not fear.

¹⁶These are the things you shall ^zdo:

^aSpeak each man the truth to his neighbor;

Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;

^17bLet none of you think evil in ¹your heart against your neighbor;

And do not love a false oath.

For all these are things that I hate,’

Says the Lord.”

¹⁸Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^c‘The fast of the fourth month,

^dThe fast of the fifth,

^eThe fast of the seventh,

^fAnd the fast of the tenth,

Shall be ^gjoy and gladness and cheerful feasts

For the house of Judah.

^hTherefore love truth and peace.’

²⁰“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘Peoples shall yet come,

Inhabitants of many cities;

²¹The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,

ⁱ“Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord,

And seek the Lord of hosts.

I myself will go also.”

²²Yes, ^jmany peoples and strong nations

Shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem,

And to pray before the Lord.’

²³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘In those days ten men ^kfrom every language of the nations shall ^lgrasp the ²sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard ^mthat God is with you.” ’ ”

Israel Defended Against Enemies

9The ¹burden of the word of the Lord—

Against the land of Hadrach,

And ^aDamascus its resting place

(For ^bthe eyes of men

And all the tribes of Israel

Are on the Lord);

²Also against ^cHamath, which borders on it,

And against ^dTyre and ^eSidon, though they are very ^fwise.

³For Tyre built herself a tower,

Heaped up silver like the dust,

And gold like the mire of the streets.

⁴Behold, ^gthe Lord will cast her out;

He will destroy ^hher power in the sea,

And she will be devoured by fire.

⁵Ashkelon shall see it and fear;

Gaza also shall be very sorrowful;

And ⁱEkron, for He dried up her expectation.

The king shall perish from Gaza,

And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.

⁶“A ²mixed race shall settle ^jin Ashdod,

And I will cut off the pride of the ^kPhilistines.

⁷I will take away the blood from his mouth,

And the abominations from between his teeth.

But he who remains, even he shall be for our God,

And shall be like a leader in Judah,

And Ekron like a Jebusite.

^8lI will camp around My house

Because of the army,

Because of him who passes by and him who returns.

No more shall an oppressor pass through them,

For now I have seen with My eyes.

The Coming King

⁹“Rejoice ^mgreatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, ⁿyour King is coming to you;

He is just and having salvation,

Lowly and riding on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.

¹⁰I ^owill cut off the chariot from Ephraim

And the horse from Jerusalem;

The ^pbattle bow shall be cut off.

He shall speak peace to the nations;

His dominion shall be ^q‘from sea to sea,

And from the River to the ends of the earth.’

God Will Save His People

¹¹“As for you also,

Because of the blood of your covenant,

I will set your ^rprisoners free from the waterless pit.

¹²Return to the stronghold,

^sYou prisoners of hope.

Even today I declare

That I will restore ^tdouble to you.

¹³For I have bent Judah, My bow,

Fitted the bow with Ephraim,

And raised up your sons, O Zion,

Against your sons, O Greece,

And made you like the sword of a mighty man.”

¹⁴Then the Lord will be seen over them,

And ^uHis arrow will go forth like lightning.

The Lord God will blow the trumpet,

And go ^vwith whirlwinds from the south.

¹⁵The Lord of hosts will ^wdefend them;

They shall devour and subdue with slingstones.

They shall drink and roar as if with wine;

They shall be filled with blood like ³basins,

Like the corners of the altar.

¹⁶The Lord their…