Zechariah 1:1–17

A Call to Return to the Lord

1In the eighth month of the second year of Darius,^a the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah^b son of Berekiah,^c the son of Iddo:^d

²“The Lord was very angry^e with your ancestors. ³Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return^f to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’^g says the Lord Almighty. ⁴Do not be like your ancestors,^h to whom the earlier prophetsⁱ proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways^j and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me,^k declares the Lord.^{l 5}Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? ⁶But did not my words^m and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?ⁿ

“Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve,^o just as he determined to do.’ ”^p

The Man Among the Myrtle Trees

⁷On 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

⁸During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red^r horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.^s

⁹I asked, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel^t who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”^u

¹⁰Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”^v

¹¹And they reported to the angel of the Lord^w who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”^x

¹²Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long^y will you withhold mercy^z from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah,^a which you have been angry with these seventy^b years?” ¹³So the Lord spoke^c kind and comforting words^d to the angel who talked with me.^e

¹⁴Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous^f for Jerusalem and Zion, ¹⁵and 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 return^j to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line^k 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 comfort^m Zion and chooseⁿ Jerusalem.’ ”^o