Zechariah 4–6

¹And the messenger who is speaking with me doth turn back, and stir me up as one who is stirred up out of his sleep, ²and he saith unto me, ‘What art thou seeing?’ And I say, ‘I have looked, and lo, a candlestick of gold—all of it, and its bowl is on its top, and its seven lamps are upon it, and twice seven pipes are to the lights that are on its top, ³and two olive-trees are by it, one on the right of the bowl, and one on its left.’ ⁴And I answer and speak unto the messenger who is speaking with me, saying, ‘What are these, my lord?’ ⁵And the messenger who is speaking with me answereth and saith unto me, ‘Hast thou not known what these are?’ And I say, ‘No, my lord.’ ⁶And he answereth and speaketh unto me, saying: ‘This is a word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying: Not by a force, nor by power, But—by My Spirit, said Jehovah of Hosts. ⁷Who art thou, O great mountain Before Zerubbabel—for a plain! And he hath brought forth the top-stone, Cries of Grace, grace—are to it.’ ⁸And there is a word of Jehovah to me, saying, ⁹Hands of Zerubbabel did found this house, And his hands do finish it, And thou hast known that Jehovah of Hosts Hath sent me unto you. ¹⁰For who trampled on the day of small things, They have rejoiced, And seen the tin weight in the hand of Zerubbabel, These seven are the eyes of Jehovah, They are going to and fro in all the land.’

¹¹And I answer and say unto him, ‘What are these two olive-trees, on the right of the candlestick, and on its left?’ ¹²And I answer a second time, and say unto him, ‘What are the two branches of the olive trees that, by means of the two golden pipes, are emptying out of themselves the oil?’ ¹³And he speaketh unto me, saying, ‘Hast thou not known what these are?’ And I say, ‘No, my lord.’ ¹⁴And he saith, ‘These are the two sons of the oil, who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.’

Chapter 5

¹And I turn back, and lift up mine eyes, and look, and lo, a flying roll. ²And he saith unto me, ‘What art thou seeing?’ And I say, ‘I am seeing a flying roll, its length twenty by the cubit, and its breadth ten by the cubit.’ ³And he saith unto me, ‘This is the execration that is going forth over the face of all the land, for every one who is stealing, on the one side, according to it, hath been declared innocent, and every one who hath sworn, on the other side, according to it, hath been declared innocent.

⁴‘I have brought it out—an affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts—and it hath come in unto the house of the thief, and unto the house of him who hath sworn in My name to a falsehood, and it hath remained in the midst of his house, and hath consumed it, both its wood and its stones.’

⁵And the messenger who is speaking with me goeth forth, and saith unto me, ‘Lift up, I pray thee, thine eyes, and see what is this that is coming forth?’ ⁶And I say, ‘What is it?’ And he saith, ‘This—the ephah that is coming forth.’ And he saith, ‘This is their aspect in all the land. ⁷And lo, a cake of lead lifted up; and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah.’ ⁸And he saith, ‘This is the wicked woman.’ And he casteth her unto the midst of the ephah, and casteth the weight of lead on its mouth. ⁹And I lift up mine eyes, and see, and lo, two women are coming forth, and wind in their wings; and they have wings like wings of the stork, and they lift up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. ¹⁰And I say unto the messenger who is speaking with me, ‘Whither are they causing the ephah to go?’ ¹¹And he saith unto me, ‘To build to it a house in the land of Shinar.’ And it hath been prepared and hath been placed there on its base.

Chapter 6

¹And I turn back, and lift up mine eyes, and look, and lo, four chariots are coming forth from between two of the mountains, and the mountains are mountains of brass. ²In the first chariot are red horses, and in the second chariot brown horses, ³and in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot strong grisled horses. ⁴And I answer and say unto the messenger who is speaking with me, ‘What are these, my lord?’ ⁵And the messenger answereth and saith unto me, ‘These are four spirits of the heavens coming forth from presenting themselves before the Lord of the whole earth. ⁶The brown horses that are therein, are coming forth unto the land of the north; and the white have come forth unto their hinder part; and the grisled have come forth unto the land of the south; ⁷and the strong ones have come forth, and they seek to go to walk up and down in the earth;’ and he saith, ‘Go, walk up and down in the earth;’ and they walk up and down in the earth. ⁸And he calleth me, and speaketh unto me, saying, ‘See, those coming forth unto the land of the north have caused My Spirit to rest in the land of the north.’

⁹And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, ¹⁰to take of the captivity (who came from Babylon) from Heldai, from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah, ‘and thou hast come in—thou, in that day, yea, thou hast come into the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah, ¹¹and thou hast taken silver and gold, and hast made a crown, and hast placed on the head of Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest, ¹²and hast spoken unto him, saying: Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: Lo, a man! A Shoot—is his name, And from his place he doth shoot up, And he hath built the temple of Jehovah. ¹³Yea, he doth build the temple of Jehovah, And he doth bear away honour, And he hath sat and ruled on His throne, And hath been a priest on His throne, And a counsel of peace is between both. ¹⁴And the crown is to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. ¹⁵And the far-off come in, and they have built in the temple of Jehovah, and ye have known that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me unto you, yea, it hath come to pass, if ye do certainly hearken to the voice of Jehovah your God.’

Chapter 7