Zechariah 1

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Jehovah came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,

The Lord sent a message to Zechariah the prophet, son of Berekiah, son of Iddo, in the eighth month of the second year of king Darius' reign, saying:

2 Jehovah was greatly displeased with your fathers.

The Lord was very angry with your forefathers.

3 Therefore say thou to them, Thus says Jehovah of hosts: Return to me, says Jehovah of hosts, and I will return to you, says Jehovah of hosts.

So tell the people this: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty.

4 Be ye not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried, saying, Thus says Jehovah of hosts: Return ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings, but they did not hear, nor hearken to me, says Jehovah.

You must not be like your forefathers. They were told by previous prophets: Give up your evil ways, and the evil things you do. But they would not listen or pay any attention to me, says the Lord.

5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?

Where are your forefathers now? And the prophets, did they live forever?

6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? And they turned and said, Like as Jehovah of hosts thought to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so he has dealt with us.

But didn't all my instructions and warnings that I ordered my servants the prophets to communicate, didn't all that I said happen to your forefathers? So they repented and said, “What the Lord Almighty planned to do to us was what we deserved because of our ways and our actions. He did what he said he would.”

7 Upon the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Jehovah came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,

The Lord sent a message to Zechariah the prophet, son of Berekiah, son of Iddo, on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (the month of Shebat) of the second year of king Darius' reign:

8 I saw in the night, and, behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom. And behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white.

During the night I saw a man sitting on a red horse that stood among some myrtle trees in a narrow valley. Behind him were red, brown, and white horses with their riders.

9 Then I said, O my lord, what are these? And the agent who talked with me said to me, I will show thee what these are.

I asked him, “My lord, what are these?” The angel I was talking to replied, “I will show you.”

10 And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah has sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

The man who was there among the myrtle trees said, “These are the ones the Lord has sent out to patrol the earth.”

11 And they answered the agent of Jehovah who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sits still, and is at rest.

The riders reported to the angel of the Lord who was among the myrtle trees, “We have been patrolling the earth and saw that the whole earth has been pacified.”

12 Then the agent of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long will thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou have had indignation these seventy years?

Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will it be before you have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah which you have been angry with for the past seventy years?”

13 And Jehovah answered the agent who talked with me with good words, comforting words.

So the Lord replied to the angel I was talking to with kind and comforting words.

14 So the agent who talked with me said to me, Cry thou, saying, Thus says Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

Then the angel I was talking with told me, This is what you are to announce. The Lord Almighty says this: I am jealously protective of Jerusalem and Mount Zion,

15 And I am very greatly displeased with the nations that are at ease. For I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

and I am extremely angry with the arrogant nations who think they are secure. I was only a little angry with my people, but they made the punishment far worse.

16 Therefore thus says Jehovah: I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house shall be built in it, says Jehovah of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem.

Therefore this is what the Lord says: I have returned to be merciful to Jerusalem. My Temple shall be rebuilt there, as well as the city, declares the Lord Almighty.

17 Cry yet again, saying, Thus says Jehovah of hosts: My cities shall yet overflow with prosperity, and Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

Announce this as well, says the Lord Almighty: Prosperity will flood out of my cities. I the Lord will comfort Zion, and Jerusalem will be my chosen city.

18 And I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and, behold, four horns.

Then I looked and saw four animal horns.

19 And I said to the agent who talked with me, What are these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

“What are these?” I asked the angel I was talking to. “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem,” he replied.

20 And Jehovah showed me four smiths.

Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.

21 Then I said, What are these coming to do? And he spoke, saying, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head. But these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.

“What are these men coming to do?” I asked. The angel replied, “The four horns—these nations—scattered Judah, humbling the people so that they could not lift up their heads. These craftsmen have to come to terrify these nations, and to destroy them—those who used their power against the land of Judah, scattering the people.”