Zechariah 1

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

In the eighth month, in the second year of king Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:

2 “The LORD was very angry with your fathers.

The Lord has become angry over the resentful anger of your fathers.

3 So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’

And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the Lord of hosts.

4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.

Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn from your evil ways and from your wicked thoughts. But they did not heed, and neither did they pay attention to me, says the Lord.

5 Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?

Your fathers, where are they? And will the prophets live unceasingly?

6 But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”

Yet truly my words and my lawfulness, which I entrusted to my servants the prophets, were indeed comprehended by your fathers, and so they were converted, and they said: Just as the Lord of hosts decided to do to us, according to our ways and according to our inventions, so has he done to us.

7 On 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 Berechiah, the son of Iddo.

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is called Shevat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:

8 I looked out into the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the hollow, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.

I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees, which were in the chasm. And behind him were horses: red, speckled, and white.

9 “What are these, my lord?” I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are.”

And I said, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel, who was speaking with me, said to me, “I will reveal to you what these are.”

10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.”

And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are they, whom the Lord has sent in order to walk through the earth.”

11 And the riders answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and tranquil.”

And those who stood among the myrtle trees answered the angel of the Lord, and they said, “We have walked through the earth, and behold, all the earth is inhabited and is at rest.”

12 Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”

And the angel of the Lord answered and said, “Lord of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry? This is now the seventieth year.”

13 So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.

And the Lord answered the angel, who had been speaking with me, good words, consoling words.

14 Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,

And the angel, who was speaking with me, said to me: Cry out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have been zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great zeal.

15 but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’

And, with a great anger, I am angry with the wealthy nations. Though I had been angry a little, truly they advanced further in evil.

16 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’

Because of this, thus says the Lord: I will be turned back, towards Jerusalem, with mercies; and my house will be built upon this, says the Lord of hosts. And the building line will be extended over Jerusalem.

17 Proclaim further that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”

Until then, cry out saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Until then, my cities will flow with good things, and, until then, the Lord will comfort Zion, and, until then, he will single out Jerusalem.

18 Then I looked up and saw four horns.

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

19 So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he told me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

And I said to the angel, who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have winnowed Judah and Israel and Jerusalem.”

20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

And the Lord showed me four workmen.

21 “What are these coming to do?” I asked. And He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head; but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations that have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

And I said, “What have these come to do?” He spoke, saying, “These are the horns that have winnowed Judah, through every single man, and none of them lifted up his head. And these have come to frighten them away, so as to cast down the horns of the Gentiles, which have lifted up a horn over the land of Judah, so as to scatter it.”