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:

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 “The LORD was very angry with your fathers.

The Lord was very angry with your forefathers.

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.’

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

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.

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

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

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.’”

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 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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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 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?”

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

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

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 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 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 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.’

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 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.’”

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 Then I looked up and saw four horns.

Then I looked and saw four animal 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.”

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

20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.

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.”

“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.”