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 Darius, came the word of YHWH unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

2 “The LORD was very angry with your fathers.

YHWH hath been sore displeased with 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.’

Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith YHWH of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith YHWH of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith YHWH 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.

Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith YHWH of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith YHWH.

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

Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?

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 my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as YHWH of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with 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.

Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of YHWH unto 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 upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, 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.”

Then said I, O my master, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.

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 YHWH hath sent to walk to and fro 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 they answered the angel of YHWH that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, 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?”

Then the angel of YHWH answered and said, O YHWH of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?

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

And YHWH answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable 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,

So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith YHWH of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

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 very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

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 thus saith YHWH; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith YHWH of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon 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.’”

Cry yet, saying, Thus saith YHWH of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and YHWH shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

18 Then I looked up and saw four horns.

Then lifted I up mine eyes, and 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 unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

And YHWH shewed me four carpenters.

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.”

Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.