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, a word of YHWH has been to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

2 “The LORD was very angry with your fathers.

“YHWH was angry against your fathers—wrath!

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 have said to them, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Return to Me, A declaration of YHWH of Hosts, And I return to you, said 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.

You will not be as your fathers, To whom the former prophets called, Saying, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Please turn back from your evil ways and from your evil doings, And they did not listen, Nor attend to Me—a declaration of 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 all time?

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.’”

Only, My words and My statutes, That I commanded My servants the prophets, Have they not overtaken your fathers? And they turn back and say: As YHWH of Hosts designed to do to us, According to our ways, and according to our doings, So He has 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 (it [is] the month of Sebat), in the second year of Darius, a word of YHWH has been to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo the prophet. [He was] 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 have seen by night, and behold, one riding on a red horse, and he is standing between the myrtles that [are] in the shade, and behind him [are] horses, red, bay, 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 say, “What [are] these, my lord?” And the messenger who is speaking with me says to me, “I show 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 one who is standing between the myrtles answers and says, “These [are] they whom YHWH has sent to walk up and down in the land.”

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 answer the Messenger of YHWH who is standing between the myrtles, and say, “We have walked up and down in the land, and behold, all the land is sitting still, and 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 Messenger of YHWH answers and says, “YHWH of Hosts! Until when do You not pity Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, that You have abhorred these seventy years?”

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

And YHWH answers the messenger, who is speaking with me, good words, 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,

And the messenger who is speaking with me, says to me, “Call, saying, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: I have been zealous for Jerusalem, And for Zion [with] 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] great wrath I am angry against the nations who are at ease, For I was a little angry, and they assisted—for 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.’

Therefore, thus said YHWH: I have turned to Jerusalem with mercies, My house is built in it, A declaration of YHWH of Hosts, And a line is stretched 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.’”

Again call, saying, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Again My cities overflow from good, And YHWH has again comforted Zion, And He has fixed again on Jerusalem.”

18 Then I looked up and saw four horns.

And I lift up my eyes, and look, 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 say to the messenger who is speaking with me, “What [are] these?” And he says to me, “These [are] the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

20 Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

And YHWH shows me four artisans.

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 say, “What [are] these coming to do?” And He speaks, saying, “These [are] the horns that have scattered Judah, so that no one has lifted up his head, and these come to trouble them, to cast down the horns of the nations who are lifting up a horn against the land of Judah—to scatter it.”