Zechariah 1

1 In the eighth month, 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,

IN THE eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:

2 The Lord has been very angry with your fathers:

'The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.

3 And you are to say to them, These are the words of the Lord of armies: Come back to me, says the Lord of armies, and I will come back to you.

Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Return unto Me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.

4 Be not like your fathers, to whom the voice of the earlier prophets came, saying, Be turned now from your evil ways and from your evil doings: but they did not give ear to me or take note, says the Lord.

Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Return ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings; but they did not hear, nor attend unto Me, saith the LORD.

5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they go on living for ever?

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

6 But my words and my orders, which I gave to my servants the prophets, have they not overtaken your fathers? and turning back they said, As it was the purpose of the Lord of armies to do to us, in reward for our ways and our doings, so has he done.

But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? so that they turned and said: Like as the LORD of hosts purposed 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 Shebat, 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,

Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying —

8 I saw in the night a man on a red horse, between the mountains in the valley, and at his back were horses, red, black, white, and of mixed colours.

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.

9 Then I said, O my lord, what are these? And the angel who was talking to me said to me, I will make clear to you what they are.

Then said I: 'O my lord, what are these?' And the angel that spoke with me said unto me: 'I will show thee what these are.'

10 And the man who was between the mountains, answering me, said, These are those whom the Lord has sent to go up and down through the earth.

And the man that stood among the myrtle-trees answered and said: 'These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.'

11 And the man who was between the mountains, answering, said to the angel of the Lord, We have gone up and down through the earth, and all the earth is quiet and at rest.

And they answered the angel of the LORD 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, answering, said, O Lord of armies, how long will it be before you have mercy on Jerusalem and on the towns of Judah against which your wrath has been burning for seventy years?

Then the angel of the LORD spoke and said: 'O LORD of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have compassion on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?

13 And the Lord gave an answer in good and comforting words to the angel who was talking to me.

And the LORD answered the angel that spoke with me with good words, even comforting words —

14 And the angel who was talking to me said to me, Let your voice be loud and say, These are the words of the Lord of armies: I am greatly moved about the fate of Jerusalem and of Zion.

so the angel that spoke with me said unto me: 'Proclaim thou, saying: Thus saith the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy;

15 And I am very angry with the nations who are living untroubled: for when I was only a little angry, they made the evil worse.

and I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped for evil.

16 So this is what the Lord has said: I have come back to Jerusalem with mercies; my house is to be put up in her, says the Lord of armies, and a line is to be stretched out over Jerusalem.

Therefore thus saith the LORD: I return to Jerusalem with compassions: My house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem.

17 And again let your voice be loud and say, This is what the Lord of armies has said: My towns will again be overflowing with good things, and again the Lord will give comfort to Zion and take Jerusalem for himself.

Again, proclaim, saying: Thus saith the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.'

18 And lifting up my eyes I saw four horns.

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

19 And I said to the angel who was talking to me, What are these? And he said to me, These are the horns which have sent Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem in flight.

And I said unto the angel that spoke with me: 'What are these?' And he said unto me: 'These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.'

20 And the Lord gave me a vision of four metal-workers.

And the LORD showed me four craftsmen.

21 Then I said, What have these come to do? And he said, These are the horns which sent Judah in flight, and kept him from lifting up his head: but these men have come to send fear on them and to put down the nations who are lifting up their horns against the land of Judah to send it in flight.

Then said I: 'What come these to do?' And he spoke, saying: 'These — the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head — these then are come to frighten them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.'