Zechariah 1

1 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:

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD to Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

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

The LORD hath been greatly displeased with your fathers.

3 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.

Therefore say thou to them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye to me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn to you, saith the LORD of hosts.

4 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.

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

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

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

6 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.

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, As the LORD of hosts thought to do to 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, 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:

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 the LORD to Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

8 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.

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 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.”

Then said I, O my LORD, what [are these]? And the angel that talked with me said to me, I will show thee what these [are].

10 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.”

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 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.”

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 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.”

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

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

And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me [with] good words [and] comforting words.

14 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.

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

15 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.

And I am very greatly displeased with the heathen [that are] at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

16 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.

Therefore thus saith the LORD; I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

17 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.

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

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

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

19 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.”

And I said to the angel that talked with me, What [are] these? And he answered me, These [are] the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

20 And the Lord showed me four workmen.

And the LORD showed me four carpenters.

21 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.”

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