Zechariah 1

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of king Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zacharias the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the prophet, saying:

In the eighth month in the second year of Darius, this message of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo:

2 The Lord hath been exceeding angry with your fathers.

The Lord was furious with your ancestors.

3 And thou shalt say 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.

So tell the people this message of the Lord of hosts: ‘Return to me,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will return to you’ says the Lord of hosts.

4 Be not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets have cried, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Turn ye from your evil ways, and from your wicked thoughts: but they did not give ear, neither did they hearken to me, saith the Lord.

‘Do not be like your ancestors to whom the former prophets cried, “The Lord of hosts says to turn now from your evil ways, and from your evil deeds”. They did not heed nor listen to me,’ says the Lord.

5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, shall they live always?

‘Your ancestors, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?

6 But yet my words, and my ordinances, which I gave in charge to 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 devices, so he hath done to us.

But did not my words and my statutes with which I charged my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors? And they repented and said, “Just as the Lord of hosts planned to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our deeds, so he has dealt with us.”’

7 In the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month which is called Sabath, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zacharias the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the prophet, saying:

In the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, this message of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo:

8 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 horses, red, speckled, and white.

I saw in the night a man on a red horse, among the myrtle trees that were in the valley-bottom. Behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white.

9 And I said: What are these, my Lord? and the angel that spoke in me, said to me: I will shew thee what these are:

Then said I, ‘My Lord, what are these?’ And the messenger who was talking with me said, ‘I will show you what they are.’

10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered, and said: These are they, whom the Lord hath sent to walk through the earth.

And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘They are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.’

11 And they answered the angel of the Lord, that stood among the myrtle trees, and said: We have walked through the earth, and behold all the earth is inhabited, and is at rest.

And the riders answered the messenger of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, ‘We have gone up and down through the world and behold, all the earth is still and at peace.’

12 And 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 Juda, with which thou hast been angry? this is now the seventieth year.

Then the messenger of the Lord said, ‘Lord of hosts, how long will you have no pity for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which you have been angry for seventy years?’

13 And the Lord answered the angel, that spoke in me, good words, comfortable words.

And the Lord answered the messenger who was talking with me with kind and comforting words.

14 And the angel that spoke in me, said to me: Cry thou, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am zealous for Jerusalem, and Sion with a great zeal.

So the messenger who was talking with me said to me, ‘Proclaim now that the Lord of hosts says: I am deeply concerned for Jerusalem.

15 And I am angry with a great anger with the wealthy nations: for I was angry a little, but they helped forward the evil.

But I am deeply angry with the arrogant, complacent nations. I was only a little angry with Israel but they made the suffering worse.

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord: I will return to Jerusalem in mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts: and the building line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

Therefore, says the Lord, I am turning to show mercy to Jerusalem. My temple will be rebuilt in it, says the Lord of hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.

17 Cry yet, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: My cities shall yet flow with good things: and the Lord will yet comfort Sion, and he will yet choose Jerusalem.

Proclaim again: Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities will again overflow with prosperity and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’

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

Now I looked up and saw four horns.

19 And I said to the angel that spoke to me: What are these? And he said to me: These are the horns that have scattered Juda, and Israel, and Jerusalem.

I said to the messenger who was talking with me, ‘What are these?’ He answered, ‘These are the horns which scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.’

20 And the Lord shewed me four smiths.

Then the Lord showed me four smiths.

21 And I said: What come these to do? and he spoke, saying: These are the horns which have scattered Juda every man apart, and none of them lifted up his head: and these are come to fray them, to cast down the horns of the nations, that have lifted up the horn upon the land of Juda to scatter it.

I said, ‘What are these coming to do?’ He answered, ‘The horns scattered Judah, so that no one dared lift their head. But the smiths have come to terrify them, to crush the horns of the nations which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter its people.’