< Zechariah 4 >
1 Then the angel I had been talking to returned and got my attention, like waking someone from sleep.
And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.
2 “What do you see?” he asked me. “I see a lampstand made of solid gold with a bowl at its top having seven lamps on it, each with seven lips.
And said unto me, What see you? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
3 I also see olive trees, one to the right and one to the left of the bowl.”
And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
4 Then I asked the angel I was talking to, “What are these, my lord?”
So I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
5 “Don't you know what these are?” the angel replied. “No, my lord,” I responded.
Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
6 Then he told me, “This is the Lord's message to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord Almighty.
Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
7 Even obstacles as big as mountains will be flattened before Zerubbabel. Finally he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘Blessings on it!’”
Who are you, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
8 Then the Lord gave me another message.
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Zerubbabel with his own hands laid the foundations for this Temple, and it will be completed the same way. Then you will know the Lord Almighty has sent me.
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you.
10 For who dares look down on this time of small beginnings? They will be happy when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand. “The seven lamps represent the eyes of the Lord which see all over the world.”
For who has despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run back and forth through the whole earth.
11 Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees that stand to the right and the left of the lampstand?”
Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
12 And I also asked him, “What are the two olive branches from which the golden oil pours out from through golden pipes?”
And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
13 “Don't you know?” the angel replied. “No, my lord,” I responded.
And he answered me and said, Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
14 “These are the two who have been anointed who stand by the Lord of all the earth,” he replied.
Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the LORD of the whole earth.