Zechariah 1

1 The Lord sent a message to Zechariah the prophet, son of Berekiah, son of Iddo, in the eighth month of the second year of king Darius' reign, 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 was very angry with your forefathers.

The Lord was furious with your ancestors.

3 So tell the people this: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty.

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 You must not be like your forefathers. They were told by previous prophets: Give up your evil ways, and the evil things you do. But they would not listen or pay any attention to me, says 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 Where are your forefathers now? And the prophets, did they live forever?

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

6 But didn't all my instructions and warnings that I ordered my servants the prophets to communicate, didn't all that I said happen to your forefathers? So they repented and said, “What the Lord Almighty planned to do to us was what we deserved because of our ways and our actions. He did what he said he would.”

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 The Lord sent a message to Zechariah the prophet, son of Berekiah, son of Iddo, on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (the month of Shebat) of the second year of king Darius' reign:

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 During the night I saw a man sitting on a red horse that stood among some myrtle trees in a narrow valley. Behind him were red, brown, and white horses with their riders.

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 I asked him, “My lord, what are these?” The angel I was talking to replied, “I will show you.”

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 The man who was there among the myrtle trees said, “These are the ones the Lord has sent out to patrol 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 The riders reported to the angel of the Lord who was among the myrtle trees, “We have been patrolling the earth and saw that the whole earth has been pacified.”

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 Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will it be before you have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah which you have been angry with for the past seventy years?”

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 So the Lord replied to the angel I was talking to with kind and comforting words.

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

14 Then the angel I was talking with told me, This is what you are to announce. The Lord Almighty says this: I am jealously protective of Jerusalem and Mount Zion,

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 extremely angry with the arrogant nations who think they are secure. I was only a little angry with my people, but they made the punishment far worse.

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 this is what the Lord says: I have returned to be merciful to Jerusalem. My Temple shall be rebuilt there, as well as the city, declares the Lord Almighty.

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 Announce this as well, says the Lord Almighty: Prosperity will flood out of my cities. I the Lord will comfort Zion, and Jerusalem will be my chosen city.

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 Then I looked and saw four animal horns.

Now I looked up and saw four horns.

19 “What are these?” I asked the angel I was talking to. “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem,” he replied.

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 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen.

Then the Lord showed me four smiths.

21 “What are these men coming to do?” I asked. The angel replied, “The four horns—these nations—scattered Judah, humbling the people so that they could not lift up their heads. These craftsmen have to come to terrify these nations, and to destroy them—those who used their power against the land of Judah, scattering the people.”

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.”