Zechariah 1

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Daryavesh, the word of YHWH came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,

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,

2 "YHWH was very displeased with your fathers.

The Lord has been very angry with your fathers:

3 Therefore tell them: Thus says YHWH of hosts: 'Return to me,' says YHWH of hosts, 'and I will return to you,' says YHWH of hosts.

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.

4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Thus says YHWH of hosts, 'Return now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;' but they did not hear, nor listen to me, says YHWH.

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.

5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?

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

6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded by my Spirit to my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? Then they repented and said, 'Just as YHWH of hosts determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.'"

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.

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Daryavesh, the word of YHWH came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,

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,

8 "I had a vision in the night, and look, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.

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.

9 Then I asked, 'My lord, what are these?'" The angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what these are."

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.

10 The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said to me, "They are the ones YHWH has sent to go back and forth through the earth."

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.

11 They reported to the angel of YHWH who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, "We have walked back and forth through the earth, and look, all the earth is at rest and in peace."

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.

12 Then the angel of YHWH replied, "YHWH of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?"

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?

13 YHWH answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.

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

14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, 'Thus says YHWH of hosts: "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

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.

15 I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but only a little angry, but they added to the calamity."

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.

16 Therefore thus says YHWH: "I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house will be built in it," says YHWH of hosts, "and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem."'

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.

17 "Proclaim further, saying, 'Thus says YHWH of hosts: "My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and YHWH will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem."'"

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.

18 I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and look, four horns.

And lifting up my eyes I saw four horns.

19 I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these?" He answered me, "These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."

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.

20 YHWH showed me four craftsmen.

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

21 Then I asked, "What are these coming to do?" He said, "These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it."

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.