Zechariah 1

1 [I am] Zechariah, a prophet, the son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo. When Darius [had been the emperor of Persia] for almost two years, during November [of that year], Yahweh gave me this message:

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 “I was very angry with your ancestors.

The Lord was furious with your ancestors.

3 So tell this to the people: [I, ] the Commander of the armies of angels, say, ‘Return to me, and [if you do that], I will [help] you again.

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 Do not be like your ancestors. [Other] prophets, who have now died, [continually] proclaimed to your ancestors that they should stop doing the evil things that they were continually doing. But they refused to pay attention to what I said.

‘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 ancestors [have died and are now in their graves] [RHQ]. And the prophets did not [RHQ] live forever, [either].

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

6 But I punished [IDM] [the people for disobeying] the commands and the decrees which I commanded my servants the prophets [to tell to the people]. Then they (repented/turned away from their evil behavior) and said, ‘The Commander of the armies of angels has done to us what we deserved for our evil behavior, just like he said that he would do.’”

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 [Three months later], on February 15, Yahweh gave [another] message to me.

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 had a vision. In the vision] I saw an [angel] who was on a red horse. He was in a narrow valley among some myrtle trees. Behind him were [angels on] red, brown, and white horses.

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 the angel who had been talking to me, “Sir, who are those [angels on the horses]?” He replied, “I will show you who they 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 Then the [angel] who had been under the myrtle trees explained. [He said, ] “They are the [angels] whom Yahweh sent [to (patrol/see what is happening in)] the [entire] world.”

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

11 Then those angels reported to the angel who was [there] among the myrtle trees, “We have traveled throughout the world, and we have found out that [the army of the emperor of Persia has conquered nations] throughout the world, [and that] those nations are now (helpless/unable to resist his army).”

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 asked, “Commander of the armies of angels, how long will you continue to not be merciful to Jerusalem and the [other] towns in Judah? You have been angry with them for 70 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] Yahweh spoke kindly to the angel who had talked to me, saying things that comforted/encouraged him.

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

14 Then the angel who had been talking with me said to me, “Proclaim this [to the people of Jerusalem]: The Commander of the armies of angels says that he is very concerned about [the people who live on] Zion [Hill] and [in the other parts of] Jerusalem.

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 But he is very angry with the nations that are [proud and feel] safe. He was only a little bit angry [with the people of Judah], but [he is very angry with the surrounding nations because] they caused [the people of Judah to experience] complete disaster.

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 he says: ‘I will again be merciful to [the people of] Jerusalem, and they will rebuild my temple. Men will measure [all the land in] the city [before they start rebuilding the houses].’

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 The Commander of the armies of angels [also] said this: ‘Tell the people that [the people in] my towns [in Judah] will soon be very prosperous again, and I will encourage [the people of] Jerusalem, and their city will again 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 up, and I saw in front of me four [animal] horns.

Now I looked up and saw four horns.

19 I asked the angel who had been speaking to me, “What are those [horns]?” He replied, “Those horns [represent the armies that] forced [the people of] Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah and Israel to go [to other countries].”

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 Yahweh showed me four (craftsmen/men who make things from metal).

Then the Lord showed me four smiths.

21 I asked, “What are those men coming to do?” He replied, “[The armies represented by] those horns caused [the people of] Judah to be scattered, with the result that they suffered greatly. But the craftsmen have come to cause those who attacked [IDM] Judah to be terrified and crushed.”

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.’