Zechariah 1

1 In the eiythe monethe, in the secounde yeer of Darius, the word of the Lord was maad to Sacarie, the sone of Barachie, the sone of Addo,

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 profete, and seide, The Lord is wrooth on youre fadris with wrathfulnesse.

The Lord has been very angry with your fathers:

3 And thou schalt seie to hem, The Lord of oostis seith these thingis. Be ye conuertid to me, seith the Lord of oostis, and Y schal be conuertid to you, seith the Lord of oostis.

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 Be ye not as youre fadris, to whiche the formere profetis crieden, seiynge, The Lord of oostis seith these thingis, Be ye conuertid fro youre yuel weies, and youre worste thouytis; and thei herden not, nether token tent to me, seith the Lord of oostis.

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 Where ben youre fadris and profetis? whether thei schulen lyue with outen ende?

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

6 Netheles my wordis and my lawful thingis, whiche Y comaundide to my seruauntis profetis, whether thei tauyten not youre fadris? And thei weren conuertid, and seiden, As the Lord of oostys thouyte for to do to vs bi oure weies, and bi oure fyndingis he dide to vs.

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 In the foure and twentithe dai of the enleuenthe monethe Sabath, in the secounde yeer of Darius, the word of the Lord was maad to Sacarie, sone of Barachie, sone of Addo,

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 profete, and seide, Y saiy bi niyt, and lo! a man stiynge on a reed hors; and he stood bitwixe places where mirtis wexen, that weren in the depthe, and aftir hym weren horsis reede, dyuerse, and white.

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 And Y seide, My lord, who ben these? And an aungel of the Lord seide to me, that spak in me, Y schal schewe to thee what these ben.

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 And the man that stood bitwix places where mirtis wexen, answeride, and seide, These it ben, whiche the Lord sente, that thei walke thorouy erthe.

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 And thei answeriden to the aungel of the Lord, that stood bitwixe places where mirtis wexen, and seiden, We han walkid thorouy erthe, and lo! al erthe is enhabitid, and restith.

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 And the aungel of the Lord answeride, and seide, Lord of oostis, hou long schalt thou not haue merci on Jerusalem, and citees of Juda, to whiche thou art wrooth? This now is the seuentithe yeer.

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 And the Lord answeride to the aungel, that spak in me, goode wordis, and wordis of coumfort.

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

14 And the aungel that spak in me, seide to me, Crie thou, seiynge, The Lord of oostis seith these thingis, Y louyde Jerusalem and Sion in greet feruour;

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 and in greet wraththe Y schal be wroth on riche folkis; for Y was wrooth a litil, forsothe thei helpiden in to yuel.

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 Therfor the Lord seith these thingis, Y schal turne ayen to Jerusalem in mercies. Myn hous schal be bildid in it, seith the Lord of oostis; and a plomet schal be streiyt out on 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 Yit crie thou, seiynge, The Lord of oostis seith these thingis, Yit my citees schulen flete with goodis, and yit the Lord schal coumforte Sion, and yit he schal chese 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 And Y reiside myn iyen, and Y saiy, and lo! foure hornes.

And lifting up my eyes I saw four horns.

19 And Y seide to the aungel that spak in me, What ben these? And he seide to me, These ben hornes, that wyndewiden Juda, and 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 And the Lord schewide to me foure smythis.

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

21 And Y seide, What comen these for to do? Which spak, seiynge, These ben the hornes, that wyndewiden Juda bi alle men, and no man of hem reiside his heed; and these camen for to make hem aferd, that thei caste doun the hornes of hethene men, which reisiden horn on the lond of Juda, for to scatere 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.