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, this message of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo:

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

The Lord was furious with your ancestors.

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.

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 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.

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

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

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 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 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,

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 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, among the myrtle trees that were in the valley-bottom. Behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white.

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 said I, “My Lord, what are these?” And the messenger who was talking with me said, “I will show 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 standing among the myrtle trees answered, “They are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol 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 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 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 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 And the Lord answeride to the aungel, that spak in me, goode wordis, and wordis of coumfort.

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

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;

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

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 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.

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 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.

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 And Y reiside myn iyen, and Y saiy, and lo! foure hornes.

Now I looked up and 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.

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 And the Lord schewide to me foure smythis.

Then the Lord showed me four smiths.

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.

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.”