Zaccharias Propheta 1

1 In mense octavo in anno secundo Darii regis, factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam, filium Barachiæ filii Addo, prophetam, dicens:

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 Iratus est Dominus super patres vestros iracundia.

The Lord was furious with your ancestors.

3 Et dices ad eos: Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Convertimini ad me, ait Dominus exercituum: et convertar ad vos, dicit Dominus exercituum.

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 Ne sitis sicut patres vestri, ad quos clamabant prophetæ priores, dicentes: Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Convertimini de viis vestris malis, et de cogitationibus vestris pessimis: et non audierunt, neque attenderunt ad me, dicit Dominus.

‘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 Patres vestri ubi sunt? et prophetæ numquid in sempiternum vivent?

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

6 Verumtamen verba mea, et legitima mea, quæ mandavi servis meis prophetis, numquid non comprehenderunt patres vestros, et conversi sunt, et dixerunt: Sicut cogitavit Dominus exercituum facere nobis secundum vias nostras, et secundum adinventiones nostras fecit nobis.

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 die vigesima et quarta undecimi mensis Sabath, in anno secundo Darii, factum est verbum Domini ad Zachariam filium Barachiæ, filii Addo, prophetam, dicens:

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 Vidi per noctem, et ecce vir ascendens super equum rufum, et ipse stabat inter myrteta, quæ erant in profundo: et post eum equi rufi, varii, et albi.

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 Et dixi: Quid sunt isti, domine mi? Et dixit ad me Angelus, qui loquebatur in me: Ego ostendam tibi quid sint hæc.

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 Et respondit vir, qui stabat inter myrteta, et dixit: Isti sunt, quos misit Dominus ut perambulent terram.

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

11 Et responderunt Angelo Domini, qui stabat inter myrteta, et dixerunt: Perambulavimus terram, et ecce omnis terra habitatur, et quiescit.

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 Et respondit angelus Domini, et dixit: Domine exercituum usquequo tu non misereberis Ierusalem, et urbium Iuda, quibus iratus es? iste iam septuagesimus annus est.

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 Et respondit Dominus angelo, qui loquebatur in me verba bona, verba consolatoria.

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

14 Et dixit ad me angelus, qui loquebatur in me: Clama, dicens: Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Zelatus sum Ierusalem, et Sion zelo magno.

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 Et ira magna ego irascor super gentes opulentas: quia ego iratus sum parum, ipsi vero adiuverunt in malum.

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 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus: Revertar ad Ierusalem in misericordiis: et domus mea ædificabitur in ea, ait Dominus exercituum: et perpendiculum extendetur super Ierusalem.

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 Adhuc, clama dicens: Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum: Adhuc affluent civitates meæ bonis: et consolabitur adhuc Dominus Sion, et eliget adhuc Ierusalem.

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 Et levavi oculos meos, et vidi: et ecce quattuor cornua.

Now I looked up and saw four horns.

19 Et dixi ad angelum, qui loquebatur in me: Quid sunt hæc? Et dixit ad me: Hæc sunt cornua, quæ ventilaverunt Iudam, et Israel, et Ierusalem.

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 Et ostendit mihi Dominus quattuor fabros.

Then the Lord showed me four smiths.

21 Et dixi: Quid isti veniunt facere? Qui ait, dicens: Hæc sunt cornua, quæ ventilaverunt Iudam per singulos viros, et nemo eorum levavit caput suum: et venerunt isti deterrere ea, ut deiiciant cornua gentium, quæ levaverunt cornu super terram Iuda ut dispergerent eam.

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.’