1:1 In the eighth month of Darius’ 1 second year, 2 the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, 3 son of Berechiah son of Iddo, as follows:
1:2 The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. 4 1:3 Therefore say to the people: 5 The Lord who rules over all 6 says, “Turn 7 to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will turn to you,” says the Lord who rules over all. 1:4 “Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “Turn now from your evil wickedness,”’ but they would by no means obey me,” says the Lord. 1:5 “As for your ancestors, where are they? And did the prophets live forever? 1:6 But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? 8 Then they paid attention 9 and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”
1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month Shebat, in Darius’ second year, 10 the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, as follows:
1:8 I was attentive that night and saw a man seated 11 on a red horse that stood among some myrtle trees 12 in the ravine. Behind him were red, sorrel, 13 and white horses.
1:9 Then I asked one nearby, “What are these, sir?” The angelic messenger 14 who replied to me said, “I will show you what these are.” 1:10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees spoke up and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk about 15 on the earth.” 1:11 The riders then agreed with the angel of the Lord, 16 who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have been walking about on the earth, and now everything is at rest and quiet.” 1:12 The angel of the Lord then asked, “Lord who rules over all, 17 how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem 18 and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?” 19 1:13 The Lord then addressed good, comforting words to the angelic messenger who was speaking to me. 1:14 Turning to me, the messenger then said, “Cry out that the Lord who rules over all says, ‘I am very much moved 20 for Jerusalem and for Zion. 1:15 But I am greatly displeased with the nations that take my grace for granted. 21 I was a little displeased with them, but they have only made things worse for themselves.
1:16 “‘Therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘I have become compassionate 22 toward Jerusalem 23 and will rebuild my temple 24 in it,’ says the Lord who rules over all. ‘Once more a surveyor’s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’ 1:17 Speak up again with the message of the Lord who rules over all: ‘My cities will once more overflow with prosperity, and once more the Lord will comfort Zion and validate his choice of Jerusalem.’”
1:18 (2:1) 25 Once again I looked and this time I saw four horns. 1:19 So I asked the angelic messenger 26 who spoke with me, “What are these?” He replied, “These are the horns 27 that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 28 1:20 Next the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. 29 1:21 I asked, “What are these going to do?” He answered, “These horns are the ones that have scattered Judah so that there is no one to be seen. 30 But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah’s enemies 31 and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people.” 32
2:1 (2:5) I looked again, and there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2:2 I asked, “Where are you going?” He replied, “To measure Jerusalem 33 in order to determine its width and its length.” 2:3 At this point the angelic messenger 34 who spoke to me went out, and another messenger came to meet him 2:4 and said to him, “Hurry, speak to this young man 35 as follows: ‘Jerusalem will no longer be enclosed by walls 36 because of the multitude of people and animals there. 2:5 But I (the Lord says) will be a wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem 37 and the source of glory in her midst.’”
2:6 “You there! 38 Flee from the northland!” says the Lord, “for like the four winds of heaven 39 I have scattered you,” says the Lord. 2:7 “Escape, Zion, you who live among the Babylonians!” 40 2:8 For the Lord who rules over all says to me that for his own glory 41 he has sent me to the nations that plundered you – for anyone who touches you touches the pupil 42 of his 43 eye. 2:9 “I am about to punish them 44 in such a way,” he says, “that they will be looted by their own slaves.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me.
2:10 “Sing out and be happy, Zion my daughter! 45 For look, I have come; I will settle in your midst,” says the Lord. 2:11 “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on the day of salvation, 46 and they will also be my 47 people. Indeed, I will settle in the midst of you all.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. 2:12 The Lord will take possession of 48 Judah as his portion in the holy land and he will choose Jerusalem once again. 2:13 Be silent in the Lord’s presence, all people everywhere, 49 for he is being moved to action in his holy dwelling place. 50
3:1 Next I saw Joshua the high priest 51 standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan 52 standing at his right hand to accuse him. 3:2 The Lord 53 said to Satan, “May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, 54 rebuke you! Isn’t this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3:3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes 55 as he stood there before the angel. 3:4 The angel 56 spoke up to those standing all around, “Remove his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “I have freely forgiven your iniquity and will dress you 57 in fine clothing.” 3:5 Then I spoke up, “Let a clean turban be put on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood nearby. 3:6 Then the angel of the Lord exhorted Joshua solemnly: 3:7 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘If you live 58 and work according to my requirements, you will be able to preside over my temple 59 and attend to my courtyards, and I will allow you to come and go among these others who are standing by you. 3:8 Listen now, Joshua the high priest, both you and your colleagues who are sitting before you, all of you 60 are a symbol that I am about to introduce my servant, the Branch. 61 3:9 As for the stone 62 I have set before Joshua – on the one stone there are seven eyes. 63 I am about to engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 64 3:10 In that day,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘everyone will invite his friend to fellowship under his vine and under his fig tree.’” 65
4:1 The angelic messenger 66 who had been speaking with me then returned and woke me, as a person is wakened from sleep. 4:2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, 67 “I see a menorah of pure gold with a receptacle at the top and seven lamps, with fourteen pipes going to the lamps. 4:3 There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the receptacle and the other on the left.” 68 4:4 Then I asked the messenger who spoke with me, “What are these, 69 sir?” 4:5 He replied, “Don’t you know what these are?” So I responded, “No, sir.” 4:6 Therefore he told me, “These signify the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ 70 says the Lord who rules over all.”
4:7 “What are you, you great mountain? 71 Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple 72 capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ 73 because of this.” 4:8 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me as follows: 4:9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, 74 and his hands will complete it.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. 4:10 For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes 75 will joyfully look on the tin tablet 76 in Zerubbabel’s hand. (These are the eyes of the Lord, which constantly range across the whole earth.)
4:11 Next I asked the messenger, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the menorah?” 4:12 Before he could reply I asked again, “What are these two extensions 77 of the olive trees, which are emptying out the golden oil through the two golden pipes?” 4:13 He replied, “Don’t you know what these are?” And I said, “No, sir.” 4:14 So he said, “These are the two anointed ones 78 who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
5:1 Then I turned to look, and there was a flying scroll! 5:2 Someone asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a flying scroll thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.” 79 5:3 The speaker went on to say, “This is a curse 80 traveling across the whole earth. For example, according to the curse whoever steals 81 will be removed from the community; or on the other hand (according to the curse) whoever swears falsely will suffer the same fate.” 5:4 “I will send it out,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and it will enter the house of the thief and of the person who swears falsely in my name. It will land in the middle of his house and destroy both timber and stones.”
5:5 After this the angelic messenger 82 who had been speaking to me went out and said, “Look, see what is leaving.” 5:6 I asked, “What is it?” And he replied, “It is a basket for measuring grain 83 that is moving away from here.” Moreover, he said, “This is their ‘eye’ 84 throughout all the earth.” 5:7 Then a round lead cover was raised up, revealing a woman sitting inside the basket. 5:8 He then said, “This woman represents wickedness,” and he pushed her down into the basket and placed the lead cover on top. 5:9 Then I looked again and saw two women 85 going forth with the wind in their wings (they had wings like those of a stork) and they lifted up the basket between the earth and the sky. 5:10 I asked the messenger who was speaking to me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 5:11 He replied, “To build a temple 86 for her in the land of Babylonia. 87 When it is finished, she will be placed there in her own residence.”
6:1 Once more I looked, and this time I saw four chariots emerging from between two mountains of bronze. 88 6:2 Harnessed to the first chariot were red horses, to the second black horses, 6:3 to the third white horses, and to the fourth spotted horses, all of them strong. 89 6:4 Then I asked the angelic messenger 90 who was speaking with me, “What are these, sir?” 6:5 The messenger replied, “These are the four spirits 91 of heaven that have been presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. 6:6 The chariot with the black horses is going to the north country and the white ones are going after them, but the spotted ones are going to the south country. 6:7 All these strong ones 92 are scattering; they have sought permission to go and walk about over the earth.” The Lord had said, “Go! Walk about over the earth!” So they are doing so. 6:8 Then he cried out to me, “Look! The ones going to the northland have brought me 93 peace about the northland.” 94
6:9 The word of the Lord came to me as follows: 6:10 “Choose some people 95 from among the exiles, namely, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, all of whom have come from Babylon, and when you have done so go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 96 6:11 Then take some silver and gold to make a crown 97 and set it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 6:12 Then say to him, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “Look – here is the man whose name is Branch, 98 who will sprout up from his place and build the temple of the Lord. 6:13 Indeed, he will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed in splendor, sitting as king on his throne. Moreover, there will be a priest 99 with him on his throne and they will see eye to eye on everything. 6:14 The crown will then be turned over to Helem, 100 Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen 101 son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the Lord. 6:15 Then those who are far away 102 will come and build the temple of the Lord so that you may know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God.”’”
7:1 In King Darius’ fourth year, on the fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month, 103 the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. 7:2 Now the people of Bethel 104 had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their companions to seek the Lord’s favor 7:3 by asking both the priests of the temple 105 of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, “Should we weep in the fifth month, 106 fasting as we have done over the years?” 7:4 The word of the Lord who rules over all then came to me, 7:5 “Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh 107 months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me – for me, indeed? 7:6 And now when you eat and drink, are you not doing so for yourselves?’” 7:7 Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem 108 was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah 109 were also populated?
7:8 Again the word of the Lord came to Zechariah: 7:9 “The Lord who rules over all said, ‘Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. 7:10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.’
7:11 “But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear. 7:12 Indeed, they made their heart as hard as diamond, 110 so that they could not obey the Torah and the other words the Lord who rules over all had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the Lord who rules over all had poured out great wrath.
7:13 “‘It then came about that just as I 111 cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,’ the Lord Lord who rules over all had said. 7:14 ‘Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.’ Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful 112 land a waste.”