1In November of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave this message to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo.H8066H2320H8147H8141H1867H1697H3068H2148H1121H1296H1121H5714H5030H5592“I, the Lord, was very angry with your ancestors.H3068H7110H7107H13Therefore, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’H559H559H3068H6635H7725H5002H3068H6635H7725H559H3068H66354Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.’H1H7223H5030H7121H559H559H3068H6635H7725H7451H1870H7451H4611H8085H7181H5002H30685“Where are your ancestors now? They and the prophets are long dead.H1H5030H2421H57696But everything I said through my servants the prophets happened to your ancestors, just as I said. As a result, they repented and said, ‘We have received what we deserved from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. He has done what he said he would do.’”H1697H2706H6680H5650H5030H5381H1H7725H559H3068H6635H2161H6213H1870H4611H6213
A Man among the Myrtle Trees
7Three months later, on February 15, the Lord sent another message to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo.H702H6242H3117H6249H6240H2320H2320H7627H8147H8141H1867H1697H3068H2148H1121H1296H1121H5714H5030H5598In a vision during the night, I saw a man sitting on a red horse that was standing among some myrtle trees in a small valley. Behind him were riders on red, brown, and white horses.H7200H3915H376H7392H122H5483H5975H1918H4699H310H122H5483H8320H38369I asked the angel who was talking with me, “My lord, what do these horses mean?” “I will show you,” the angel replied.H559H113H4397H1696H559H720010The rider standing among the myrtle trees then explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent out to patrol the earth.”H376H5975H1918H6030H559H3068H7971H1980H77611Then the other riders reported to the angel of the Lord, who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have been patrolling the earth, and the whole earth is at peace.”H6030H4397H3068H5975H1918H559H1980H776H776H3427H825212Upon hearing this, the angel of the Lord prayed this prayer: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, for seventy years now you have been angry with Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. How long until you again show mercy to them?”H4397H3068H6030H559H3068H6635H7355H3389H5892H3063H2194H7657H814113And the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.H3068H6030H4397H1696H2896H1697H5150H169714Then the angel said to me, “Shout this message for all to hear: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong.H4397H1696H559H7121H559H559H3068H6635H7065H3389H6726H1419H706815But I am very angry with the other nations that are now enjoying peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the nations inflicted harm on them far beyond my intentions.H1419H7110H7107H1471H7600H4592H7107H5826H745116“‘Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I have returned to show mercy to Jerusalem. My Temple will be rebuilt, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and measurements will be taken for the reconstruction of Jerusalem.’H559H3068H7725H3389H7356H1004H1129H5002H3068H6635H6957H6961H5186H338917“Say this also: ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The towns of Israel will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem as his own.’”H7121H559H559H3068H6635H5892H2896H6327H3068H5162H6726H977H3389
Four Horns and Four Blacksmiths
18Then I looked up and saw four animal horns.H5375H5869H7200H702H716119“What are these?” I asked the angel who was talking with me. He replied, “These horns represent the nations that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”H559H4397H1696H559H7161H2219H3063H3478H338920Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths.H3068H7200H702H279621“What are these men coming to do?” I asked. The angel replied, “These four horns—these nations—scattered and humbled Judah. Now these blacksmiths have come to terrify those nations and throw them down and destroy them.”H559H935H6213H559H559H7161H2219H3063H6310H376H5375H7218H935H2729H3034H7161H1471H5375H7161H776H3063H2219
Future Prosperity of Jerusalem
2When I looked again, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.H5375H5869H7200H376H4060H2256H30272“Where are you going?” I asked. He replied, “I am going to measure Jerusalem, to see how wide and how long it is.”H559H1980H559H4058H3389H7200H4100H7341H7533Then the angel who was with me went to meet a second angel who was coming toward him.H4397H1696H3318H312H4397H3318H71254The other angel said, “Hurry, and say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem will someday be so full of people and livestock that there won’t be room enough for everyone! Many will live outside the city walls.H559H7323H1696H1975H5288H559H3389H3427H6519H7230H120H929H84325Then I, myself, will be a protective wall of fire around Jerusalem, says the Lord. And I will be the glory inside the city!’”H5002H3068H2346H784H5439H3519H8432
The Exiles Are Called Home
6The Lord says, “Come away! Flee from Babylon in the land of the north, for I have scattered you to the four winds.H1945H1945H5127H776H6828H5002H3068H6566H702H7307H8064H5002H30687Come away, people of Zion, you who are exiled in Babylon!”H4422H1945H6726H3427H1323H8948After a period of glory, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me against the nations who plundered you. For he said, “Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession.H559H3068H6635H310H3519H7971H1471H7997H5060H5060H892H58699I will raise my fist to crush them, and their own slaves will plunder them.” Then you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sent me.H5130H3027H7998H5647H3045H3068H6635H797110The Lord says, “Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem, for I am coming to live among you.H7442H8055H1323H6726H935H7931H8432H5002H306811Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they, too, will be my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me to you.H7227H1471H3867H3068H3117H5971H7931H8432H3045H3068H6635H797112The land of Judah will be the Lord’s special possession in the holy land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem to be his own city.H3068H5157H3063H2506H6944H127H977H338913Be silent before the Lord, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling.”H2013H1320H6440H3068H5782H6944H4583
Cleansing for the High Priest
3Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua.H7200H3091H1419H3548H5975H6440H4397H3068H7854H5975H3225H78532And the Lord said to Satan, “I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.”H3068H559H7854H3068H1605H7854H3068H977H3389H1605H181H5337H7843Jeshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel.H3091H3847H6674H899H5975H6440H43974So the angel said to the others standing there, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And turning to Jeshua he said, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.”H6030H559H5975H6440H559H5493H6674H899H559H7200H5771H5674H3847H42545Then I said, “They should also place a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean priestly turban on his head and dressed him in new clothes while the angel of the Lord stood by.H559H7760H2889H6797H7218H7760H2889H6797H7218H3847H899H4397H3068H59756Then the angel of the Lord spoke very solemnly to Jeshua and said,H4397H3068H5749H3091H5597“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: If you follow my ways and carefully serve me, then you will be given authority over my Temple and its courtyards. I will let you walk among these others standing here.H559H3068H6635H3212H1870H8104H4931H1777H1004H8104H2691H5414H4108H59758“Listen to me, O Jeshua the high priest, and all you other priests. You are symbols of things to come. Soon I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.H8085H3091H1419H3548H7453H3427H6440H582H4159H935H5650H67809Now look at the jewel I have set before Jeshua, a single stone with seven facets. I will engrave an inscription on it, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and I will remove the sins of this land in a single day.H68H5414H6440H3091H259H68H7651H5869H6605H6603H5002H3068H6635H4185H5771H776H259H311710“And on that day, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, each of you will invite your neighbor to sit with you peacefully under your own grapevine and fig tree.”H3117H5002H3068H6635H7121H376H7453H1612H8384
A Lampstand and Two Olive Trees
4Then the angel who had been talking with me returned and woke me, as though I had been asleep.H4397H1696H7725H5782H376H5782H81422“What do you see now?” he asked. I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl of oil on top of it. Around the bowl are seven lamps, each having seven spouts with wicks.H559H7200H559H7200H4501H2091H1531H7218H7651H5216H7651H4166H7651H5216H72183And I see two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl.”H8147H2132H259H3225H1543H259H80404Then I asked the angel, “What are these, my lord? What do they mean?”H6030H559H4397H1696H559H1135“Don’t you know?” the angel asked. “No, my lord,” I replied.H4397H1696H6030H559H3045H559H1136Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.H6030H559H559H1697H3068H2216H559H2428H3581H7307H559H3068H66357Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’”H1419H2022H6440H2216H4334H3318H68H7222H8663H2580H25808Then another message came to me from the Lord:H1697H3068H5599“Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sent me.H3027H2216H3245H1004H3027H1214H3045H3068H6635H797110Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” (The seven lamps represent the eyes of the Lord that search all around the world.)H936H3117H6996H8055H7200H68H913H3027H2216H7651H5869H3068H7751H77611Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on each side of the lampstand,H6030H559H8147H2132H3225H4501H804012and what are the two olive branches that pour out golden oil through two gold tubes?”H6030H8145H559H8147H2132H7641H3027H8147H2091H6804H7324H209113“Don’t you know?” he asked. “No, my lord,” I replied.H559H559H3045H559H11314Then he said to me, “They represent the two heavenly beings who stand in the court of the Lord of all the earth.”H559H8147H3323H1121H5975H113H776
60[For the choir director: A psalm of David useful for teaching, regarding the time David fought Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and killed 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. To be sung to the tune “Lily of the Testimony.”] You have rejected us, O God, and broken our defenses. You have been angry with us; now restore us to your favor.H5329H7802H4387H1732H3925H5327H763H5104H760H3097H7725H5221H123H1516H4417H8147H6240H505H430H2186H6555H599H77252You have shaken our land and split it open. Seal the cracks, for the land trembles.H776H7493H6480H7495H7667H41313You have been very hard on us, making us drink wine that sent us reeling.H7200H5971H7186H8248H3196H86534But you have raised a banner for those who fear you—a rallying point in the face of attack. InterludeH5414H5251H3373H5127H6440H7189H55425Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power.H3039H2502H3467H3225H60306God has promised this by his holiness. “I will divide up Shechem with joy. I will measure out the valley of Succoth.H430H1696H6944H5937H2505H7927H4058H6010H55237Gilead is mine, and Manasseh, too. Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors, and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings.H1568H4519H669H4581H7218H3063H27108But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant, and I will wipe my feet on Edom and shout in triumph over Philistia.”H4124H5518H7366H123H7993H5275H6429H73219Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will bring me victory over Edom?H2986H4692H5892H5148H12310Have you rejected us, O God? Will you no longer march with our armies?H430H2186H430H3318H663511Oh, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless.H3051H5833H6862H7723H8668H12012With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.H430H6213H2428H947H6862
Dublin, OH
of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave this message to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo.H8066
