Zechariah 1
v1
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, Yahwehโs word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
v2
โYahweh was very displeased with your fathers.
v3
Therefore tell them: Yahweh of Armies says: โReturn to me,โ says Yahweh of Armies, โand I will return to you,โ says Yahweh of Armies.
v4
Donโt you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Yahweh of Armies says, โReturn now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;โ but they didnโt hear, nor listen to me, says Yahweh.
v5
Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
v6
But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didnโt they overtake your fathers? โThen they repented and said, โJust as Yahweh of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.โโ
v7
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, Yahwehโs word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
v8
โI had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.
v9
Then I asked, โMy lord, what are these?โโ The angel who talked with me said to me, โI will show you what these are.โ
v10
The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, โThey are the ones Yahweh has sent to go back and forth through the earth.โ
v11
They reported to Yahwehโs angel who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, โWe have walked back and forth through the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace.โ
v12
Then Yahwehโs angel replied, โO Yahweh of Armies, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?โ
v13
Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.
v14
So the angel who talked with me said to me, โProclaim, saying, โYahweh of Armies says: โI am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
v15
I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.โ
v16
Therefore Yahweh says: โI have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,โ says Yahweh of Armies, โand a line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.โโ
v17
โProclaim further, saying, โYahweh of Armies says: โMy cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.โโโ
v18
I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, four horns.
v19
I asked the angel who talked with me, โWhat are these?โ He answered me, โThese are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.โ
v20
Yahweh showed me four craftsmen.
v21
Then I asked, โWhat are these coming to do?โ He said, โThese are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.โ