THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH

 

Zechariah Chapter 1

1 ¶ In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

2 The LORD has been greatly displeased with your fathers.

3 Therefore tell them, The LORD of hosts says this; Turn to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the LORD of hosts.

4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets have called, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts; Turn now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not listen, or pay attention to me, says the LORD.

5 Where are your fathers? and the prophets, do they live for ever?

6 But my words and my judgements, which I decreed by my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? so that they returned and said, The LORD of hosts has done to us what he said he would, he has dealt with us according to our ways, and according to our doings.

7 ¶ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

8 At night I looked, and saw a man riding on a red horse, and he waited among the myrtle trees that were in the valley; and behind him there were horses that were red, sorrel, and white.

9 Then I said, What are these, O my lord? And the angel who was talking with me replied, I will show you what they are.

10 And the man who waited among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD has sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

11 And they spoke to the angel of the LORD who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, look, all the earth is quiet, and is at rest.

12 Then the angel of the LORD spoke saying, O LORD of hosts, how long will you withhold your mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with whom you have been angry now for seventy years?

13 And the LORD answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.

14 So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, Cry out, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

15 And I am fiercely angry with the heathen who are so confident: for I was somewhat angry, and they made it worse.

16 Therefore the LORD says this; I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion: my house will be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and a measuring line will be used to lay out Jerusalem.

17 Also cry out, saying, The LORD of hosts says this; My cities will again be overflowing with prosperity; and the LORD will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.

18 ¶ Then I looked up, and saw four horns.

19 And I asked the angel who spoke with me, What are these? And he replied, These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

20 And the LORD showed me four carpenters.

21 Then I asked, What have they come to do? And he replied, saying, These are the horns that have scattered Judah, so that no one dared raise his head: but the carpenters have come to cut them off, to throw down the horns of the Gentiles, who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.