Zechariah 1

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

In the eighth month of the second year of Darius' reign, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,

2 The Lord has become angry over the resentful anger of your fathers.

“Yahweh was exceedingly angry with your fathers!

3 And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the Lord of hosts.

Say to them, 'Yahweh of hosts says this: Turn to me!—this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts— and I will return to you, says Yahweh of hosts.

4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn from your evil ways and from your wicked thoughts. But they did not heed, and neither did they pay attention to me, says the Lord.

Do not be like your fathers to whom the prophets cried out previously, saying, “Yahweh of hosts says this: Turn from your evil ways and wicked practices!” But they would not hear and did not pay attention to me—this is Yahweh's declaration.'

5 Your fathers, where are they? And will the prophets live unceasingly?

Your fathers, where are they? Where are the prophets, are they here forever?

6 Yet truly my words and my lawfulness, which I entrusted to my servants the prophets, were indeed comprehended by your fathers, and so they were converted, and they said: Just as the Lord of hosts decided to do to us, according to our ways and according to our inventions, so has he done to us.

But my words and my decrees that I commanded my servants the prophets, have they not overtaken your fathers? So they repented and said, 'Just as Yahweh of hosts planned to do to us what our ways and actions deserved, so he has dealt with us.'”

7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is called Shevat, 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:

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius' reign, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,

8 I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees, which were in the chasm. And behind him were horses: red, speckled, and white.

“I saw in the night, and, look! a man was riding on a red horse, and he was among the myrtle trees that are in the valley; and behind him there were red, reddish-brown, and white horses.”

9 And I said, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel, who was speaking with me, said to me, “I will reveal to you what these are.”

I said, “What are these things, Lord?” Then the angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these things are.”

10 And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are they, whom the Lord has sent in order to walk through the earth.”

Then the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are those Yahweh has sent out to roam throughout the earth.”

11 And those who stood among the myrtle trees answered the angel of the Lord, and they said, “We have walked through the earth, and behold, all the earth is inhabited and is at rest.”

They answered the angel of Yahweh who stood among the myrtle trees; they said to him, “We have been roaming throughout the earth; see, all the earth sits still and is at rest.”

12 And the angel of the Lord answered and said, “Lord of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry? This is now the seventieth year.”

Then the angel of Yahweh answered and said, “Yahweh of hosts, how long will you show no compassion to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?”

13 And the Lord answered the angel, who had been speaking with me, good words, consoling words.

Yahweh answered the angel who had talked with me, with good words, words of comfort.

14 And the angel, who was speaking with me, said to me: Cry out, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have been zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great zeal.

So the angel who had talked with me said to me, “Call out and say, 'Yahweh of hosts says this: I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great passion!

15 And, with a great anger, I am angry with the wealthy nations. Though I had been angry a little, truly they advanced further in evil.

I am very angry with the nations that are at ease. When I was only a little angry with them, they made the disaster worse.

16 Because of this, thus says the Lord: I will be turned back, towards Jerusalem, with mercies; and my house will be built upon this, says the Lord of hosts. And the building line will be extended over Jerusalem.

Therefore Yahweh of hosts says this: I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house will be built within her —this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts—and the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem!'

17 Until then, cry out saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Until then, my cities will flow with good things, and, until then, the Lord will comfort Zion, and, until then, he will single out Jerusalem.

Again call out, saying, 'Yahweh of hosts says this: My cities will once again overflow with goodness, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and he will once again choose Jerusalem.'”

18 And I lifted up my eyes, and I saw. And behold: four horns.

Then I lifted up my eyes and saw four horns!

19 And I said to the angel, who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have winnowed Judah and Israel and Jerusalem.”

I spoke to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

20 And the Lord showed me four workmen.

Then Yahweh showed me four craftsmen.

21 And I said, “What have these come to do?” He spoke, saying, “These are the horns that have winnowed Judah, through every single man, and none of them lifted up his head. And these have come to frighten them away, so as to cast down the horns of the Gentiles, which have lifted up a horn over the land of Judah, so as to scatter it.”

I said, “What are these people coming to do?” He answered, and said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no man would lift up his head. But the blacksmiths have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations that lifted up a horn against the land of Judah to scatter her.”