Zechariah 1

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

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, a word of YHWH has been to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

2 “Yahweh was very displeased with your fathers.

“YHWH was angry against your fathers—wrath!

3 Therefore tell them, Yahweh of Armies says: ‘Return to me,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will return to you,’ says Yahweh of Armies.

And you have said to them, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Return to Me, A declaration of YHWH of Hosts, And I return to you, said YHWH of Hosts.

4 Don’t you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Yahweh of Armies says, ‘Return now from your evil ways and from your evil doings;’ but they didn’t hear nor listen to me, says Yahweh.

You will not be as your fathers, To whom the former prophets called, Saying, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Please turn back from your evil ways and from your evil doings, And they did not listen, Nor attend to Me—a declaration of YHWH.

5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?

Your fathers—where [are] they? And the prophets—do they live for all time?

6 But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn’t they overtake your fathers? “Then they repented and said, ‘Just as Yahweh of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.’”

Only, My words and My statutes, That I commanded My servants the prophets, Have they not overtaken your fathers? And they turn back and say: As YHWH of Hosts designed to do to us, According to our ways, and according to our doings, So He has done to us.”

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

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (it [is] the month of Sebat), in the second year of Darius, a word of YHWH has been to Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo the prophet. [He was] saying:

8 “I 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.

I have seen by night, and behold, one riding on a red horse, and he is standing between the myrtles that [are] in the shade, and behind him [are] horses, red, bay, and white.

9 Then I asked, ‘My lord, what are these?’” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.”

And I say, “What [are] these, my lord?” And the messenger who is speaking with me says to me, “I show you what these [are].”

10 The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, “They are the ones Yahweh has sent to go back and forth through the earth.”

And the one who is standing between the myrtles answers and says, “These [are] they whom YHWH has sent to walk up and down in the land.”

11 They reported to Yahweh’s angel who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked back and forth through the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and in peace.”

And they answer the Messenger of YHWH who is standing between the myrtles, and say, “We have walked up and down in the land, and behold, all the land is sitting still, and at rest.”

12 Then Yahweh’s angel replied, “O 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?”

And the Messenger of YHWH answers and says, “YHWH of Hosts! Until when do You not pity Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, that You have abhorred these seventy years?”

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

And YHWH answers the messenger, who is speaking with me, good words, comfortable words.

14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

And the messenger who is speaking with me, says to me, “Call, saying, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: I have been zealous for Jerusalem, And for Zion [with] great zeal.

15 I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.”

And [with] great wrath I am angry against the nations who are at ease, For I was a little angry, and they assisted—for evil.

16 Therefore Yahweh says: “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and a line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.”’

Therefore, thus said YHWH: I have turned to Jerusalem with mercies, My house is built in it, A declaration of YHWH of Hosts, And a line is stretched over Jerusalem.

17 “Proclaim further, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.”’”

Again call, saying, Thus said YHWH of Hosts: Again My cities overflow from good, And YHWH has again comforted Zion, And He has fixed again on Jerusalem.”

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

And I lift up my eyes, and look, and behold, four horns.

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

And I say to the messenger who is speaking with me, “What [are] these?” And he says to me, “These [are] the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

20 Yahweh showed me four craftsmen.

And YHWH shows me four artisans.

21 Then I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These 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 that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

And I say, “What [are] these coming to do?” And He speaks, saying, “These [are] the horns that have scattered Judah, so that no one has lifted up his head, and these come to trouble them, to cast down the horns of the nations who are lifting up a horn against the land of Judah—to scatter it.”