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 in the second year of Darius, this message of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo:

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

The Lord was furious with your ancestors.

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.

So tell the people this message of the Lord of hosts: “Return to me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you” says the Lord 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 ancestors to whom the former prophets cried, ‘The Lord of hosts says to turn now from your evil ways, and from your evil deeds’. They did not heed nor listen to me,” says the Lord.

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

“Your ancestors, where are they? And the prophets, do they live 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 did not my words and my statutes with which I charged my servants the prophets overtake your ancestors? And they repented and said, ‘Just as the Lord of hosts planned to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our deeds, 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:

In the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, this message of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo:

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 a man on a red horse, among the myrtle trees that were in the valley-bottom. Behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white.

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.”

Then said I, “My Lord, what are these?” And the messenger who was talking with me said, “I will show you what they 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.”

And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, “They are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol 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.”

And the riders answered the messenger of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone up and down through the world and behold, all the earth is still and at peace.”

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 messenger of the Lord said, “Lord of hosts, how long will you have no pity for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which you have been angry for seventy years?”

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

And the Lord answered the messenger who was talking with me with kind and comforting words.

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 messenger who was talking with me said to me, “Proclaim now that the Lord of hosts says: I am deeply concerned for Jerusalem.

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.

But I am deeply angry with the arrogant, complacent nations. I was only a little angry with Israel but they made the suffering 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, says the Lord, I am turning to show mercy to Jerusalem. My temple will be rebuilt in it, says the Lord of hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched 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.

Proclaim again: Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities will again overflow with prosperity and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.”

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

Now I looked up 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 said to the messenger who was talking with me, “What are these?” He answered, “These are the horns which scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”

20 And the Lord showed me four workmen.

Then the Lord showed me four smiths.

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 coming to do?” He answered, “The horns scattered Judah, so that no one dared lift their head. But the smiths have come to terrify them, to crush the horns of the nations which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”