Zechariah’s Call to Repentance
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 was very displeased with your fathers. 3 Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Return to me, declares 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 proclaimed, saying that this is what the Lord of Hosts says, ‘Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds,’ but they did not listen or pay attention to me, says the Lord. 5 Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But did my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlast your fathers? Then they repented and said, ‘Just as the Lord of Hosts determined to do to us, in accordance with our ways and practices, so he has dealt with us.’ ”
A Man among the Myrtle Trees
7 On the 24th day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, 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 “I saw by night, 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. 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.”
10 The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go back and forth through the earth.”
11 They reported to the angel of the Lord who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked back and forth through the earth, and all the earth is at rest and in peace.”
Mercy Promised to Jerusalem
12 Then the angel of the Lord replied, “O Lord of Hosts, how long will you refuse mercy to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these 70 years?”
13 The Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim this: The Lord of Hosts says: ‘I am passionately jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 I am very angry with the nations that are at ease, for I was just slightly displeased, but then they added to the destruction.’
16 Therefore the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy. In it my house shall be built, declares the Lord of Hosts, and a line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.’
17 Proclaim further, saying that this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and will again choose Jerusalem.’ ”
The Four Horns and Four Craftsmen
18 I looked up and saw 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.”
20 The Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 Then I asked, “What are these craftsmen coming to do?”
He said, “These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head, but these craftsmen 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.”