"Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Return from your evil ways and your evil deeds!" ' But they did not hear and they did not pay attention to me," {declares} Yahweh.

And I asked, "What [are] these, my lord?" And the angel [who was] talking with me said, "I will show you what these are."

And the man standing between the myrtle shrubs answered and said, "These [are] those whom Yahweh has sent to patrol [the] earth."

And they answered the angel of Yahweh who was standing between the myrtle shrubs, and they said, "We have patrolled the earth, and look, all the earth {is dwelling in peace}."

[With] gracious and comforting words Yahweh answered the angel who was talking with me.

And the angel who was talking with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "{I am very jealous} for Jerusalem and for Zion!

And I said to the angel [who was] talking with me, "What [are] these?" And he said to me, "These [are] the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."

And look, the angel who was talking to me [was] coming forward, and another angel [was] coming forward to meet him.

But Yahweh said to Satan, "Yahweh rebukes you, O Satan! Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! [Is] this not a stick snatched from the fire?"

And the angel [who was] talking with me returned, and he wakened me as one who is wakened from his sleep.

And I answered and said to the angel [who was] talking to me, "What [are] these, my lord?"

And the angel [who was] talking with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these [are]?" And I said, "No, my lord."

'Who [are] you O great mountain? {Before} Zerubbabel [you will become] level ground, and he will bring out the top stone amid the shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" '"

And he said to me, "This [is] the curse going out over the surface of the whole earth. For everyone who steals has gone unpunished according to it, and [likewise] everyone who swears [falsely] has gone unpunished according to it.

And the angel who was speaking to me went out, and he said to me, "{Please look up}! See what this [is] going out."

And I asked the angel who was talking to me, "Where [are] they taking the basket?"

"Collect from the exiles--from Heldai, Tobijah, and from Jedaiah, [all of] whom came from Babylon--and go on that day, go [to the] house of Josiah son of Zephaniah.

And those who are far off will come and build the temple of Yahweh, and you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. And it will happen if you will listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God."

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Let your hands be strong, you who are hearing in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who [were present] on [the] day {the foundation was laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of Yahweh of hosts}.

For before those days there was no wage for people or for animals, and there was no safety from the enemy for those who went out or those who came in, and I sent each person against {one another}.

Ask rain from Yahweh in the season of [the] spring rain-- Yahweh, who makes storm clouds, and he gives showers of rain to them, to everyone vegetation in the field.

Because the household gods speak deceit, and those who practice divination see a lie, and the dreamers of vanity speak in vain. Therefore [the people] wander like sheep; they are afflicted because there is no shepherd.

And it was broken on that day. Then the afflicted of the flock, the [ones who were] watching me, knew that it [was] the word of Yahweh.

For look, I [am] raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the [ones that are] perishing; he will not seek the young man, he will not heal the [ones that are] crushed and he will not sustain the healthy [ones]; he will devour the flesh of the {fattened ones} and tear apart [even] their hoofs.

"Woe, my worthless shepherd who deserts the flock! [May] a sword [fall] on his arm and on {his right eye}! May his arm wither completely and {his right eye} be utterly blinded!"

An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. "{Thus declares} Yahweh, who stretches out [the] heavens, founds [the] earth, and forms the spirit of humankind in its midst:

On that day Yahweh will put a shield around the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who stumbles among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David [will be] like God, like the angel of Yahweh, {before them}.

" 'I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look to me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn over him, as one wails over an only child, and they will grieve bitterly over him as [one] grieves bitterly over a firstborn.

{And then}, if anyone prophesies again, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him, "You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of Yahweh!" And his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through when he prophesies.

And someone shall say to him, "What [are] these wounds {between your arms}?" and he will say, "Those I have received [in] the house of [the ones who] love me." '"

"O sword, awake against my shepherd, against [the] man [who is] my associate," {declares} Yahweh of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, so that the sheep may be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the small [ones].

And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of hosts, and all those who sacrifice will come and will take from them, and will cook in them, and there will be no longer a {trader} in the house of Yahweh of hosts on that day.