Zechariah 6:9-Zechariah 7:14 - The Branch Is Crowned

⁹ The word of the Lord came to me as follows: ¹⁰ "Choose some people from among the exiles, namely, Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, all of whom have come from Babylon, and when you have done so go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. ¹¹ Then take some silver and gold to make a crown and set it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹² Then say to him, 'The Lord who rules over all says, "Look -- here is the man whose name is Branch, who will sprout up from his place and build the temple of the Lord. ¹³ Indeed, he will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed in splendor, sitting as king on his throne. Moreover, there will be a priest with him on his throne and they will see eye to eye on everything. ¹⁴ The crown will then be turned over to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the Lord. ¹⁵ Then those who are far away will come and build the temple of the Lord so that you may know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God."'"

¹ In King Darius' fourth year, on the fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. ² Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their companions to seek the Lord's favor ³ by asking both the priests of the temple of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, "Should we weep in the fifth month, fasting as we have done over the years?"

⁴ The word of the Lord who rules over all then came to me, ⁵ "Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: 'When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me -- for me, indeed? ⁶ And now when you eat and drink, are you not doing so for yourselves?'" ⁷ Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah were also populated?

⁸ Again the word of the Lord came to Zechariah: ⁹ "The Lord who rules over all said, 'Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other. ¹⁰ You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.' ¹¹ "But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear. ¹² Indeed, they made their heart as hard as diamond, so that they could not obey the Torah and the other words the Lord who rules over all had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the Lord who rules over all had poured out great wrath. ¹³ "'It then came about that just as I cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,' the Lord Lord who rules over all had said. ¹⁴ Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.' Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful land a waste."