In the eighth month of Darius' second year, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah son of Iddo, as follows:

Therefore say to the Jews, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts (armies), “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and I shall return to you.

Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.

"As for your ancestors, where are they? And did the prophets live forever?

But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

I have seen by night, and lo, 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.

And I say, 'What are these, my lord?' And the messenger who is speaking with me saith unto me, 'I -- I do shew thee what these are.'

And the one who is standing between the myrtles doth answer and say, 'These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to walk up and down in the land.'

And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

And Jehovah answereth the messenger, who is speaking with me, good words, comfortable words.

And the messenger who is speaking with me, saith unto me, 'Call, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: I have been zealous for Jerusalem, and for Zion with great zeal.

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

“Proclaim further: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will once more comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”

And I say unto the messenger who is speaking with me, 'What are these?' And he saith unto me, 'These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.'

I asked, "What are these going to do?" He answered, "These horns are the ones that have scattered Judah so that there is no one to be seen. But the blacksmiths have come to terrify Judah's enemies and cut off the horns of the nations that have thrust themselves against the land of Judah in order to scatter its people."

Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.

And lo, the messenger who is speaking with me is going out, and another messenger is going out to meet him,

And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:

Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.

For thus said Jehovah of Hosts: After honour He hath sent me unto the nations who are spoiling you, For he who is coming against you, Is coming against the daughter of His eye.

And Jehovah shall inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.

Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.

And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

And Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and is standing before the messenger.

And he answereth and speaketh unto those standing before him, saying: 'Turn aside the filthy garments from off him.' And he saith unto him, 'See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass away from off thee, so as to clothe thee with costly apparel.'

He also said, 'Let them set a pure diadem on his head. And they set the pure diadem on his head, and clothe him with garments. And the messenger of Jehovah is standing,

“This is what the Lord of Hosts says: If you walk in My ways and keep My instructions, you will both rule My house and take care of My courts; I will also grant you access among these who are standing here.

Now listen, Joshua, the high priest, you and your colleagues who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol [of what is to come]—for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch [in Messianic glory].

As for the stone I have set before Joshua -- on the one stone there are seven eyes. I am about to engrave an inscription on it,' says the Lord who rules over all, 'to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.

On that day, each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree.” This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,

and he saith unto me, 'What art thou seeing?' And I say, 'I have looked, and lo, a candlestick of gold -- all of it, and its bowl is on its top, and its seven lamps are upon it, and twice seven pipes are to the lights that are on its top,

So I said, "I have been watching and look! there is a menorah made completely of gold with a bowl on top of it. And there are seven lights on it, along with seven feeder channels to the lamps, which are also on top of it. Two olive trees are near it, one on the right side of the bowl and one on the left."

And I answer and speak unto the messenger who is speaking with me, saying, 'What are these, my lord?'

And the messenger who is speaking with me answereth and saith unto me, 'Hast thou not known what these are?' And I say, 'No, my lord.'

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

And there is a word of Jehovah to me, saying,

And a second time I said to him, “What are these two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes by which the golden oil is emptied?”

Then he said, “These are the two sons of fresh oil [Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the prince of Judah] who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth [as His anointed ones].”

And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.

Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.

And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.

And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.

And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

And I shall lift up mine eyes and see, and behold, two women will come forth, and the wind in their wings; and to them wings as the wings of the stork; and they shall lift up the ephah between the earth and between the heavens.

And I say unto the messenger who is speaking with me, 'Whither are they causing the ephah to go?'

And he said unto me, To build her a house in the land of Shinar: and when it is prepared, she shall be set there in her own place.

And I answer and say unto the messenger who is speaking with me, 'What are these, my lord?'

with the chariot with the black horses going toward the north country; then the one with the white horses follows after them [because there are two northern powers to overcome], and the chariot with the dappled horses goes toward the south country.”

As the strong horses went out, they wanted to go patrol the earth, and the Lord said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth.

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

“Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah [as representatives]; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon.

And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

Yea, he doth build the temple of Jehovah, And he doth bear away honour, And he hath sat and ruled on His throne, And hath been a priest on His throne, And a counsel of peace is between both.

And the crown is to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah.

{And then}, in the fourth year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah on [the] fourth [day] of the ninth month, [which is] Kislev.

What time as Sharezer and Regemmelech and the men that were with them, sent unto Bethel for to pray before the LORD:

And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me, saying:

"Talk to everyone in the land, as well as to the priests. Ask them, "When you were fasting and mourning during the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, were you really fasting for me?

When ye fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh months -- even these seventy years -- did ye keep the fast to Me -- Me? And when ye eat, and when ye drink, is it not ye who are eating, and ye who are drinking?

Isn't this what the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets, when a prosperous Jerusalem was inhabited, as were its surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah?'"

And there is a word of Jehovah unto Zechariah, saying:

This is what the Lord of armies has said: Let your judging be upright and done in good faith, let every man have mercy and pity for his brother:

Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:

"I will scatter them to all of the nations, which they have not known.'" Now the earth was left desolate after them. As a result, no one came or went because they had turned a pleasant land into a desert.

And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts, saying:

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "I'm greatly jealous about Zion, and that makes me furious about her.'

This is what the Lord has said: I have come back to Zion, and will make my living-place in Jerusalem: and Jerusalem will be named The town of good faith; and the mountain of the Lord of armies The holy mountain.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: There will again be old men and old women seated in the open spaces of Jerusalem, every man with his stick in his hand because he is so old.

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Surely it is wonderful in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, Also in Mine eyes it is wonderful, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will be the saviour of my people from the east country, and from the west country;

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Let your hands be strong, Ye who are hearing in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets, That in the day the house of Jehovah of Hosts Hath been founded, the temple is to be built.

For, before those days there hath been no hiring of man, Yea, a hiring of beasts there is none; And to him who is going out, And to him who is coming in, There is no peace because of the adversary, And I send all men -- each against his neighbour.

But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.

“For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the skies will yield their dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.

And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:

“so I have resolved again in these days to do what is good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Don’t be afraid.

These are the things which you are to do: Let every man say what is true to his neighbour; and let your judging give peace in your towns.

And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me, saying:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth [month to mourn the breaching of Jerusalem’s walls], the fast of the fifth [month to mourn the temple’s destruction], the fast of the seventh [month to mourn Gedaliah’s assassination], and the fast of the tenth [month to mourn the siege of Jerusalem] will become times of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so [to bring this about] love truth and peace.’

This is what the Lord of armies has said: It will again come about that when peoples and those living in great towns come,

And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD.

And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.

And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.

Lo, the Lord doth dispossess her, And He hath smitten in the sea her force, And she with fire is consumed.

See doth Ashkelon and fear, Also Gaza, and she is exceedingly pained, Also Ekron -- for her expectation dried up, And perished hath a king from Gaza, And Ashkelon doth not remain,

Strangers shall dwell at Ashdod, and as for the pride of the Philistines, I shall root it out.

And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.

Then I will camp around My house [as a guard] because of an army,
Because of him who passes by and returns;
And no oppressor will again overrun them (Israel),
For now My eyes are upon them [providentially protecting them].

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

And I have cut off the chariot from Ephraim, And the horse from Jerusalem, Yea, cut off hath been the bow of battle, And he hath spoken peace to nations, And his rule is from sea unto sea, And from the river unto the ends of earth.

As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

And they will come back to you, O daughter of Zion, as prisoners of hope: today I say to you that I will give you back twice as much;