The angel of the Lord then asked, "Lord who rules over all, how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?"

Next I saw Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood there before the angel.

Listen now, Joshua the high priest, both you and your colleagues who are sitting before you, all of you are a symbol that I am about to introduce my servant, the Branch.

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.

Before he could reply I asked again, "What are these two extensions of the olive trees, which are emptying out the golden oil through the two golden pipes?"

The messenger replied, "These are the four spirits of heaven that have been presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

Before that time there was no compensation for man or animal, nor was there any relief from adversity for those who came and went, because I had pitted everybody -- each one -- against everyone else.

I will signal for them and gather them, for I have already redeemed them; then they will become as numerous as they were before.

On that day the Lord himself will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like mighty David, and the dynasty of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them.