Then responded they to the messenger of Yahweh, who was standing among the myrtle-trees, and said, We have gone to and fro through the earth, - and lo! all the earth, resteth and is quiet.

Then the messenger of Yahweh responded, and said, O Yahweh of hosts! How long wilt, thou, not have compassion upon Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, - against which thou hast had indignation these seventy years?

Wherefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, I have returned to Jerusalem, with compassions,, My house, shall be built therein, declareth Yahweh of hosts, and, a line, shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem.

Further, proclaim thou, saying, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Yet, shall my cities overflow with blessing! So will Yahweh yet, have compassion, upon Zion, and yet make choice of Jerusalem.

And I said unto the messenger who was speaking with me, What are these? And he said unto me, These, are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

And I said, What are these coming in to do? And he spake, saying, These, are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head, but these others have come in to put them in fear, to cast down the horns of the nations, the which have lifted up the horn against the land of Judah to scatter her.

Ho! ho! flee ye, therefore, out of the land of the North, urgeth Yahweh. For, as the four winds of the heavens, have I spread you abroad, declareth Yahweh.

Then responded he and spake unto those who were standing before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from off him; and he said unto him, See! I have caused to pass from off thee, thine iniquity, And will cause thee to be clothed in robes of state.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, If, in my ways, thou wilt walk, and if, of my charge, thou wilt keep charge, Then, even thou, shalt govern my house, Moreover also, thou shalt have charge of my courts, - and I will give thee free access among these who stand by.

For lo! the stone which I have set before Joshua, Upon one stone, are Seven (pairs of) Eyes, - Behold me! cutting the engraving thereof, declareth Yahweh of hosts. So will I take away the iniquity of that land in one day.

Then said he unto me, What canst thou see? And I said - I have looked, and lo! a Lampstand - all of gold, with the Bowl thereof upon the top thereof, and its Seven Lamps upon it, Seven Pipes each, to the lamps which are upon the top thereof;

The hands of Zerubbabel, have founded this house, and, his hands, shall finish it, - So shalt thou know that, Yahweh of hosts, hath sent me unto you.

therefore have I brought it forth, Declareth Yahweh of hosts, And it shall enter - into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth by my name, falsely, - and it shall roost in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, both the timbers thereof, and the stones thereof.

They in whose chariot are the black horses, are going forth into the land of the North, and, the white, have gone forth after them, - and, the spotted, have gone forth into the land of the South;

and, the deep red, have come forward and sought to go their way, that they might journey to and fro in the land, so he said, Go your way, journey to and fro in the land, - and they journeyed to and fro in the land.

Then made he outcry beside me, and spake unto me, saying, - See, these who are going forth into the land of the North, have settled my spirit in the land of the North.

Take of them of the exile, of Heldai, and of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, - then shalt, thou thyself, enter, on that day, yea thou shalt enter the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah, with them who have come in out of Babylon;

to speak unto the priests that pertained to the house of Yahweh of hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, - Shall I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

Should ye not have been doing the things which Yahweh, had proclaimed, by the hand of the former prophets, while yet Jerusalem was inhabited and in peace, with her cities round about her, - and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?

Thus, saith Yahweh, I have returned unto Zion, and will make my habitation in the midst of Jerusalem, - and Jerusalem, shall be called, The city of fidelity, and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts, The mountain of holiness.

And I will bring them in, and they shall have their habitation in the midst of Jerusalem, - and shall become my people, and, I, will become their God, In faithfulness and in righteousness.

So, have I again planned, in these days, to do good unto Jerusalem, and unto the house of Judah, - Do not fear!

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, In those days, it shall be that ten men out of all the tongues of the nations, shall take hold, - yea take hold of the skirt of every one that is a Jew, saying - We will go with you! For we have heard that , God, is with you.

Then will I encamp about my house - against an army, against him that passeth by, and against him that returneth, neither shall an exactor, tread them down any more, - for, now, have I seen with mine own eyes.

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

For I have bent for me - Judah, As a bow, have I grasped Ephraim, Thus will I rouse up thy sons, O Zion, against the sons of Greece, and will make thee as the sword of a mighty one.

For, the household gods, have spoken vanity, and, the diviners, have had vision of falsehood, and, deceitful dreams, do they relate, vainly, do they console, - for this reason, have they moved about like a flock, they suffer ill, because there is no shepherd.

So will I make mighty ones of the house of Judah, and, the house of Joseph, will I save, and will cause them to continue, because I have had compassion upon them, So shall they be as though I had not rejected them, - for, I, Yahweh, will be their God, and will answer them;

I will signal for them, and will gather them, because I have ransomed them, - and they shall multiply, according as they have multiplied;

Whose, buyers, slay them, and are not held guilty, and whose, sellers, say - Blessed be Yahweh, that I am become rich, And so, their own shepherds, have no pity upon them.

Surely I will have pity no longer upon the inhabitants of the earth, Declareth Yahweh, - Therefore lo! I am delivering up mankind, every man into the hand of his neighbour, and into the hand of his king, and they will crush the earth, nor will I deliver out of their hand.

But I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitant of Jerusalem, the spirit of favour, and of supplications, and they will look unto me, whom they have pierced, - and will wail over him, as one waileth over an only son, and will make bitter outcry over him, as one maketh bitter outcry over a firstborn.

And, this, shall be the plague wherewith Yahweh will plague all the peoples who have made war against Jerusalem, - his flesh, shall be made to rot, while he is standing upon his feet, and, his eyes, shall rot in their sockets, and, his tongue, shall rot in their mouth;