And the angel who was talking to me said to me, Let your voice be loud and say, These are the words of the Lord of armies: I am greatly moved about the fate of Jerusalem and of Zion.

Therefore thus sayeth the LORD: I will turn me again in mercy toward Jerusalem, so that my house shall be builded in it, sayeth the LORD of Hosts: yea and the plummet shall be laid abroad in Jerusalem, sayeth the LORD of Hosts.'

And again let your voice be loud and say, This is what the Lord of armies has said: My towns will again be overflowing with good things, and again the Lord will give comfort to Zion and take Jerusalem for himself.

Let all flesh be silent before Jehovah; for he is risen up out of his holy habitation.

And he let me see Joshua, the high priest, in his place before the angel of the Lord, and the Satan at his right hand ready to take up a cause against him.

And he made answer and said to those who were there before him, Take the unclean robes off him, and let him be clothed in clean robes;

And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.

Give ear now, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your friends who are seated before you; for these are men who are a sign: for see, I will let my servant the Branch be seen.

For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

And he said to me, What do you see? And I said, I see a light-support, made all of gold, with its cup on the top of it and seven lights on it; and there are seven pipes to every one of the lights which are on the top of it;

‘What are you, O great mountain [of obstacles]? Before Zerubbabel [who will rebuild the temple] you will become a plain (insignificant)! And he will bring out the capstone [of the new temple] with loud shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.

For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes will joyfully look on the tin tablet in Zerubbabel's hand. (These are the eyes of the Lord, which constantly range across the whole earth.)

And I made answer and said to him, What are these two olive-trees on the right side of the light-support and on the left?

Then said he unto me, This, is the curse, which is going forth over the face of all the earth, - Because, every one who stealeth, on the one side, hath in one way been let off, and, every one who sweareth, on the other side, hath in another way been let off,

And the angel who was talking to me went out and said to me, Let your eyes be lifted up now, and see the ephah which is going out.

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.

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:

And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.

For before those days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; and there was no peace for him that went out or that came in, because of the distress: for I let loose all men, every one against his neighbour.

For I will let the seed of peace be planted; the vine will give her fruit and the land will give her increase and the heavens will give their dew; and I will give to the rest of this people all these things for their heritage.

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.

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 let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.

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 says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men [as representatives] from all the nations will grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; make a loud noise, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king shall come to thee: just, and saving; he is humble and riding upon an ass, and upon an ass's colt the son of asses.

Thou also, through the blood of thy covenant, shalt let thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water.

I will bend Judah as my bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, my arrow! I will stir up your sons, Zion, against yours, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, like a warrior's sword.

Ask the Lord for rain in the season of the late spring rains -- the Lord who causes thunderstorms -- and he will give everyone showers of rain and green growth in the field.

I am enraged at the shepherds and will punish the lead-goats. For the Lord who rules over all has brought blessing to his flock, the house of Judah, and will transform them into his majestic warhorse.

Let your doors be open, O Lebanon, so that fire may be burning among your cedars.

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
Because the magnificent trees have been destroyed;
Wail, O oaks of Bashan,
For the inaccessible forest [on the steep mountainside] has come down.

A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! for their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! for the pride of the Jordan is laid waste.

Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

And I said to them, If it is good, give My price; and if not, let it go. So they weighed My price thirty pieces of silver.

For see, I will put a sheep-keeper over the land, who will have no care for that which is cut off, and will not go in search of the wanderers, or make well what is broken, and he will not give food to that which is ill, but he will take for his food the flesh of the fat, and let their feet be broken.

An Oracle

The word of the Lord concerning Israel.
A declaration of the Lord,
who stretched out the heavens,
laid the foundation of the earth,
and formed the spirit of man within him.

O Sword! awake against my shepherd, even against the man that is my companion, urgeth Yahweh of hosts, - Smite the shepherd, and let the flock, be scattered, Howbeit I will turn back my hand over the little ones.

I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, and they will loot the houses, and the women will be raped; half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be cut off from the city.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

And it was in that day there shall be great consternation of Jehovah among them; and they laid hold each upon the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall come up upon the hand of his neighbor.