In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Yahweh unto Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, the prophet, saying: -

Yahweh, was sore displeased, with your fathers:

Do not become like your fathers, unto whom the former prophets, proclaimed, saying, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Return, I pray you, from your wicked ways, and from your wicked practices; but they heard not, nor hearkened unto me, declareth Yahweh.

Your fathers, where are they? and, the prophets, to times age-abiding, do they live?

Howbeit, as for my words and my statutes with which I charged my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? and so they returned and said, Just as Yahweh of hosts planned to do unto us, according to our ways and according to our practices, So hath he dealt with us?

Upon the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the same, is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Yahweh unto Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, the prophet, as followeth:

I looked by night, And lo! a man riding upon a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees, in the shade; and, after him, were horses, red, bay, and white.

Then said I, What are these, my lord? And the messenger who was speaking with me, said unto me, I, will shew thee what these, are.

So the man who was standing among the myrtle-trees responded, and said, - These, are they whom Yahweh, hath sent, to go to and fro through the earth.

And Yahweh answered the messenger who was speaking with me, in words that were pleasant, - words that were consoling,

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.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, For his own honour, hath he sent me unto the nations that are spoiling you, - Surely, he that toucheth you, toucheth the pupil of mine eye.

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.

Hear, I pray thee, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy friends who are sitting before thee, for, men to serve as signs, they are, - For behold me! bringing in my servant, the Bud;

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;

Then responded I, and said unto the messenger who was speaking with me, saying, - What are these, my lord?

Then answered the messenger who was speaking with me, and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these, are? And I said, No my lord.

For who hath despised the day of small things? Yet shall they rejoice, when they see the plummet-stone in the hand of Zerubbabel, - these seven! The eyes of Yahweh, they are - running to and fro throughout all the earth.

Then responded I, and said unto him, - What are these two olive-trees, upon the right of the lampstand, and upon the left thereof?

And I responded a second time, and said unto him, - What are the two branches of the olive- trees which join the two golden tubes, which empty out of them the golden oil?

And he spake unto me, saying, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord.

Then said he, These, are the two Anointed Ones, - who stand near the Lord of all the earth.

Then said I unto the messenger who was speaking with me, - Whither are they carrying the ephah?

And once again I lifted mine eyes, and looked, and lo! four chariots, coming forward from between two mountains, - now, the mountains, were mountains of copper.

In the first chariot, were red horses, - and, in the second chariot, black horses;

Then began I, and said, unto the messenger who was speaking with me, - What are these, my lord?

And the messenger answered, and said unto me, - These, are the four winds of the heavens, coming forward after each hath presented itself near the Lord of all the earth.

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.

And, they who are afar off, shall come in and shall build at the temple of Yahweh, so shall yea know that, Yahweh of hosts, hath sent me unto you, - and it shall come to pass if ye will, indeed hearken, unto the voice of Yahweh your God.

And it came to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king, that the word of Yahweh came unto Zechariah, on the fourth of the ninth month, in Chisleu;

And, when ye used to eat and when ye used to drink, was it not, of your own accord, ye did eat, and, of your own accord, ye did drink?

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?

And, the widow and the fatherless, the sojourner and the humbled, do not ye oppress, - and, wickedness between one man and another, do not ye devise in your hearts.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Let your hands be strong, ye who are hearing, in these days, these words, - from the mouth of the prophets who, on the day the house of Yahweh of hosts, was founded, foretold that, the temple, should be built: -

And it shall come to pass that - Just as ye had become a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, So, will I save you, and ye shall become a blessing, - Do not fear, let your hands, be strong.

For, thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Just as I planned to bring calamity upon you, when your fathers provoked me, saith Yahweh of hosts, - and I relented not,

These, are the things which ye shall do: Speak ye the truth, every man with his neighbour, truth and the sentence of peace, pronounce ye in your gates;

And let, no man, devise, the injury of his neighbour, in your heart, and the oath of falsehood, do not love, - for, all these, are things which I hate, declareth Yahweh.

And will take away his reeking prey out of his mouth, and his abominations, from between his teeth, but, he that is left, even he, shall belong to our God, - So shall he become as a chief in Judah, and, Ekron, as a Jebusite!

So will he cut off the chariot out of Ephraim, and the horse out of Jerusalem, and the war-bow, shall be cut off, So shall he speak peace to the nations, and, his dominion, shall be from sea to sea, and from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

But, Yahweh, over them, will appear, and forth shall go, as lightning, his arrow, - Yea, My Lord Yahweh, with a horn, will blow, and will move along in the whirlwinds of the south.

From him, the commander, from him, the supporter, from him, the war-bow, - from him, shall proceed every one that driveth on, together;

Howl, fir-tree, for fallen is the cedar, because, the majestic ones, are spoiled: howl, ye oaks of Bashan, for the inaccessible forest, hath come down.

The noise of the howling of the shepherds, for spoiled is their majesty, - The noise of the roaring of the young lions, for spoiled are the proud banks of the Jordan.

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.

When it was broken, on that day, then did the sheep- merchants who were watching me, know, that, the word of Yahweh, it was.

Then said I unto them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my wage, and, if not, forbear. So they weighed out my wage, thirty pieces of silver.

Then will one say unto him, What are these wounds between thy hands? And he will say, Wherewith I was wounded in the house of them who loved me.

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;

And it shall come to pass, that, as for every one that is left out of all the nations that came against Jerusalem, that they shall come up, from year to year, to bow down to the king, Yahweh of hosts, and to celebrate the festival of booths.

And every caldron in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be Holy unto Yahweh of hosts, - So shall all who are offering sacrifice, come in, and take of them, and boil therein, - Neither shall there be a merchant any more in the house of Yahweh of hosts, in that day.