So tell them, "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Return to me," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and I will return to you.

Don't be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets proclaimed: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "It's time to turn from your evil lifestyles and from your evil actions," "but they would neither listen nor pay attention to me,'" declares the LORD.'

Only, My words, and My statutes, That I commanded My servants the prophets, Have they not overtaken your fathers, And they turn back and say: As Jehovah of Hosts designed to do to us, According to our ways, and according to our doings, So He hath done to us?'

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 answer the messenger of Jehovah who is standing between the myrtles, and say, 'We have walked up and down in the land, and lo, all the land is sitting still, and at rest.'

And the messenger of Jehovah will answer and say, O Jehovah of armies, how long wilt thou not compassionate Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with whom thou wert very angry this seventy years?

Then the angel who was speaking to me told me, "Announce this: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "I have a deep concern for Jerusalem, a great concern for Zion.

"Therefore this is what the LORD says: "I have returned to Jerusalem with compassionate intentions. My Temple will be rebuilt there," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem."'"

"Also announce the following: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "My cities will again overflow with prosperity. The LORD will comfort Zion once more and will choose Jerusalem again."'"

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.'

And I say, 'What are these coming in to do?' And He speaketh, saying: 'These are the horns that have scattered Judah, so that no one hath lifted up his head, and these come in to trouble them, to cast down the horns of the nations who are lifting up a horn against the land of Judah -- to scatter it.'

And I say, 'Whither are thou going?' And he saith unto me, 'To measure Jerusalem, to see how much is its breadth, and how much its length.'

And he said to him, "Run, say to that young man, 'Jerusalem shall be inhabited {like villages without walls} because of the multitude of people and animals in its midst.

But I (the Lord says) will be a wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem and the source of glory in her midst.'"

"You there! Flee from the northland!" says the Lord, "for like the four winds of heaven I have scattered you," says the Lord.

For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "In pursuit of glory I was sent to the nations who plundered you, because whoever injures you injures the pupil of my eye.

"I am about to punish them in such a way," he says, "that they will be looted by their own slaves." Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me.

"Sing out and be happy, Zion my daughter! For look, I have come; I will settle in your midst," says the Lord.

And Jehovah will say to the adversary, And Jehovah will rebuke in thee, thou adversary: and Jehovah having chosen in Jerusalem will rebuke in thee: is not this a fire-brand snatched from the fire?

And he will answer and say to them standing before him, saying, Remove the filthy garments from off him, And he will say to him, See, I caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and clothed thee with festive garments.

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "If you will live according to my ways, and if you will keep what I have entrusted to you, then you will also administer my Temple, and you will also guard my courtyards. And I will give you access to these who serve here.

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.

In that day,' says the Lord who rules over all, 'everyone will invite his friend to fellowship under his vine and under his fig tree.'"

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,

And I shall answer and say to the messenger 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 replied to me, "This is this message from the LORD to Zerubbabel: "Not by valor nor by strength, but only by my Spirit,' says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

And I answer and say unto him, 'What are these two olive-trees, on the right of the candlestick, and on its left?'

And I answer a second time, and say unto him, 'What are the two branches of the olive trees that, by means of the two golden pipes, are emptying out of themselves the oil?'

And he speaketh unto me, saying, 'Hast thou not known what these are?' And I say, 'No, my lord.'

And he will say, These the two sons of new oil standing by the Lord, of all the earth.

And he saith unto me, 'What art thou seeing?' And I say, 'I am seeing a flying roll, its length twenty by the cubit, and its breadth ten by the cubit.'

The speaker went on to say, "This is a curse traveling across the whole earth. For example, according to the curse whoever steals will be removed from the community; or on the other hand (according to the curse) whoever swears falsely will suffer the same fate."

"I will send it out," says the Lord who rules over all, "and it will enter the house of the thief and of the person who swears falsely in my name. It will land in the middle of his house and destroy both timber and stones."

And the messenger speaking with me will go forth and say to me, Lift up now thine eyes and see what this going forth.

And I say, 'What is it?' And he saith, 'This -- the ephah that is coming forth.' And he saith, 'This is their aspect in all the land.

And he will say, This injustice. And he will cast her into the midst of the ephah; and he will cast a stone of lead upon its mouth.

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

And he will say to me, To build for it a house in the land of Shiner: and it was prepared, and set there upon her base.

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

And the messenger will answer and say to me, These the four spirits of the heavens going forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

And the fleet went forth and they will seek to go in order to go to and fro in the earth: and he will say, Go; go to and fro in the earth. And they will go to and fro in the earth.

And say to him, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Look, [here is] a man whose name [is] Branch, and from his place he will sprout, and he will build the temple of Yahweh.

And to say to the priests of the house of the Lord of armies and to the prophets, Am I to go on weeping in the fifth month, separating myself as I have done in past years?

"Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: 'When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Judge [with] trustworthy justice, and show steadfast love and compassion {to one another}.

'Thus, just as I called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear,' says Yahweh of hosts.

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: '{I am exceedingly jealous for Zion}; I am jealous for it [with] great wrath.'

Thus says Yahweh: 'I have returned to Zion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be called the faithful city, and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts [will be called] the holy mountain.'

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Old men and old women shall again sit in the public squares of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand {because of great age}.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: '[Even] if it seems impossible {to the remnant} of this people in those days, should it also seem impossible {to me}?' {declares} Yahweh of hosts.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Look! I [am] going to save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the west,

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Let your hands be strong, you who are hearing in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who [were present] on [the] day {the foundation was laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of Yahweh of hosts}.

But I will be different now to this remnant of my people from the way I was in those days,' says the Lord who rules over all,

For thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Just as I planned to bring disaster on you when your ancestors provoked me to anger," says Yahweh of hosts, "and I did not regret [it],

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.

Do not plan evil in your hearts against one another. Do not favor a false oath -- these are all things that I hate,' says the Lord."

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'The fast of the fourth [month], the fifth [month], the seventh [month], and the tenth [month] will be for the house of Judah jubilation and joy and merry festivals; therefore love truth and peace.'

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: '[It will happen] again that nations and the inhabitants of many cities will come.

and they will travel from one place to another place and say, "Let's go quickly to pray in the presence of the LORD and to inquire of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.' And I will go, too.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'In those days ten men from {all the nations of every language} will take hold of the hem of a Judean man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard [that] God [is] with you!" '"

And he will have the war-carriage cut off from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be cut off: and he will say words of peace to the nations: and his rule will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

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;

"I (says the Lord) will strengthen the kingdom of Judah and deliver the people of Joseph and will bring them back because of my compassion for them. They will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and therefore I will hear them.

Thus I will strengthen them by my power, and they will walk about in my name," says the Lord.

Thus says Yahweh my God: "Shepherd the flock [doomed] to slaughter.

The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, 'Blessed [be] Yahweh, for I have become rich.' Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land," says the Lord, "but instead I will turn every last person over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them."

And I say, 'I do not feed you, the dying, let die; and the cut off, let be cut off; and the remaining ones, let each eat the flesh of its neighbour.'

And I say unto them: 'If good in your eyes, give my hire, and if not, forbear;' and they weigh out my hire -- thirty silverlings.

And Jehovah will say to me, Cast it to the potter: a splendor of price which I was prized of them. And I shall take the thirty of silver and cast it in the house of Jehovah, to the potter.

And Jehovah will say to me, Yet take to thee the vessels of a foolish shepherd.

The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord -- he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person -- says,

In that day," says the Lord, "I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses of the nations with blindness.

And the clans of Judah will say {to themselves}, "The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a strength to us, through Yahweh of hosts, their God."

And also on that day," says the Lord who rules over all, "I will remove the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

{And then}, if anyone prophesies again, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him, "You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of Yahweh!" And his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through when he prophesies.

but he will say, "I [am] not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man has acquired me since my youth."

And someone shall say to him, "What [are] these wounds {between your arms}?" and he will say, "Those I have received [in] the house of [the ones who] love me." '"

"Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate," says the Lord who rules over all. Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

It will happen in all the land, says the Lord, that two-thirds of the people in it will be cut off and die, but one-third will be left in it.

And I will bring the [remaining] third into the fire, and I will refine them like [one] refines silver, and I will test them like [one] tests gold. They will call my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'Yahweh [is] my God.'"