I asked, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel who was talking to me replied, “I will show you what they are.”

Then the Angel of the Lord responded, “How long, Lord of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that You have been angry with these 70 years?”

So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?”

And he said to me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

I asked, “What are they coming to do?”

He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so no one could raise his head. These craftsmen have come to terrify them, to cut off the horns of the nations that raised their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

“This is what the Lord of Hosts says: If you walk in My ways and keep My instructions, you will both rule My house and take care of My courts; I will also grant you access among these who are standing here.

“Listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your colleagues sitting before you; indeed, these men are a sign that I am about to bring My servant, the Branch.

Then I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”

For who scorns the day of small things? These seven eyes of the Lord, which scan throughout the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”

Then he inquired of me, “Don’t you know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I replied.

“These are the two anointed ones,” he said, “who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

So I inquired of the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel told me, “These are the four spirits of heaven going out after presenting themselves to the Lord of the whole earth.

by asking the priests who were at the house of the Lord of Hosts as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done these many years?”

“Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these 70 years, did you really fast for Me?

Aren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and secure, along with its surrounding cities, and when the southern region and the Judean foothills were inhabited?”

The Lord of Hosts says this: “Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words that the prophets spoke when the foundations were laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of the Lord of Hosts.

“For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the skies will yield their dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.

“so I have resolved again in these days to do what is good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Don’t be afraid.

These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another; make true and sound decisions within your gates.

If someone asks him: What are these wounds on your chest?—then he will answer: I received the wounds in the house of my friends.