In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, son of Iddo, saying,

On the twenty-fourth day of [the] eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the prophet, son of Berekiah, son of Iddo, saying,

{I had a vision in the night}, and look, a man riding on a red horse. And he [was] standing between the myrtle shrubs that [were] in the ravine, and behind him [were] red, reddish-brown, and white horses.

And I asked, "What [are] these, my lord?" And the angel [who was] talking with me said, "I will show you what these are."

And {I am extremely angry} with the nations that are at ease, for [while] I was a little angry, they {furthered disaster}."

Therefore, thus says Yahweh: "I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion. My temple will be built in it," {declares} Yahweh of hosts, "and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem." '

And I said to the angel [who was] talking with me, "What [are] these?" And he said to me, "These [are] the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."

and I asked, "What [are] these coming to do?" And he answered, saying, "These [are] the horns that scattered Judah, {so that no man} lifted up his head; but these have come to frighten them, to strike down the horns of the nations that lifted a horn against the land of Judah to scatter it."

And I asked, "Where [are] you going?" And he answered me, "To measure Jerusalem to see what [is] its width and what [is] its length."

And I will be for it a wall of fire all around,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and I will be [the] glory in its midst.'"

For consider, the stone that {I set before} Joshua, on one stone [are] seven eyes. Look, {I am going to engrave an inscription on it},' {declares} Yahweh of hosts, 'and I will remove the guilt of that land in a single day.

And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see, and look, {a lampstand all of gold}, and a bowl [was] on its top, and its seven lamps on it, and seven lips on [each of] the lamps that [are] on its top.

And [there are] two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left."

And I answered and said to the angel [who was] talking to me, "What [are] these, my lord?"

And the angel [who was] talking with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these [are]?" And I said, "No, my lord."

'Who [are] you O great mountain? {Before} Zerubbabel [you will become] level ground, and he will bring out the top stone amid the shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" '"

"The hands of Zerubbabel have founded this house, and his hands will finish it. And you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you.

And I answered and said to him, "What [are] these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?"

And I replied a second [time] and asked him, "What [are] these two twigs of olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?"

And he replied to me, "Do you not know what these [are]?" And I said, "No, my lord."

And he asked me, "What [are] you seeing?" And I said, "I [am] seeing a flying scroll twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide."

And he said to me, "This [is] the curse going out over the surface of the whole earth. For everyone who steals has gone unpunished according to it, and [likewise] everyone who swears [falsely] has gone unpunished according to it.

'I have sent it out,' {declares} Yahweh of hosts, 'and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of the one swearing {falsely by my name}, and it will spend the night in that house and will destroy it, with its timber and its stone.'"

And the angel who was speaking to me went out, and he said to me, "{Please look up}! See what this [is] going out."

And I asked, "What [is] it?" And he said, "This [is] a basket going out. And he said, "This [is] their iniquity throughout all the earth.

And he said, "This [is] Wickedness!" And he thrust her [back down] into the basket, and threw the lead cover on top of it.

And he said to me, "To build for it a house in the land of Shinar, and [when] it is put in place, it will be placed there on its site."

{I looked up again}, and I saw, and look!--four chariots coming out from between two mountains, and the mountains [were] mountains of bronze.

And with the third chariot [there were] white horses, and with the fourth chariot [there were] strong dappled horses.

And I answered and said to the angel [that was] talking to me, "What [are] these, my lord?"

And the angel answered and said to me, "These [are] the four winds of the heavens going out after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.

{The one with} the black horses [is] going out to [the] north country, and the white [horses] go after them, while the dappled [ones] go to the south country."

When the strong [horses] went out, they were anxious to go to patrol the earth. And he said, "Go, patrol the earth." And they patrolled the earth.

And he cried out to me and said to me, "See those going out to [the] north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country."

Take [the] silver and gold and make a crown, and set [it] on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

And those who are far off will come and build the temple of Yahweh, and you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. And it will happen if you will listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God."

And when you eat and drink, are you not eating and drinking [for yourselves]?

[Are] not [these] the words that Yahweh proclaimed {through} the former prophets, when Jerusalem and {its surrounding towns} were inhabited and at ease, and the Negev and the Shephelah were inhabited?'"

You must not oppress [the] widow, [the] orphan, [the] foreigner, and [the] needy. You must not devise evil in your heart {against one another}.'

'And I scattered them with a wind among all the nations that they had not known; the land was made desolate behind them-- no one crossing through [it] or returning--and they made the desirable land a desolation.'"

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

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.

For before those days there was no wage for people or for animals, and there was no safety from the enemy for those who went out or those who came in, and I sent each person against {one another}.

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],

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

and also Hamath, [which] borders on it; Tyre and Sidon--yes, they are very wise!

Tyre has built a fortification for itself, and it heaped up silver like dust, and gold like [the] mud of [the] streets.

Look! The Lord will drive it out and will hurl its outer ramparts into the sea, and it will be consumed by fire.

I will remove its blood from its mouth, and its abominations from between its teeth. And it too will be a remnant for our God; and it will be like a tribal chief in Judah, and Ekron [will be] like [the] Jebusite.

But I will encamp at my temple [like a] guard, against those crossing through and returning; no oppressor will cross through them again, for now I have seen with my [own] eyes.

Then Yahweh will appear over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning; and my Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, and he shall go out in the storm winds of [the] south.

From them [the] cornerstone will go out, from them [the] tent peg, from them [the] battle bow, from them every ruler, [all] together.

And I took my staff Kindness and broke it, to break my covenant that I {had made} with all the peoples.

And it was broken on that day. Then the afflicted of the flock, the [ones who were] watching me, knew that it [was] the word of Yahweh.

And I said to them, "If {it seems right to you}, give [me] my wages, but if not, {keep them}." And they weighed out my wages, thirty silver [shekels].

And Yahweh said to me, "Throw it to the potter," {this noble price} [at] which I was valued by them!" So I took the thirty silver [shekels] and I threw them to the potter [in] the house of Yahweh.

An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. "{Thus declares} Yahweh, who stretches out [the] heavens, founds [the] earth, and forms the spirit of humankind in its midst:

'Look, I [am] going to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding nations; it will also be against Judah in the siege against Jerusalem.

{And then} on that day I will make Jerusalem a stone weight for all the peoples. All those lifting it up will grievously hurt themselves, and all the nations of the earth will assemble against it.

On that day,' {declares} Yahweh, 'I will strike every horse with confusion, and the one riding it with madness; but over the house of Judah {I will keep my eyes open}, and I will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.

" 'On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a pan of fire among [sticks of] wood, and like a torch of fire among stalks of grain, and they will devour to [the] right and to [the] left all the surrounding peoples, and Jerusalem will be inhabited again [in] its place, in Jerusalem.

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." '"

{And then} in all the land," {declares} Yahweh, "{two thirds} will be cut off and perish, and one third will be left alive in it.

There shall be continuous day--it is known to Yahweh--not day and not night; and at evening time there will be light.

{And then} on that day, living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea, and the other half to the western sea; it will happen [both] in the summer and in the winter.

All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of [the] former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.

And they will dwell in it, and {there will be no more ban imposed}, and Jerusalem will dwell in security.

And Judah also will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected--gold and silver, and garments {in great abundance}.

{And then} whoever of the clans of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, it will not rain on them.