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:

therefore shalt thou say unto them, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Return ye unto me, urgeth Yahweh of hosts, - that I may return unto you, saith Yahweh of hosts.

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.

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:

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.

Then responded they to the messenger of Yahweh, who was standing among the myrtle-trees, and said, We have gone to and fro through the earth, - and lo! all the earth, resteth and is quiet.

Then the messenger of Yahweh responded, and said, O Yahweh of hosts! How long wilt, thou, not have compassion upon Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, - against which thou hast had indignation these seventy years?

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

Then the messenger who was speaking with me, said unto me, Proclaim thou, saying, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem, and for Zion, with a great jealousy;

Wherefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, I have returned to Jerusalem, with compassions,, My house, shall be built therein, declareth Yahweh of hosts, and, a line, shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem.

Further, proclaim thou, saying, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Yet, shall my cities overflow with blessing! So will Yahweh yet, have compassion, upon Zion, and yet make choice of Jerusalem.

Then Yahweh shewed me Four Craftsmen.

And, I, will become to her, declareth Yahweh, A wall of fire round about, - and, a glory, will I become in her midst.

Ho! ho! flee ye, therefore, out of the land of the North, urgeth Yahweh. For, as the four winds of the heavens, have I spread you abroad, declareth Yahweh.

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.

For behold me! brandishing my hand over them, and they shall become a spoil unto their own slaves, - and ye shall know that, Yahweh of hosts, hath sent me.

Sing out and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, - For behold me! coming in, and I will make my habitation in thy midst, declareth Yahweh.

Then shall many nations, join themselves, unto Yahweh, in that day, and shall become my people, - and I will make my habitation in thy midst, so shalt thou know that, Yahweh of hosts, hath sent me unto thee.

Thus will Yahweh inherit Judah, his portion, on the soil of the sanctuary, - and make choice, yet again, of Jerusalem.

Hush! all flesh, before Yahweh, - For he hath roused himself up out of his holy dwelling.

And he shewed me, Joshua the high priest, standing before the messenger of Yahweh, - and, the Accuser, standing at his right hand, to accuse him.

Then said Yahweh unto the Accuser, Yahweh rebuke thee, O Accuser, Yea Yahweh rebuke thee, he who is choosing Jerusalem, - Is not, this, a brand snatched out of the fire?

Then said I, Let them put a clean turban upon his head, - So they put the clean turban upon his head, and clothed him with garments, and, the messenger of Yahweh, was standing up.

So then the messenger of Yahweh did solemnly affirm unto Joshua, saying:

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, If, in my ways, thou wilt walk, and if, of my charge, thou wilt keep charge, Then, even thou, shalt govern my house, Moreover also, thou shalt have charge of my courts, - and I will give thee free access among these who stand by.

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.

In that day, declareth Yahweh of hosts, Ye shall invite one another, - to come under the vine and under the fig-tree.

Then responded he, and spake unto me, saying, This, is the word of Yahweh, unto Zerubbabel, saying, - Not by wealth, nor by strength, but by my spirit, saith Yahweh of hosts.

The hands of Zerubbabel, have founded this house, and, his hands, shall finish it, - So shalt thou know that, Yahweh of hosts, hath sent me unto you.

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.

therefore have I brought it forth, Declareth Yahweh of hosts, And it shall enter - into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth by my name, falsely, - and it shall roost in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, both the timbers thereof, and the stones thereof.

then shalt thou speak unto him, saying, Thus, speaketh Yahweh of hosts, saying, - Lo! a man! Bud, is his name, and, out of his own place, shall he bud forth, and shall build the temple of Yahweh;

Yea, he, shall build the temple of Yahweh, and, he, shall bear the honour, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, - and shall become a priest upon his throne, and, the counsel of peace, shall be between the two of them.

But, the crown, shall belong to Heldai and to Tobiah and to Jedaiah, and to Hen son of Zephaniah, - for a memorial in the temple of Yahweh.

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;

yea when Bethel sent Sherezer and Regemmelech, and his men, - to pacify the face of Yahweh:

to speak unto the priests that pertained to the house of Yahweh of hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, - Shall I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

Then came the word of Yahweh of hosts unto me, saying:

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 word of Yahweh came unto Zechariah, saying:

Thus, spake Yahweh of hosts, saying, - With true justice, give ye judgment, and, lovingkindness and compassions, observe ye, one with another;

and, their heart, turned they into adamant, that they might not hear the law, nor the words which Yahweh of hosts sent by his spirit, through the former prophets, - and so there came great wrath from Yahweh of hosts.

Therefore came it to pass that - just as he cried out and they hearkened not, so, used they to cry out, and I used not to hearken, saith Yahweh of hosts;

And the word of Yahweh of hosts came, saying:

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, I am jealous for Zion with a great jealousy, - Yea, with great wrath, am I jealous for her.

Thus, saith Yahweh, I have returned unto Zion, and will make my habitation in the midst of Jerusalem, - and Jerusalem, shall be called, The city of fidelity, and the mountain of Yahweh of hosts, The mountain of holiness.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Yet shall old men and old women sit in the broadways of Jerusalem, - Yea, each one with his staff in his hand for multitude of days:

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Because it will be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people, in those days, In mine own eyes also, shall it be marvellous? Demandeth Yahweh of hosts.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Behold me! saving my people out of the land of the dawn, - and out of the land of the going in of the sun;

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: -

But, now, not as in the former days, am I to this remnant of the people, - Declareth Yahweh of hosts;

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,

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 the word of Yahweh of hosts came unto me, saying:

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts - The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the eleventh, shall become to the house of Judah a gladness and a rejoicing, and pleasant appointed meetings, - But, truth and peace, see that ye love.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hoses, - It shall yet be that there shall come in peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities;

And the inhabitants of one city, shall go, unto them of another, saying, Let us be going on to pacify the face of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of hosts, - I also, will go!

So shall enter many peoples, and strong nations, to seek Yahweh of hosts in Jerusalem, - and to pacify the face of Yahweh.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, In those days, it shall be that ten men out of all the tongues of the nations, shall take hold, - yea take hold of the skirt of every one that is a Jew, saying - We will go with you! For we have heard that , God, is with you.

The oracle of the word of Yahweh on the land of Hadrach, and, Damascus, shall be the resting-place thereof, - For, Yahweh, hath an eye - to mankind, and to all the tribes of Israel;

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.

Yahweh of hosts, will throw a covering over them, so shall they eat, and trample underfoot sling-stones, and shall drink - shall shout as with wine, - and shall be filled like tossing-bowls, - like the corners of an altar.

So will Yahweh their God, save them, on that day. yea, as a flock of sheep, his people, - for they shall be like the jewels of a diadem sparkling over his land.

Ask ye from Yahweh rain, in the time of the latter rain, Yahweh, who causeth flashes of lightning, - and, rain in abundant showers, giveth he unto them, to every man, herbage in the field;

Against the shepherds, is kindled mine anger, and, upon the leaders of the flock, will I bring punishment, - for Yahweh of hosts hath visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his noble horse in battle:

So shall they become like mighty ones, trampling on the mire of lanes, in battle, and they will fight because, Yahweh, is with them, - and will abash the riders of horses.

So will I make mighty ones of the house of Judah, and, the house of Joseph, will I save, and will cause them to continue, because I have had compassion upon them, So shall they be as though I had not rejected them, - for, I, Yahweh, will be their God, and will answer them;

And they shall be as the mighty one of Ephraim, and their heart, shall rejoice, as through wine, - yea, their children, shall see and rejoice, their heart, shall exult, in Yahweh.

And I will make them mighty in Yahweh, and, in his name, shall they march to and fro, - Declareth Yahweh.

Thus, saith Yahweh my God, - Tend thou the flock doomed to slaughter:

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.

Surely I will have pity no longer upon the inhabitants of the earth, Declareth Yahweh, - Therefore lo! I am delivering up mankind, every man into the hand of his neighbour, and into the hand of his king, and they will crush the earth, nor will I deliver out of their hand.

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 Yahweh unto me, Cast it into the treasury, the magnificent price at which I had been valued by them! So I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them, in the house of Yahweh, into the treasury.

Then said Yahweh unto me, - Yet further take thee the implements of a worthless shepherd.

The oracle of the word of Yahweh, on Israel, - Declareth Yahweh - Stretching out the heavens, and founding the earth, and fashioning the spirit of man within him:

In that day, Declareth Yahweh, I will smite every horse with terror, and his rider with madness, - and, over the house of Judah, will I keep opening mine eyes, and, every horse of the peoples, will I smite with blindness.

Then will the chiefs of Judah say in their hearts, - A strength unto me, would be the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in Yahweh of hosts, their God.

But Yahweh will save the tents of Judah first, - lest the honour of the house of David, and the honour of the inhabitant of Jerusalem, should be magnified over Judah.

In that day, will Yahweh, throw a covering, around the inhabitant of Jerusalem, so shall the tottering among them, in that day, become like David, - and the house of David - like God, like the messenger of Yahweh, before them.

And it shall come to pass, in that day, declareth Yahweh of hosts, That I will cut off the names of idols out of the land, and they shall not be remembered any more, - Moreover also, even the prophets and the spirit of impurity, will I cause to pass away out of the land.

So shall it come about that, when any man shall prophesy again, then will his own father and his own mother, of whom he was born, say unto him, - Thou shalt not live! For falsehood hast thou spoken in the name of Yahweh, - So will his own father and his own mother of whom he was born, pierce him through, when he prophesieth,

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.

And it shall come to pass, in all the land, declareth Yahweh, Two-thirds therein, shall be cut off, and expire, - but, a third, shall be left therein;

And I will bring the third into the fire, and will smelt them as one smelteth silver, and will try them, as one trieth gold, - It, will call upon my name, and, I, will answer it, and will say, My people, it is! and, it, will say, Yahweh, is my God!

Lo! a day, cometh, pertaining to Yahweh, - when apportioned shall be thy spoil in thy midst;

Then will Yahweh go forth, and fight against those nations, - just as he did in the day when he fought, in the day of battle;

Then shall ye flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains, shall reach, very near, Yea, ye shall flee, just as ye fled from before the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, - Then, shall arrive, Yahweh my God, All thy holy ones, with thee!

And it shall be a day by itself, The same, shall be known unto Yahweh - Not day, nor night, - But it shall come to pass, that, at evening time, there shall be light.

So will Yahweh become king over all the earth, - In that day, shall there be one Yahweh, and, his Name, be one.

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, in that day, that there shall be a great confusion from Yahweh among them, - and they will lay hold every one upon the hand of his neighbour, and his hand, will rise up, against the hand of his neighbour;

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 it shall come to pass that - whoso shall not come up out of the families of the earth unto Jerusalem, to bow down to the king, Yahweh of hosts, - there shall not, on them, be any rain.

And, if the family of Egypt shall not come up, and shall not enter in, upon whom there falleth none, then shall smite them the plague wherewith Yahweh, did plague, the nations, because they came not up to celebrate the festival of booths.

In that day, shall there be inscribed upon the bells of the horses, Holy unto Yahweh, - and the caldrons in the house of Yahweh shall be like the dashing bowls before the altar.

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.