"Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? And what does it look like now? From what you can see, it seems like nothing, doesn't it?

"My Spirit continues to dwell among you, according to the covenant I established when you came out from Egypt. Don't be afraid!'

"For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Once more, in a little while, I will make the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land to shake.

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Ask the priests about what the Law says:

Then Haggai answered, ""That's how I look at this people and this nation,' declares the LORD. "And that's how it is with everything they undertake and with what they offer there it is unclean.

When someone came to a pile of grain to get 20 measures, there were only ten. Or when someone approached the wine press to siphon out 50 measures, there were only 20.

In the eighth month of the second year of the reign of Darius, this message from the LORD came to Berechiah's son Zechariah, the grandson of Iddo the prophet:

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.'

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month (the month Shebat) in the second year of the reign of Darius, this message from the LORD came to Berechiah's son Zechariah, the grandson of Iddo the prophet:

"I stared into the night, and there was a man mounted on a red horse! The horse was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him there were red, brown, and white horses."

The man who stood among the myrtle trees answered, "These are the ones whom the LORD sent out to wander throughout the earth."

Then they reported to the angel of the LORD who stood among the myrtle trees, "We have wandered throughout the earth and look! the entire earth is at rest. Everything is quiet and peaceful."

And the angel of the LORD replied, "LORD of the Heavenly Armies, how long will it be until you show mercy to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, with whom you have been angry for these past 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."'"

I asked the angel who was talking to me, "What are those?" So he answered me, "Those are the forces that have dispersed Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem."

Then I asked, "What have they come to do?" He answered, "Those horns that dispersed Judah so that no one could lift up his head those artisans are coming to disrupt the power of nations, tearing them down now that they've come to power and dispersed the land of Judah."

I asked, "Where are you going?" He responded, "To measure Jerusalem in order to determine its width and length."

That other angel told him, "Run and tell that young man: "Jerusalem will be an inhabited city without walls due to the number of people and livestock within it.

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.

"Many nations will cling to the LORD at that time and will become my people. I will live in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has sent me to you.

Then I saw Joshua the High Priest standing in the presence of the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right to oppose him.

"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.

At that time,' declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "you will invite each of your neighbors to join you under the vine and fig tree.'"

Then he asked me, "What do you see?"

So I said, "I have been watching and look! there is a menorah made completely of gold with a bowl on top of it. And there are seven lights on it, along with seven feeder channels to the lamps, which are also on top of it. Two olive trees are near it, one on the right side of the bowl and one on the left."

Then I asked the angel who had been speaking with me, "Sir, what are these?"

The angel who had been speaking with me answered by asking, "You don't know what these mean, do you?" So I responded, "No, sir."

"Who are you, great mountain? You will become a plain in Zerubbabel's presence, and he will position the capstone, exulting over it, "How beautiful! How beautiful!"'"

"Zerubbabel's hands have laid the foundation of this Temple, and his hands will finish it, so that you will know that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has sent me to all of you.

Then I asked the angel, "What are these two olive trees, one on the right of the menorah and one on the left?"

I also asked him a second question: "What are these two olive branches on either side of the two golden feeder channels that carry the golden oil to the seven lights?"

The angel replied, "You don't know what these are, do you?" I responded to him, "No, sir."

And the angel asked me, "What do you see?" I answered him, "I'm looking at a flying scroll. It's 20 cubits long and ten cubits wide."

He responded to me, "This is the curse that is going out over the surface of the whole earth, because, according to this side of the scroll, all thieves will be ejected, and according to the other side of the scroll, all liars will be ejected."

Then the angel who had been talking with me stepped forward and told me, "Please look up and see what's going out."

So I asked, "What is it?" He replied, "This is a basket making its appearance." He also said, "This is what it appears to be in the entire land."

Then I looked up to see two women coming forward with the wind filling their wings. (They had wings like those of a stork.) They took up the basket, holding it between the earth and sky.

Then I looked up and saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains! And the mountains were made of brass!

Attached to the third chariot were white horses. Attached to the fourth chariot were speckled horses and gray horses.

In response, I asked the angel who had been talking with me, "Sir, what are these?"

The angel told me, "These are four heavenly spirits that are going out on patrol after having presented themselves to the Lord of the whole earth.

The black horses are headed into the north country, and the white ones are headed out after them. The speckled horses are headed toward the south country."

Then the gray horses went out. They were eager to go out on patrol throughout the earth, so the angel said, "Go patrol the earth." So they went out on patrol throughout the earth.

"Go take up an offering from those who came out of the Babylonian exile, that is, from Heldai, from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah. Go along with them today into the house of Zephaniah's son Josiah, who returned from Babylon.

Then tell him, "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Here is the man whose name is The Branch. He will branch out from where he is and will rebuild the Temple of the LORD.

And when you eat and drink, you're eating and drinking for your own benefit, aren't you?

Isn't this what the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets, when a prosperous Jerusalem was inhabited, as were its surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah?'"

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Administer true justice, and show gracious love and mercy toward each other.

You are not to wrong the widow, orphans, the foreigner, or the poor, and you are not to plan evil against each other.

Therefore, just as when I cried out and they would not listen, so also they will cry out, and I will not listen,' says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "I'm greatly jealous about Zion, and that makes me furious about her.'

"This is what the LORD says: "I will return to Zion and I will live in the midst of Jerusalem. And Jerusalem will be called, "The City of Truth" and the mountain of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will be called, "The Holy Mountain".'

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "There will yet be old men and old women sitting in the parks of Jerusalem, each one of them holding canes in their hands due to their old age!

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "It may seem impossible to the survivors of this people, but is it impossible for me?' declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Look! After having saved my people from the land of the east and from the land of the west,

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Be strong so the Temple can be built, you who are now listening to this message spoken by the prophets when the foundation was laid to the Temple of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Just as I intended to bring harm to you when your ancestors angered me,' says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and I did not relent,

so I have decided at this time to do good things for Jerusalem and for the house of Judah. So stop being afraid.

Here's what you must do: tell the truth to your neighbors, administer true and peaceful justice in your courtrooms,

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "The fasts that occur in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will be joyful and glad times for the house of Judah, replete with cheerful festivals. Therefore, love truth and peace.'"

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "In the future, people will come, including residents of many cities,

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "In the future, ten men speaking all the languages of the nations will grab hold of one Jewish person by the hem of his garment and say, "Let us go up to Jerusalem with you, because we heard that God is with you."'"

Also Hamath, which borders on it along with Tyre and Sidon indeed they are very wise.

Look! The Lord will evict her, striking at her power in the sea, and she will be consumed by fire.

Ashkelon will see it happen and will be terrified; Gaza will tremble greatly. Ekron will be ashamed of her expectations, Gaza's king will perish, and Ashkelon will become uninhabited.

I will remove the blood from its mouth, along with its abominations from between its teeth. Its survivors will be dedicated to our God; It will be like a clan of Judah, and Ekron will be as a Jebusite.

"Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

For I have bent Judah as if it were my bow, loading it with Ephraim. I raised up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, wielding you like a mighty warrior's sword."

The LORD will appear over them his arrow will shoot like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and go out with the southern windstorm.

The LORD their God will save them at that time as his very own flock of people, because they are his crown jewels, exalted throughout his land.

I will bring them once again out of the land of Egypt, gathering them from Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, but there will not be enough space for them.

This is what the LORD my God says: "Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.

Therefore I will no longer show compassion upon those who live in the land," declares the LORD. "Look! I will deliver every single person into the control of his neighbor and into the control of the king. Even though they assault the land, I will not deliver it from their control."

So I said, "I will no longer be your shepherd. Let those who are about to die perish, and let what is about to be destroyed be destroyed. As for the survivors, let them devour each other."

Then I took the staff that I had named "Pleasant" and broke it, showing I was breaking my covenant that I had made with all of the people.

It was broken at that time so the oppressed of the flock who were observing me would know that it had been a message from the LORD.

I told them, "If it's alright with you, pay me what I've earned. But if it isn't, don't." So they paid out what I had earned 30 pieces of silver.

A declaration: a message from the LORD to Israel. "The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who frames the spirit of man within himself, declares,

It will come about at that time that I will make Jerusalem a heavy weight; so everyone who burdens themselves with it will be crushed, even though all of the nations of the earth gather themselves against it.

At that time,' declares the LORD, "I will strike every horse with panic and every rider with insanity. I will keep my eyes on the house of Judah, but I will blind every horse of the invading armies.

"At that time, I will make the leaders of Judah like a brazier filled with blazing wood, or like a torch setting fire to harvested grain. They will devour all the invading armies, both on the right hand and on the left. As a result, Jerusalem will again be inhabited in its rightful place as the real Jerusalem.'"

At that time, the LORD will defend those who live in Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them at that time will be like David. The entire house of David will be like God indeed, like the angel of the LORD in their midst!

""At that time, I will search out and destroy all of the nations who have come against Jerusalem.

I will pour out on the house of David and on the residents of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications, and they will look to me the one whom they pierced.'"

Then they will mourn for him, as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him, as for a firstborn son. At that time, Jerusalem will mourn deeply, like the mourning about Hadad-rimmon that took place in the plain of Megiddo.

At that time, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for those who live in Jerusalem so they can be cleansed from sin and ceremonial impurity.

"At that time," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "I will eliminate the names of the idols from the land, and they will not be remembered anymore. I will also force both prophet and demon to leave the land.

It will also come about that if any man would dare to prophesy, then his father and his mother who bore him will respond to him, "You will not live, because you are speaking lies in the name of the LORD.' Then his father and mother who bore him will stab him for prophesying.

Furthermore, it will come about at that time that every prophet will become ashamed of his vision as he prophesies. They will wear no rough garments intended to deceive others."

"Someone will say to him, "What are these injuries to your hands?' "He will reply, ""what I received at my friend's house.'

It will come about in all of the land," declares the LORD, "that two thirds of the people living there will die, but a third will survive who live there.

I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem, to lay siege against it. The city will be captured, the houses will be ransacked, the women raped, and half of the city will go into exile, but the remaining people will not be cut off from the city.

Then the LORD will go out to battle against those nations, waging war as in a day of battle.

"At that time, the daylight will be neither bright nor overcast.

It will be a unique day, known only to the LORD neither daytime nor nighttime and it will come about at twilight there will be light!

At that time, flowing waters will run perennially from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half to the Mediterranean Sea.

The LORD will be king over all the earth at that time. There will be one LORD, and his name the only one.