Zechariah 1
The Lord called on the people to return to Him, promising to return to them if they did, and warning them not to follow in the footsteps of their forefathers who refused to listen to the prophets. A man was seen among myrtle trees, surrounded by horses, which were the ones the Lord sent to go throughout the earth, and they reported back that the world was at peace. The angel of the Lord asked how long the Lord would withhold mercy from Jerusalem, and the Lord responded with kind words, saying He would return to Jerusalem with mercy and rebuild His house. The Lord also promised to restore prosperity to His towns and comfort Zion and Jerusalem, and four craftsmen were seen who would terrify and throw down the horns of the nations that scattered Judah.
1In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:2"The LORD was very angry with your forefathers.3Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the LORD Almighty.4Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.' But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.5Where are your forefathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?6But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your forefathers? "Then they repented and said, 'The LORD Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.'" The Man Among the Myrtle Trees7On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo.8During the night I had a vision-and there before me was a man riding a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.9I asked, "What are these, my lord?" The angel who was talking with me answered, "I will show you what they are."10Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, "They are the ones the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth."11And they reported to the angel of the LORD, who was standing among the myrtle trees, "We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace."12Then the angel of the LORD said, "LORD Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?"13So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.14Then the angel who was speaking to me said, "Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,15but I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they added to the calamity.'16"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 'I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,' declares the LORD Almighty.17"Proclaim further: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.'"18Then I looked up-and there before me were four horns!19I asked the angel who was speaking to me, "What are these?" He answered me, "These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem."20Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen.21I asked, "What are these coming to do?" He answered, "These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people."
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