¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long^(A) will you withhold mercy^(B) from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah,^(C) which you have been angry with these seventy^(D) years?” ¹³ So the Lord spoke^(E) kind and comforting words^(F) to the angel who talked with me.^(G)

¹⁴ Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous^(H) for Jerusalem and Zion, ¹⁵ and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure.^(I) I was only a little angry,^(J) but they went too far with the punishment.’^(K)

¹⁶ “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return^(L) to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line^(M) will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.^(N)

¹⁷ “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort^(O) Zion and choose^(P) Jerusalem.’”^(Q)

Four Horns and Four Craftsmen

¹⁸ Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns. ¹⁹ I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?”

He answered me, “These are the horns^(R) that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”

²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. ²¹ I asked, “What are these coming to do?”

He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns^(S) against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”^[a](T)