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Israel Urged to Repent

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, saying: The Lord was very angry with your ancestors. Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.” But they did not hear or heed me, says the Lord. Your ancestors, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your ancestors? So they repented and said, “The Lord of hosts has dealt with us according to our ways and deeds, just as he planned to do.”

First Vision: The Horsemen

On 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 Berechiah son of Iddo; and Zechariah[a] said, In the night I saw a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. Then I said, “What are these, my lord?” The angel who talked with me said to me, “I will show you what they are.” 10 So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, “They are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.” 11 Then they spoke to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and lo, the whole earth remains at peace.” 12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?” 13 Then the Lord replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14 So the angel who talked with me said to me, Proclaim this message: Thus says the Lord of hosts; I am very jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 And I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Proclaim further: Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.

Second Vision: The Horns and the Smiths

18 [b] And I looked up and saw four horns. 19 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” 20 Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths. 21 And I asked, “What are they coming to do?” He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no head could be raised; but these have come to terrify them, to strike down the horns of the nations that lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”[c]

Third Vision: The Man with a Measuring Line

[d] I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him, and said to him, “Run, say to that young man: Jerusalem shall be inhabited like villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and animals in it. For I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it.”

Interlude: An Appeal to the Exiles

Up, up! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord; for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven, says the Lord. Up! Escape to Zion, you that live with daughter Babylon. For thus said the Lord of hosts (after his glory[e] sent me) regarding the nations that plundered you: Truly, one who touches you touches the apple of my eye.[f] See now, I am going to raise[g] my hand against them, and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. 11 Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.

13 Be silent, all people, before the Lord; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

Fourth Vision: Joshua and Satan

Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan[h] standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan,[i] “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan![j] The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was dressed with filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And to him he said, “See, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will clothe you with festal apparel.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with the apparel; and the angel of the Lord was standing by.

Then the angel of the Lord assured Joshua, saying “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. Now listen, Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who sit before you! For they are an omen of things to come: I am going to bring my servant the Branch. For on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day. 10 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree.”

Fifth Vision: The Lampstand and Olive Trees

The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as one is wakened from sleep. He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it; there are seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And by it there are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” Then the angel who talked with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” He said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain; and he shall bring out the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.

“These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which pour out the oil[k] through the two golden pipes?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

Sixth Vision: The Flying Scroll

Again I looked up and saw a flying scroll. And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.” Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears falsely[l] shall be cut off according to the writing on the other side. I have sent it out, says the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name; and it shall abide in that house and consume it, both timber and stones.”

Seventh Vision: The Woman in a Basket

Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what this is that is coming out.” I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is a basket[m] coming out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity[n] in all the land.” Then a leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket![o] And he said, “This is Wickedness.” So he thrust her back into the basket,[p] and pressed the leaden weight down on its mouth. Then I looked up and saw two women coming forward. The wind was in their wings; they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket[q] between earth and sky. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”[r] 11 He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it; and when this is prepared, they will set the basket[s] down there on its base.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 1:7 Heb and he
  2. Zechariah 1:18 Ch 2.1 in Heb
  3. Zechariah 1:21 Heb it
  4. Zechariah 2:1 Ch 2.5 in Heb
  5. Zechariah 2:8 Cn: Heb after glory he
  6. Zechariah 2:8 Heb his eye
  7. Zechariah 2:9 Or wave
  8. Zechariah 3:1 Or the Accuser; Heb the Adversary
  9. Zechariah 3:2 Or the Accuser; Heb the Adversary
  10. Zechariah 3:2 Or the Accuser; Heb the Adversary
  11. Zechariah 4:12 Cn: Heb gold
  12. Zechariah 5:3 The word falsely added from verse 4
  13. Zechariah 5:6 Heb ephah
  14. Zechariah 5:6 Gk Compare Syr: Heb their eye
  15. Zechariah 5:7 Heb ephah
  16. Zechariah 5:8 Heb ephah
  17. Zechariah 5:9 Heb ephah
  18. Zechariah 5:10 Heb ephah
  19. Zechariah 5:11 Heb ephah

Simon Son of Onias

50 The leader of his brothers and the pride of his people[a]
    was the high priest, Simon son of Onias,
who in his life repaired the house,
    and in his time fortified the temple.
He laid the foundations for the high double walls,
    the high retaining walls for the temple enclosure.
In his days a water cistern was dug,[b]
    a reservoir like the sea in circumference.
He considered how to save his people from ruin,
    and fortified the city against siege.
How glorious he was, surrounded by the people,
    as he came out of the house of the curtain.
Like the morning star among the clouds,
    like the full moon at the festal season;[c]
like the sun shining on the temple of the Most High,
    like the rainbow gleaming in splendid clouds;
like roses in the days of first fruits,
    like lilies by a spring of water,
    like a green shoot on Lebanon on a summer day;
like fire and incense in the censer,
    like a vessel of hammered gold
    studded with all kinds of precious stones;
10 like an olive tree laden with fruit,
    and like a cypress towering in the clouds.
11 When he put on his glorious robe
    and clothed himself in perfect splendor,
when he went up to the holy altar,
    he made the court of the sanctuary glorious.

12 When he received the portions from the hands of the priests,
    as he stood by the hearth of the altar
with a garland of brothers around him,
    he was like a young cedar on Lebanon
    surrounded by the trunks of palm trees.
13 All the sons of Aaron in their splendor
    held the Lord’s offering in their hands
    before the whole congregation of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. Sirach 50:1 Heb Syr: Gk lacks this line. Compare 49.15
  2. Sirach 50:3 Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain
  3. Sirach 50:6 Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.[b]

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own,[c] and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,[d] full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,[e] who is close to the Father’s heart,[f] who has made him known.

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Footnotes

  1. John 1:4 Or through him. And without him not one thing came into being that has come into being. In him was life
  2. John 1:9 Or He was the true light that enlightens everyone coming into the world
  3. John 1:11 Or to his own home
  4. John 1:14 Or the Father’s only Son
  5. John 1:18 Other ancient authorities read It is an only Son, God, or It is the only Son
  6. John 1:18 Gk bosom

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