Zechariah 4:1-9:8

English Standard Version

A Vision of a Golden Lampstand

4 And ^(A)the angel who talked with me came again ^(B)and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. ² And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, ^(C)a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and ^(D)seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. ³ And there are ^(E)two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” ⁴ And I said to ^(F)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, ^(G)“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” ⁶ Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to ^(H)Zerubbabel: ^(I)Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. ⁷ Who are you, ^(J)O great mountain? Before ^(K)Zerubbabel ^(L)you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward ^(M)the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^9 (N)“The hands of ^(O)Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also ^(P)complete it. ^(Q)Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ^10 (R)For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see ^(S)the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

^(T)“These seven ^(U)are the eyes of the Lord, ^(V)which range through the whole earth.” ¹¹ Then I said to him, “What are these ^(W)two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” ¹² And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these ^(X)two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil^[a] is poured out?” ¹³ He said to me, ^(Y)“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” ¹⁴ Then he said, ^(Z)“These are the two anointed ones^[b] who stand by ^(AA)the Lord of the whole earth.”

A Vision of a Flying Scroll

5 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying ^(AB)scroll! ² And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying ^(AC)scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”^{[c] 3} Then he said to me, “This is ^(AD)the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who ^(AE)steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who ^(AF)swears falsely^[d] shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. ⁴ I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of ^(AG)him who swears falsely by my name. And ^(AH)it shall remain in his house and ^(AI)consume it, both timber and stones.”

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

^5 (AJ)Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, ^(AK)“Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” ⁶ And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is ^(AL)the basket^[e] that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity^[f] in all the land.” ⁷ And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! ⁸ And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down ^(AM)the leaden weight on its opening.

⁹ Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! ^(AN)The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. ¹⁰ Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” ¹¹ He said to me, “To the ^(AO)land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

A Vision of Four Chariots

6 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of ^(AP)bronze. ² The first chariot had ^(AQ)red horses, the second ^(AR)black horses, ³ the third ^(AS)white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.^{[g] 4} Then I answered and said to ^(AT)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ And the angel answered and said to me, ^(AU)“These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after ^(AV)presenting themselves before ^(AW)the Lord of all the earth. ⁶ The chariot with the black horses goes toward ^(AX)the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward ^(AY)the south country.” ⁷ When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and ^(AZ)patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, ^(BA)patrol the earth.” ^(BB)So they patrolled the earth. ⁸ Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward ^(BC)the north country have set my Spirit at rest in ^(BD)the north country.”

The Crown and the Temple

⁹ And the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁰ “Take from the exiles ^(BE)Heldai, Tobijah, and ^(BF)Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of ^(BG)Zephaniah. ¹¹ Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, ^(BH)and set it on the head of ^(BI)Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹² And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is ^(BJ)the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and ^(BK)he shall build the temple of the Lord. ^13 (BL)It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord ^(BM)and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there^[h] shall be a ^(BN)priest on his throne, ^(BO)and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ ¹⁴ And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as ^(BP)a reminder to ^(BQ)Helem,^{[i] (BR)}Tobijah, ^(BS)Jedaiah, and Hen ^(BT)the son of Zephaniah.

^15 (BU)“And those who are far off shall come and ^(BV)help to build the temple of the Lord. ^(BW)And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ^(BX)And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

A Call for Justice and Mercy

7 ^(BY)In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ^(BZ)Chislev. ² Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men ^(CA)to entreat the favor of the Lord, ^3 (CB)saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and ^(CC)the prophets, “Should I weep and ^(CD)abstain in ^(CE)the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: ⁵ “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in ^(CF)the fifth month and in ^(CG)the seventh, for these ^(CH)seventy years, ^(CI)was it ^(CJ)for me that you fasted? ^6 (CK)And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? ^7 (CL)Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed ^(CM)by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, ^(CN)with her cities around her, and the ^(CO)South and the ^(CP)lowland were inhabited?’”

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^(CQ)Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, ^10 (CR)do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, ^(CS)or the poor, and ^(CT)let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” ¹¹ But ^(CU)they refused to pay attention ^(CV)and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.^{[j] 12 (CW)}They made their hearts diamond-hard ^(CX)lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent ^(CY)by his Spirit through ^(CZ)the former prophets. ^(DA)Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. ^13 (DB)“As I^[k] called, and they would not hear, ^(DC)so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, ^14 (DD)“and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all ^(DE)the nations that they had not known. ^(DF)Thus the land they left was desolate, ^(DG)so that no one went to and fro, ^(DH)and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

8 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(DI)I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(DJ)I have returned to Zion and ^(DK)will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^(DL)and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^(DM)and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(DN)Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. ⁵ And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. ⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(DO)If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^(DP)should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? ⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, ^(DQ)I will save my people ^(DR)from the east country and from the west country, ⁸ and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^(DS)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^(DT)in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

⁹ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(DU)“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ^(DV)the prophets who were present on ^(DW)the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. ¹⁰ For before those days ^(DX)there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. ¹¹ But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. ^12 (DY)For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, ^(DZ)and the heavens shall give their dew. ^(EA)And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³ And as ^(EB)you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^(EC)so will I save you, and ^(ED)you shall be a blessing. ^(EE)Fear not, but ^(EF)let your hands be strong.”

¹⁴ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(EG)“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁵ so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ^(EH)fear not. ¹⁶ These are the things that you shall do: ^(EI)Speak the truth to one another; ^(EJ)render in your gates judgments ^(EK)that are true and make for peace; ^17 (EL)do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^(EM)love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

¹⁸ And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the ^(EN)fourth month and the fast of the ^(EO)fifth and the fast of the ^(EP)seventh and the fast of the ^(EQ)tenth shall be to the house of Judah ^(ER)seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^(ES)truth and peace.

²⁰ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹ The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ^(ET)‘Let us go at once ^(EU)to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ ^22 (EV)Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and ^(EW)to entreat the favor of the Lord. ²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ^(EX)ten men ^(EY)from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for ^(EZ)we have heard that God is with you.’”

Judgment on Israel's Enemies