A Call to Return to the Lord

1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius,^(A) the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah^(B) son of Berekiah,^(C) the son of Iddo:^(D)

² “The Lord was very angry^(E) with your ancestors. ³ Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return^(F) to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’^(G) says the Lord Almighty. ⁴ Do not be like your ancestors,^(H) to whom the earlier prophets^(I) proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways^(J) and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me,^(K) declares the Lord.^{(L) 5} Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? ⁶ But did not my words^(M) and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?^(N)

“Then they repented and said, ‘The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve,^(O) just as he determined to do.’”^(P)

The Man Among the Myrtle Trees

⁷ 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 Berekiah, the son of Iddo.^(Q)

⁸ During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red^(R) horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.^(S)

⁹ I asked, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel^(T) who was talking with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”^(U)

¹⁰ Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth.”^(V)

¹¹ And they reported to the angel of the Lord^(W) who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”^(X)

¹² Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long^(Y) will you withhold mercy^(Z) from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah,^(AA) which you have been angry with these seventy^(AB) years?” ¹³ So the Lord spoke^(AC) kind and comforting words^(AD) to the angel who talked with me.^(AE)

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

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

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

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^(AP) 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^(AQ) against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”^[a](AR)

The Woman and the Dragon

12 A great sign^(A) appeared in heaven:^(B) a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars^(C) on her head. ² She was pregnant and cried out in pain^(D) as she was about to give birth. ³ Then another sign appeared in heaven:^(E) an enormous red dragon^(F) with seven heads^(G) and ten horns^(H) and seven crowns^(I) on its heads. ⁴ Its tail swept a third^(J) of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.^(K) The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child^(L) the moment he was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”^[a](M) And her child was snatched up^(N) to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.^(O)

⁷ Then war broke out in heaven. Michael^(P) and his angels fought against the dragon,^(Q) and the dragon and his angels^(R) fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent^(S) called the devil,^(T) or Satan,^(U) who leads the whole world astray.^(V) He was hurled to the earth,^(W) and his angels with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven^(X) say:

¹³ When the dragon^(AH) saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.^{(AI) 14} The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle,^(AJ) so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time,^(AK) out of the serpent’s reach. ¹⁵ Then from his mouth the serpent^(AL) spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war^(AM) against the rest of her offspring^(AN)—those who keep God’s commands^(AO) and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.^(AP)

Psalm 140^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.