The Four Chariots

6 Now again I looked up, and ^[a]four chariots were coming out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of [firm, immovable] bronze (divine judgment). ² The first chariot had red horses (war, bloodshed), the second chariot had black horses (famine, death),^{(A) 3} the third chariot had white horses (victory), and the fourth chariot had strong dappled horses (death through judgment).^{(B) 4} Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go out after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth,^{(C) 6} with the chariot with the black horses going toward the north country; then the one with the white horses follows after them [because there are two northern powers to overcome], and the chariot with the dappled horses goes toward the south country.” ⁷ When the strong horses went out, they were eager to patrol the earth. And the Lord said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth [watching and protecting it]. ⁸ Then He called out to me and said to me, “See, those who are going to the north country have quieted My Spirit [of wrath] in the north country.”

⁹ The word of the Lord also came to me, saying, ¹⁰ “Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, from Tobijah, and from Jedaiah [as representatives]; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon.

The Symbolic Crowns

¹¹ Take silver and gold [from them], and make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹² Then say to Joshua, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold (look, keep in sight, watch), a Man (Messiah) whose name is Branch, for He shall branch out from His place (Israel, the Davidic line); and He shall build the [ultimate] temple of the Lord.^{(D) 13} Yes, [you are to build a temple of the Lord, but] it is He who shall build the [ultimate] temple of the Lord, and He shall bear the honor and majesty [as the only begotten of the Father] and sit and rule on His throne. And He shall be a ^[b]Priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between the two offices [Priest and King].”’^{(E) 14} Now the crown shall become a reminder in the temple of the Lord to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah.^{(F) 15} And those who are far away will come and [help] build the temple of the Lord.” Then you shall know [without any doubt] that the Lord of hosts sent me (Zechariah) to you. And it will come about if you will diligently obey the [voice of the] Lord your God.

³ At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province ^[a]on the west side of the [Euphrates] River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and said, “Who ^[b]issued you a decree and authorized you to rebuild this temple and to restore this wall (shrine)?” ⁴ Then, accordingly, we told them the names of the men who were reconstructing this building. ⁵ But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so they [Tattenai and the others] did not stop them until a report could come before Darius, and then an answer was returned by letter concerning it.

Adversaries Write to Darius

⁶ This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River, and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the officials who were west of the River, sent to Darius the king. ⁷ They sent a report to him in which it was written: “To Darius the king, all peace. ⁸ Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, with beams laid in the walls; and this work goes on with diligence and care and is succeeding in their hands. ⁹ Then we asked those elders, ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?’ ¹⁰ We also asked them their names so that we might notify you, and so that we might record the names of the men ^[c]in charge. ¹¹ They replied, ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the temple which was erected many years ago, which a ^[d]great king of Israel built and finished. ¹² But because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. ¹³ But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, [the same] King Cyrus issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. ¹⁴ Also the gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought into the temple of Babylon, King Cyrus took from the temple of Babylon and had them given to a man whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. ¹⁵ And Cyrus said to him, “Take these utensils, go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” ¹⁶ Then that Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and is not yet completed.’ ¹⁷ So now, if it pleases the king, let a search be conducted in the king’s treasure house [in the royal archives] there in Babylon to see if it is true that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send us his decision concerning this matter.”

Darius Finds Cyrus’ Decree

6 Then King Darius issued a decree, and a search was conducted in Babylon in the archives where the treasures [and records] were stored. ² In Ecbatana in the fortress (palace) in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was recorded: “Memorandum— ³ In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem, let the temple (house), the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be strongly laid, its height and its width each 60 cubits, ⁴ with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. ⁵ Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought back to their [proper] places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’

⁶ “Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province ^[e]west of the [Euphrates] River, Shethar-bozenai and your associates, the officials who are west of the River, keep far away from there. ⁷ Leave the work on this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site. ⁸ Also, I issue a decree as to what you are to do for these Jewish elders for the rebuilding of this house of God: the full cost is to be paid to these people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the River, and that without delay. ⁹ Whatever is needed, including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil, according to the request of the priests at Jerusalem, let it all be given to them daily without fail, ¹⁰ so that they may offer pleasing (sweet-smelling) sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹ I have also issued a decree that if there is any man who violates this edict, a beam of timber shall be pulled from his house [and set up]; then he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be turned into a refuse heap for this [violation]. ¹² May the God who has caused His ^[f]Name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who attempts to alter this command, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree; let it be carried out quickly and with due diligence.”

The Temple Completed and Dedicated

¹³ Then Tattenai, governor of the province west of the [Euphrates] River, with Shethar-bozenai and their associates carried out the decree with due diligence, just as King Darius had sent and commanded. ¹⁴ And the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building as commanded by the God of Israel and in accordance with the decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

Hearts like Flint

7 In the fourth year of [the reign of] King Darius [of Persia], the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev (Dec 7, 518 b.c.). ² Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to seek the favor of the Lord, ³ speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts and to the prophets, saying, “[Now that I am returned from exile] shall I weep in the fifth month [mourning the destruction of the temple], and fast as I have done these many years [in Babylon]?” ⁴ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me (Zechariah), saying, ⁵ “Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years [that you were in exile], was it actually for Me that you fasted? ⁶ When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves [to satisfy your own needs]? ⁷ Should you not hear the words which the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with her cities around her, and the South (the Negev) and the foothills were inhabited?’”

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, ⁹ “Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion, to each other; ¹⁰ and do not oppress or exploit the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise or even imagine evil in your hearts against one another.’ ¹¹ But they refused to listen and pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder [stiffening themselves in resistance] and stopped up their ears. ¹² They made their hearts [hard] like flint, so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. ¹³ And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts; ¹⁴ “but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after they had gone, so that no one passed through or returned, for they [by their sins] had made the pleasant land desolate and deserted.”

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

8 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came [to me], saying, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I am ^[a]jealous for Zion with great jealousy [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], and I am jealous for her with great wrath [against her enemies].’ ³ Thus says the Lord, ‘I shall return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the [faithful] City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’ ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the ^[b]streets (public places) of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of his advanced age. ⁵ And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’ ⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If it is difficult in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days [in which this comes to pass], will it also be difficult in My sight?’ declares the Lord of hosts.^{(A) 7} Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the east country and from the west,^{(B) 8} and I will bring them home and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth (faithfulness) and in righteousness.’

⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Let your hands be strong, you who in these days hear these words from the mouths of the prophets who, on the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, foretold that the temple might be rebuilt. ¹⁰ For before those days there were no wages for man or animal; nor was there any peace or success for him who went out or came in because of his enemies, for I set all men against one another. ¹¹ But now [in this time since you began to build] I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the Lord of hosts. ¹² ‘For there the seed will produce peace and prosperity; the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will produce its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit and possess all these things. ¹³ And as you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah (Southern Kingdom) and house of Israel (Northern Kingdom), so I will save you, that you may be a blessing. Fear not; let your hands be strong.’^(C)

¹⁴ “For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Just as I planned to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I did not relent, ¹⁵ so I have again planned in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear! ¹⁶ These are the things which you should do: speak the truth with one another; judge with truth and pronounce the judgment that brings peace in [the courts at] your gates.^{(D) 17} And let none of you devise or even imagine evil in your heart against another, and do not love lying or half-truths; for all these things I hate,’ declares the Lord.”

¹⁸ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me (Zechariah), saying, ¹⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth [month to mourn the breaching of Jerusalem’s walls], the fast of the fifth [month to mourn the temple’s destruction], the fast of the seventh [month to mourn Gedaliah’s assassination], and the fast of the tenth [month to mourn the siege of Jerusalem] will become times of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so [to bring this about] love truth and peace.’^(E)

²⁰ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘It will come to pass that peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will come [to Jerusalem]. ²¹ The inhabitants of one [city] will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to ask the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts. I will go also.” ²² So many peoples and powerful nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to ask the Lord for His favor.’ ²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘In those days ten men [as representatives] from all the nations will grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”