The Daily Audio Bible

A Call to Return to the Lord

1 In the eighth month, ^(A)in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^(B)Zechariah, the son of ^(C)Berechiah, son of ^(D)Iddo, saying, ^2 (E)“The Lord was very angry with your fathers. ³ Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: ^(F)Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and ^(G)I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^4 (H)Do not be like your fathers, ^(I)to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ^(J)Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But ^(K)they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. ⁵ Your fathers, where are they? And ^(L)the prophets, do they live forever? ^6 (M)But my words and my statutes, which I commanded ^(N)my servants the prophets, did they not ^(O)overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ^(P)‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for ^(Q)our ways and ^(R)deeds, so has he dealt with us.’”

A Vision of a Horseman

⁷ On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet ^(S)Zechariah, the son of ^(T)Berechiah, son of ^(U)Iddo, saying, ⁸ “I saw in the night, and behold, ^(V)a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were ^(W)red, sorrel, and white horses. ⁹ Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ ^(X)The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ ¹⁰ So ^(Y)the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ^(Z)‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to ^(AA)patrol the earth.’ ¹¹ And they answered ^(AB)the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ^(AC)‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth ^(AD)remains at rest.’ ¹² Then ^(AE)the angel of the Lord said, ^(AF)‘O Lord of hosts, ^(AG)how long will you ^(AH)have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these ^(AI)seventy years?’ ¹³ And the Lord answered ^(AJ)gracious and comforting words to ^(AK)the angel who talked with me. ¹⁴ So ^(AL)the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AM)I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. ^15 (AN)And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are ^(AO)at ease; ^(AP)for while I was angry but a little, ^(AQ)they furthered the disaster. ¹⁶ Therefore, thus says the Lord, ^(AR)I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; ^(AS)my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^(AT)the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. ¹⁷ Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(AU)My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, ^(AV)and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again ^(AW)choose Jerusalem.’”

A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen

^18 [a] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^(AX)four horns! ¹⁹ And I said to ^(AY)the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, ^(AZ)“These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. ²¹ And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, ^(BA)“These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come ^(BB)to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations ^(BC)who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

The Woman and the Dragon

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ^(A)clothed with ^(B)the sun, with ^(C)the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and ^(D)was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great ^(E)red dragon, ^(F)with seven heads and ^(G)ten horns, and on his heads ^(H)seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down ^(I)a third of the stars of heaven and ^(J)cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child ^(K)he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, ^(L)one who is to rule^[a] all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was ^(M)caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for ^(N)1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, ^(O)Michael and ^(P)his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And ^(Q)the great dragon was thrown down, ^(R)that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, ^(S)the deceiver of the whole world—^(T)he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now ^(U)the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers^[b] has been thrown down, ^(V)who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And ^(W)they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^(X)they loved not their lives ^(Y)even unto death. ¹² Therefore, ^(Z)rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^(AA)woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ^(AB)he knows that his time is short!”

¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^(AC)the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two ^(AD)wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^(AE)into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^(AF)for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ The serpent poured water ^(AG)like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off ^(AH)to make war on the rest of ^(AI)her offspring, ^(AJ)on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to ^(AK)the testimony of Jesus. And he stood^[c] on the sand of the sea.

Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.