1 In the eighth month in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,

² “The Lord hath been sorely displeased with your fathers.

³ Therefore say thou unto them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: ‘Turn ye unto Me,’ saith the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will turn unto you,’ saith the Lord of hosts.

⁴ Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: ‘Turn ye now from your evil ways and from your evil doings.’ But they did not hear, nor hearken unto Me, saith the Lord.

⁵ Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live for ever?

⁶ But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? And they returned and said,‘As the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways and according to our doings, so hath He dealt with us.’”

⁷ Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying:

⁸ I saw by night, and behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.

⁹ Then said I, “O my lord, what are these?” And the angel that talked with me said unto me, “I will show thee what these be.”

¹⁰ And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.”

¹¹ And they answered the angel of the Lord who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, “We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth sitteth still and is at rest.”

¹² Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?”

¹³ And the Lord answered the angel who talked with me, with good words and comforting words.

¹⁴ So the angel who communed with me said unto me, “Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts: ‘I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.

¹⁵ And I am very sorely displeased with the heathen who are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.’

¹⁶ Therefore thus saith the Lord: ‘I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house shall be built in it,’ saith the Lord of hosts, ‘and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.’

¹⁷ Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts: ‘My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.’”

¹⁸ Then I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold, four horns.

¹⁹ And I said unto the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he answered me, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

²⁰ And the Lord showed me four carpenters.

²¹ Then said I, “What come these to do?” And he spoke, saying, “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man lifted up his head; but these have come to frighten them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles who lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.”

2 I lifted up mine eyes again and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.

² Then said I, “Whither goest thou?” And he said unto me, “To measure Jerusalem to see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof.”

³ And behold, the angel who talked with me went forth; and another angel went out to meet him

⁴ and said unto him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle therein.

⁵ For I,’ saith the Lord, ‘will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.’”

⁶ “Ho! Ho! Come forth, and flee from the land of the north,” saith the Lord; “for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven,” saith the Lord.

⁷ “Deliver thyself, O Zion, ye that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.”

⁸ For thus saith the Lord of hosts: “After the glory hath He sent me unto the nations which despoiled you, for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye.

⁹ For behold, I will shake Mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants. And ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me.

¹⁰ “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee,” saith the Lord.

¹¹ “And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee. And thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee.

¹² And the Lord shall inherit Judah as His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.”

¹³ Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord, for He is raised up out of His holy habitation.

3 And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

² And the Lord said unto Satan, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee! Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”

³ Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.

⁴ And He answered and spoke unto those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And unto him He said, “Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.”

⁵ And I said, “Let them set a clean miter upon his head.” So they set a clean miter upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.

⁶ And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying,

⁷ “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: ‘If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My ordinance, then thou shalt also judge My house, and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these who stand by.

⁸ Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows who sit before thee; for they are men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth My Servant the Branch.

⁹ For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua: upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave the engraving thereof,’ saith the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

¹⁰ In that day,’ saith the Lord of hosts, ‘shall ye call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.’”

4 And the angel who talked with me came again and waked me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep,

² and said unto me, “What seest thou?” And I said, “I have looked and behold, a candlestick all of gold with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are upon the top thereof;

³ and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.”

⁴ So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵ Then the angel who talked with me answered and said unto me, “Knowest thou not what these be?” And I said, “No, my lord.”

⁶ Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, “This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ saith the Lord of hosts.

⁷ Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain; and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, ‘Grace, grace unto it!’”

⁸ Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it. And thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.

¹⁰ For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven. They are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.”

¹¹ Then answered I and said unto him, “What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?”

¹² And I answered again and said unto him, “What be these two olive branches, which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?”

¹³ And he answered me and said, “Knowest thou not what these be?” And I said, “No, my lord.”

¹⁴ Then said he, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

18 And after these things, I saw another angel come down from Heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened by his glory.

² And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

³ For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have waxed rich through the abundance of her indulgences pleasures.”

⁴ And I heard another voice from Heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues;

⁵ for her sins have reached unto Heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

⁶ Reward her even as she has rewarded you, and unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double.

⁷ How much she hath glorified herself and lived voluptuously! That much torment and sorrow give back to her; for she saith in her heart,‘I sit a queen and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.’

⁸ Therefore shall her plagues come in one day” death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

⁹ “And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall bewail her and lament for her when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

¹⁰ standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas! Alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour has thy judgment come.’

¹¹ “And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

¹² the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls; and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; all scented wood, all manner of vessels of ivory and most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;

¹³ and cinnamon, and perfumes, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat; and cattle, and sheep, and horses, and chariots; and slaves, and the souls of men.

¹⁴ “And the fruits that thy soul lusted after have departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly have departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

¹⁵ The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing

¹⁶ and saying, ‘Alas! Alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and precious stones and pearls!

¹⁷ For in one hour such great riches have come to nought!’ “And every shipmaster and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off;

¹⁸ and they cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like unto this great city!’

¹⁹ And they cast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, ‘Alas! Alas, that great city, wherein all that had ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her extravagances! For in one hour is she made desolate!’

²⁰ Rejoice over her, thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her.”

²¹ Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

²² And the voice of harpers and musicians, and of pipers and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;

²³ and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

²⁴ And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”